MONDAY MORNING BEAT Beating Back Atrophy
Does your back hurt? You know the spot, between your shoulder blades and accented to your casting arm? And maybe you have a little shoulder ache to go with it?
Well I do have those kinks, and I have had them only once before – in my healthy years. Where does that pain come from? I have to believe it is an atrophy of my casting muscle groups. Now, some of my closest friends and family would say, “It’s just aging!” but I say NO.
So what’s the cure? Casting, of course, is the best way to work out the kinks – and that is the feeling KINKS – and not spend the morning in pain and digging into my back with one of the devices below. That crazy thing does work though! If you don’t have someone strong enough, or willing enough, to rub out the kinks? Get yourself one of these darn things – no electricity required, and you control the pressure. Good stuff for fly fishers who are hunkered down as most of us are.
Today marks the start of the week of a genuine cold turn for North Texas. They’re saying it’s going to be a real flea-killer this time, which is good news – especially if you have been waiting to pull the Blue River trigger. DON’T FORGET – the Blue River catch-and-release area turns to kill on March 1. I am thinking it’s ready for a full-on attempt this week (God help me). My Mom commented on North Central Texas weather just the other day. She called it, “extreme.” I wasn’t defensive at all – it’s true … at least we don’t have hurricanes … yet.
EYES ON
I got my eyes on a couple things over the weekend. One, was Lake Lavon east of Dallas. That lake looks very inviting, and at the same time very woody (lots of submerged trees). It was so easy to get to via the GWB Tollway, that I have to admit I want to give it a go this spring. Still, it was Dallas traffic, at its best perhaps, which isn’t saying much with a skiff in tow …
The second thing that made my eyes cross was getting inside the door at the new Grapevine Fly-Fishing fly shop in old Downtown Grapevine, Texas. I met the owner of the new shop Michael Tulouski, and he gave me the construction tour of the shop that will be opening in a few days. Off the bat, I like the selection of hard-to-find fly tying materials (hard to find in person), and I can’t wait to twitch some of his Epic fly rods when they arrive. A NEW ARTICLE on Grapevine Fly-Fishing is coming later this week.
END NOTE: In less than two weeks, the Fourth Annual Texas Fly Fishing & Brew Festival is coming to (the edge of civilization) Mesquite, Texas. I’ve harped on this event in past years (cancelled last year), but having it in Mesquite? That speaks volumes. HOWEVER, out of respect for the fly fishing vendors who paid be there, I will be publishing the rundown of that event very soon and possibly this week. We’re getting close to overload.
Category: Body-Mind-Soul, Equipment, Fly Shops, Fly Tying, Life Observed, Store Merchandise
