If you have ever worked a trade show you probably have heard someone, usually another vendor, say to you, "Have a Good Show!".  It can rub you in the same dreadful way as somebody telling you that "you must have a case of the Mondays".  Icky. 

My days working boring trade shows are long over. Nowadays I get to work at shows that actually pique my interests.  This weekend is no exception ... it is the annual FLY FISHING SHOW in Raleigh, NC!  "Working" this show means meeting  wonderful people and talking to them about fly fishing (and such), seeing old friends and learning a few things from fly fishing icons such as flygirl Sarah Gardner!

If you just so happen to be in the Raleigh area, please stop by and check this out.  It is a great event all around with wonderful speakers, workshops and a tons of gear to try out.  From the novice to the season pro, they'll be something for EVERYONE.

With that said ... why yes, I WILL have a good show!  Hope to see you there!

Flygirl Reba

_ January is officially behind us.  We made it through the first full month of 2012 with little to no damage.  So, how about those resolutions?  Are we still on tract or did they go down the hatch followed by a pint of Ben & Jerry’s?

For that reason alone I do not set resolutions for myself right away.  I sort of let the newness of the year dissolve and allow for it to reveal what it has in store for me.  From what I have experienced in the past 31 days … oh my lawd, this is going to be a heck of a year!

Allow me to share just a few personal experiences…

_Skiing Lessons:  After years and years of skiing, badly, I decided it’s finally time to take some professional lessons.  My Wednesdays are dedicated to some good ol’ fashion downhill skiing with a great group of gals at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley, NC.

Unfortunately, I no longer live in the freshly powdered mountains of the West and I have to settle for skiing on hills of “mashed potatoes”.  Why did I wait so long to do this?

What I've learned:  It sucks feeling like you should be further along than you are AND I need to get over the regret of not doing more in the past. If you truly want to improve upon your skill, don’t be too proud to seek out good instruction even if it means starting from the beginning (and exercise caution when taking free advice from your spouse. That could end badly).

_Striped Bass Fishing:  Let me sum it up for you: Casting a 9wt flyrod with a 300 grain sinking line off a boat to fish that you can not see in a 76,450 acre lake in the middle of winter for 6 hours straight (and it’s raining).  That 20lb Striper that might eat your fly is just one more cast away … even if you are freezing cold and it’s dark out.  Just. One. More. Cast. The most addicting fishing I’ve done in years.  I can’t wait to do it again!

What I've learned:  Why do I love fly-fishing so much?  "There are works which wait, and which one does not understand for a long time," said Oscar Wilde. "The reason is that they bring answers to questions which have not yet been raised; for the question often arrives a terribly long time after the answer."

_Thrash Metal: One of our fishing buddies so eloquently speaks of the talent of Heavy Metal music, as if he is speaking about classical composers on a PBS special.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit curious about the music of the dark side.  So with slight hesitation I accepted the invite to an "Anthrax" concert.  Why?  For research, of course.  I know.  Me.  Actually there.  In a Mosh Pit.  Well, I stayed clear of the mosh pit but I was banging my head a little. I thought I would feel sorely out of place but the crowd was as welcoming as a John Tesh show. The music really got your blood moving … has anyone tried using thrash metal in music therapy? A totally raw and awesome experience. Am I downloading copious amounts of metal to my iPod?  No, not a chance but I may sing along to a song or two if it should come on the radio.

What I've learned:  Do something that scares you.  Just maybe you’ll extract something meaningful from the experience.   Maybe.  It’s worth a shot.

_
What does all of this mean?  What does 2012 have in store for me?  What does it have in store for WNC Women on the Fly? I think it’s clearly written out ...

Work on fine-tuning your skills, be persistent & be brave! 

We’ll announce some exciting happenings coming up this year … like ladies fishing trips & shotgun shooting clinics.  Opportunities for you to fine-tune your skills, persistently and bravely.  We do have a mailing list you know ...make sure you sign up to get the details of future events. 

New year, new adventures.  Let’s do this!

