A Mild Tsunami of Fly Fishi...

Some of the great fly fishing traditions have been left behind, neglected in our historical closet with the large bottle of Cod Liver Oil and the tin can of worms you meant to free when you got home, twenty years ago. Few are the brave souls who will even mention the wonderful angling moments of the past, much less repeat them.

Pipe smoking was as much a part of the piscitorial pleasure as the casting and catching of the wary trout. You had your felt hat, your ill-fitting waders, a fishing jacket, all necessary angling implements -- and your pipe. Now, standing in mid-stream while holding both flyrod, pipe, and matches was achievement enough, but the infernal device was always going out just as a wind whipped some stoneflies onto the water. If that weren't enough, how many pipesmoking fishermen, concluding that the late-day shower would soon pass, inverted their pipes so that the rain wouldn't put out the fine glow of Sail tobacco? And what was the inevitable result? The entire pipeful of glowing coals fell out of the pipe bowl -- into their waders -- provoking a colorful jig toward deep water.