Get into the water and let time drift past.

It was a hedonistic weekend with friends on North Manitou Island.  After catching the ferry from Leland we hiked to the southern part of the island and set up a base-camp near the beach and mapped out our hiking agenda.  After exploring and probing  the Lake Michigan shoreline in search of golden bonefish(carp) waters turned out to be a moot point, a hike to the inland lake proved to be the best smallmouth bass lake fishing I have ever had. Far outweighing past days in northern Minnesota, the size, weight, and numbers of fish caught made for an almost unbelievable fish story. It was an epic weekend for smallies on North Manitou Island lake.

Out of the river and feet firmly on dry ground is the axiom for the weekend. Our Sunday morning lull continued with a drawn out breakfast:  fatty cheese, bacon, coffee, and last weeks Chicago Tribune. The  good eating section was especially suitable with articles about shiitake mushrooms, micro-brewers, frogmore stew-from the Hunting Island area in the Carolinas, and the rebel food-bacon. As this has almost nothing to do with getting into the river and letting the current do the rest, the 11 o’clock  hour was spent registering and getting up to speed for “Langs live sporting auction” held in New York. Hundreds of every conceivable fly  rod, reel, books, paintings, etc… were auctioned to bidders worldwide via phone, fax, online, and in-house. I watched and bid on numerous reels Saracione’s, Bellingers, J. Austin Forbes, many Bogdan’s, and Hardy’s- “The Viscount, The Prince, Sunbeam, Bougle’s, St. Andrew’s.” The opening reel an A.F Talbot fetched over $7000 + with collectors worldwide feeding like piranhas, and continuing for the next two dozen reels,  prices wavering little. Most of my bids had little hope of daylight, however, a beautiful unmentionable Abel fell into my lap for a song. The frenzy was really something to see and continues.

Langs online auction

Tearing myself from the computer at 12:30, we beat it down to the Kingsley Library to participate in the “Salute to the Adams” celebration and to hear stories about Len Halladay and the fly he invented for his longtime friend Judge Charlie Adams as told by Edna Sargent and others. The Boardman River has the honor of being the noted birthplace of the perhaps the most famous of dryflys, “The Adams.” Created in 1922 by  Halladay for Adam’s by request, it was first used on a late afternoon hatch on the Boardman and by morning, appeals from other fisherman for more of the same fly were heard up and down river. Over time it was referred to as “the fly of pounds” which still seems to stymie some of the old timers. The original fly was tied using grey wool, red rooster hackle, grizzly tips for upright wings, and golden pheasant as a tail. It rests in a case with a note and memorabilia. After traveling the world, it is now in permanent collection of the Kingsley Library. Attached is a photo of the fly in case.

Wandering in the woods looking for morals is synonymous to the halcyon days of the past except  with a purpose. Head lowered, eyes fixed on the ground searching for recognizable dark silhouettes and egg like shapes, aware of each step taken, leaves crunching beneath feet. Mushroom wanderlust is like dead-panning  for small bits of gold, foraging for the great meaning of spring.  I found her with a few relatives surrounded by trillium next to a downed log, like an old friend from the past coming to visit. And I rewarded her with a pound of butter.  Out of the water and into the woods, but only for a day or two.

Work and routine has squelched any notion of getting into the river the past few days, however when the sun drops below the horizon the tropics of the tying table intoxicate the night hours.

On the prowl for browns and steelies near the Leelanau School in Sleeping Bear Bay, Joe and Bob pose with whopper smallmouth. Who is holding the bigger fish?

Fish in the river and birds over head; lunch on the banks of the Manistee.

A techno-generated watercolor fly box of little black stones, hares ears, and  improvised hex. nymphs with long grizzly marabou tails for extra undercover movement. All resting on a receding patch of snow complete with a crawling stone. A picture is worth a thousand words-so goes the age old adage, and a good sketch is better than a long speech. Wade to the riverbank, take a break and watch the world go by.