~Flygirl Reba

The winter issue of the regional online magazine, Southern Culture on the Fly is live!  Check it out!  Image is linked.

The 2nd annual Tie-One-On-Athon is happening Feb 26th, 2012.  This is a great event to benefit the local chapter of Project Healing Waters and to get a bunch of fly tiers together for a fun day.  Stop by and hang out, tie some flies, watch others tie, learn a few tips or all of the above! 

Last year was a success, raising a few thousand dollars for PHW in addition to tons of donated flies.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

My first and only hunting trip took place in Southern California's Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in the mid-nineties.  A friend invited me to join him in a snow goose hunt mainly because, at the time, I wasn't too keen on killing wild creatures for the purpose of sport.  He, an avid sportsman, felt a need to educate me by demonstrating why hunting is so important to the health of our wildlife and the enlightenment of our beings.  All I could say was that it worked!  It was an unforgettable and immensely educating experience, spiritually, physically and mentally to say the least.  Long story made short, we shot several snow geese and cooked them up for supper the next day.  Not the best tasting dinner but vastly satisfying.  

I have wanted to learn how to hunt on my own ever since however other activities took priority and life went on without ever going back to the blind.  

After reading the book, Girl Hunter by Georgia Pellegrini I am more inspired than ever to experience the woods wake up and to be on the hunt for my next adventure.  As someone that loves to feed people, I was most impressed with the recipes and the respect that each dish commanded.  I can only imagine the great stories that are told while sharing the dinner table with Georgia.

Teaming up with characters from across the U.S. and abroad whether in the back of an ATV chasing wild hogs along the banks of the Mississippi or on a dove hunt with beer and barbeque in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, Georgia travels in search of her main course.  More than a food-laden hunting narrative, Girl Hunter also teaches you how to be a self-sufficient eater.  Each chapter offers recipes  for dishes like wild turkey and ouster stew, stuffed quail, pheasant tagine and venison sausage.  Each dish, like each story, is an adventure from beginning to end.

As I finished each chapter of Girl Hunter I held the book up to my chest and sighed, thinking *THIS* is what I want to experience.  She doesn't sugar coat her trips and every hunt does not end with a trophy kill.  Her experiences are rich in lessons of life and her words place you there along side of her. 

Really, you have got to read this book!

For those of us that follow fly fishing blogs, Christine Warren of  www.FlyfishChick.com is certainly one of the more entertaining of them all.  We love following Christine around the country sharing captivating stories of good fishing, good friends, good food and great adventure.  Her recent adventure was taking on the Texas Water Safari, a 260-mile paddle race from the Texas Hill Country to the Gulf Coast for the first time inspired a lot of us.  We can share in her experience with this race with her new book, Paddlefish.  www.paddlefishthebook.com

Christine will be in Cashiers, NC at High Hampton Inn signing books this Friday Nov. 25th from 4-5pm

Christine Warren grew up in Texas and Tennessee before attending the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. After graduating in 1993 with a degree in English, she worked for fourteen years in
marketing and advertising.  In 2007 she left corporate life to explore a growing passion for writing and fly fishing. When her
fishing friends introduced her to the Texas Water Safari, she recognized it as a life-altering challenge
that she couldn’t resist.  With her husband and daughter, she splits time between Austin, Texas and Mobile, Alabama. To
follow her writing and speaking engagements on fish, rivers, and brazen leaps of faith, visit Christine’s
website at FlyFishChick.com.

