Zach Matthews
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PS, as Bob Riggins and maybe two or three others still with us can attest, every fish in this thread weighs 11.4 lbs.
Zach
Nice photos everyone (and Neal’s look especially crisp for some reason). Everybody overestimates fish sizes, and it’s even easier to do when you’re excited for someone else. Diane Bristol caught a nice fish in the Madison last summer and we came in to the shop having convinced ourselves it was an easy 23″. The guys in there were understandably skeptical, so we looked at the photos, and the fish was probably more like 20-21″. Not a huge difference lengthwise but it probably accounted for 3 lbs. of weight. A very nice fish still.
I don’t mind people taking WAGs at bigger fish; how many of us catch enough five pound trout to really be able to eyeball them? (Mike Anderson, put your hand down and sit there quietly, you are hurting the others’ feelings. ;)). I do get annoyed when people toss out the “twenty inches” moniker to describe any moderately large trout. I can’t tell you how many Atlantans I’ve heard claim to catch “a whole mess of twenty inchers” on the Chattahoochee. If there’s enough twenty inch trout anywhere in the Hooch to make a “mess,” then those trout are carp.
Zach
Hey guys –
If anyone has not received a hat and should have, or if the hat you did receive is damaged, or if I accidentally sent the wrong hat or left a hat out of the order, and you have not already contacted me, please post to this thread so I can fix you up.
I had a couple damaged/missing hats in the order that folks have made me aware of and I will be packing all those corrections up to send out hopefully tomorrow.
Aaron –
Don’t think that I hold myself up as anything like the quality of angler Landon is; I don’t.
Pablo –
We had a few comments made here a while back about Landon Mayer, none of which were particularly harsh, but one member who had praised him (I felt) misinterpreted the commentary as some kind of virtriolic set of slurs.
Hats are shipped!
Carter, if you’ll just put on the orange jumpsuit the nice men down by the courthouse gave you instead, I’m sure you’ll be able to find some enjoyment in your movies.
Zach
I typically drink one different beer or a glass of wine a night (the local farmer’s market/wine store offers beer by the bottle, 6 for $7, out of a wide selection).
A cousin’s girlfriend’s father (‘s former roommate?) was building a wooden kayak during my cousin’s brief liaison with the young lady.
Write correct English in all emails, board posts, etc. Check your own grammar and learn from what your word processor tells you. Punctuation, etc., can be taught, and it’s a surprising deficiency for most of the writers whose work comes across my desk, whether so I can edit it or just in the process of putting together a magazine.
Magazines like active voice, but more importantly, they have stylistic needs. Most fly fishing magazines do two types of writing: reportorial and authorial. If you are reporting on something, you should not inject yourself into it unless you need to add a brief anecdote. That’s the style of writing you’ll usually see me doing in magazines. If you are writing a first-person narrative, for instance of a trip, you need to switch gears and add somewhat more voice (turns of phrase, creative hooks, etc.), but not enough to flatten out the material. You are not spinning yarns; you are telling a story. There’s a difference.
The best way to learn to write well is to read actively. Analyze what is on the page, don’t just passively absorb it. It’s the difference between what your brain is doing when you’re playing Scrabble with friends and what it is doing when you’re vegged out watching TV. Finally, and I don’t say this lightly, but a little bit of alcohol can grease the creative wheels. If you are stuck, drink one beer. Don’t get drunk, but try to relax and let your mind wander a little. This is best used in the authorial area rather than in the reportorial.
Zach
Hahahah.
The Toss is probably unavoidable, but there are definitely some criteria–especially with a big fish–that will minimize its inevitability. Always grip a fish most tightly around the tail; they can handle a firm hold there. Support the fish from underneath with the other hand, and I like to wrap a finger around the pectoral fin when possible. Last, fish tend to start flopping when they’ve been out of the water long enough to panic. If you keep the fish wet in the net, and only lift for a quick spurt of photos, then put it back, not only will you avoid overstressing the fish, you’ll also have a more cooperative photo subject. Generally. 🙂
Zach
PS So far these are my favorites. I love the look on their faces:
Neal’s has that great ‘escaping into the sunset’ look; you can almost hear the bonefish yelling, “I’m freeee!”