It is cold. North Island NZ cold, the kind that takes a bit of beating, so that by the third fly change you are tying knots on feel alone, fingers half-numb and not reporting back, but the hope is high so you keep going. You can't see the knot either. You can't see the fly. You can't see the leader, the line, the water, or the river delta you're wading out on and about to put a foot wrong on. At least on the way here there are no good pubs to stop in.

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Last Sunday we held the first BFCC meeting in Northants and although the weather was challenging as it was oppressively hot for the UK, the event was a great success. We started with half a dozen instructors who had all provided their time, for free, to support the day. There was a good turn out of people attending for instruction, some beginners and others experienced anglers looking to improve their technique.

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As we get into summer it’s time for ants, whether they’re just falling in the water or you have the immense good fortune to be on the water on a flying ant day fish will eat them with gusto, I sometimes wonder if that’s cause of the formic acid, like putting vinegar on your chips!

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Last weekend was midsummer, and sun doesn't set here until 1st of July. When you go more north you have to wait next night until 28th of July, so they still have one month to go before having night. Our business goes around reindeer and silage now.
 
Last weekend was first reindeer markings for this summer. Satu got few calves on mark and feels summer. Especially when you have stress about weather. Summer is running early here and we should be already doing silage for wintertime as hay/grass has been growing well.

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There are a lot of things we have no clue about in fly casting that other sports has figured out. Many sports seem to have figured out that stronger is better, up to some extent. So they have found some levels where it doesn’t seem to give a big advantage to push the strength beyond that level. That from there it is more valuable to focus on maintaining that level of strength and focus more on other aspects to improve performance. Those can be technique, strategy, mobility, etc. Some sports have even figured out mobility requirements for optimal performance.

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Pardon my brevity this week. I’ve got to get up early to fish tomorrow. I’m in Florida and the tarpon are tough. I'm getting my shots and have blown very few. Nevertheless, I’ve gotten nothing but swings and misses or outright refusals, some with extreme prejudice. Tarpon are great teachers. They’re big enough to be easy to see behind your fly and they are expressive. If nothing else I’ve improved my ability to stay in contact with an accurately placed fly and to converse with my fishy friends rather than just trying to catch up to where they are. More than just swimming a fly past their noses.. My consolation as I write is that my new skills are widely portable and that I’ll have another whack at it tomorrow. 

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