Excerpt from the book:

PADDLEFISH

By
C H R I S T I N E W A R R E N

On a sweltering summer day in 2010, Christine Warren stepped into a 24- foot canoe and paddled toward a goal that she never previously imagined possible.
The Texas Water Safari is a 260-mile paddle race from the Texas Hill Country to the Gulf Coast. Run continuously since 1963, the course follows the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers to the coastal fishing town of Seadrift. Paddlers must complete the race in 100 hours. While the exhausting pace and blistering heat are reason enough to bow out, it’s the ancillary hurdles that often eliminate racers long before the finish line: dam portages, water moccasins, logjams, mosquitoes, dysentery, alligators, sleep deprivation, and equipment failures.
Paddlefish is the first complete narrative ever published on The Texas Water Safari. With a mixture of humor, misery, history and triumph, Christine has written an engaging and entertaining memoir of her yearlong transformation from a mom, writer and fly fisher, to a viable competitor in “The World’s Toughest Boat Race.”
If you’ve ever wondered what extra-ordinary challenges lurk beyond your comfort zone, this book may help you discover what’s ultimately possible.

It's here, it's here!!!  This expo is my favorite gathering of fly fishing industry professionals.  Regardless if you are from this area or just visiting, there is something for everyone here.  Why I love it:  I get to catch up with a lot of friends in one place, share stories of adventures in travel, fishing and life...all the while being surrounded by great fishing folk that are mad crazy about the outdoor culture. 

"The 3rd Annual WNC Fly Fishing Expo kicks off on Nov. 5 at the WNC Agricultural Center. Western North Carolina is blessed with altitude, clean streams, wild trout and consequently, an abundance of people who love to fly fish. The WNC Fly Fishing Expo is a two-day fly fishing extravaganza providing anglers a forum to learn the very latest news and innovations in their sport."

Some of my favorites (links):
Southern Culture on the Fly Magazine
Hunter Banks Co, Fly Fishing Outfitters
Caster's Flyshop
Mooseknuckle Lanyards
Fishwater Maps
Blackhawk Fly Fishing & Lodge
Casting for Recovery of the Carolina's
And many more...

You'll just have to come see for yourself!  See you there.

When guides have a day off what do they do?  We go fishing!  Sometimes to check out new water or new flies...but mostly just because we love fishing! 

I had the pleasure of fishing with Hunter Banks Co's head guide, Forrest Marshall this week.  If he knows a lot about something, it's definitely trout.  He seems to know what exactly they are thinking, eating and where they are better than anyone I've ever fished with. 

Needless to say, it was a day of lots of smiles and a few high fives...and I learned a few more things about big ass trout. 

PS:  To book a trip with fly fishing guide extraordinaire, Forrest Marshall you can find him at Hunter Banks Co., Asheville, NC

This past week I had the pleasure of fishing with the very talented and wonderful Linda Michael from NC Wildlife (she is also a dedicated volunteer for Casting for Recovery) along with a great group of anglers on the Little River outside of Brevard, NC.  It was a picture perfect autumn day in the Blue Ridge mountains.  The peak of the fall colors mixed with cascading waterfalls was the scenic backdrop for our adventure.  During our hike to the river I couldn't help but notice that along the trail were trees that seemed to be growing out of rocks.  Surviving though it seems that these rocks are disrupting the root system thus making it that more difficult to reach the nutrients the trees need to survive. I couldn't help but to associate this phenomenon with the battle that cancer patients must face everyday during their fight with this disease.  One word came to mind: Perseverance.

Linda is heavily involved with Casting for Recovery, a non-profit breast cancer support group using fly fishing to heal sufferers both mentally and physically. Casting for Recovery was founded on the principles that the natural world is a healing force and that cancer survivors deserve one weekend — free of charge and free of the stresses from medical treatment, home, or workplace — to experience something new and challenging while enjoying beautiful surroundings within an intimate, safe, and nurturing structure. 

Casting for Recovery-Carolinas hosts two free fly fishing retreats for breast cancer patients each year.  Over a hundred applications are submitted every year to the Southeast region of Casting for Recovery retreats however there is only enough funding to support 14 applicants.  It is the goal of our local chapter to add more retreats for these applicants.

This great organization is near and dear to my heart for many reasons but the one that is profoundly obvious is my own mother was a breast cancer survivor for 10+ years before succumbing to gastric cancer in March of 2010.  In her honor, I am dedicated to spreading the word in hopes that I can inspire you to help us, Casting for Recovery-Carolinas, raise money so that we may host many more retreats in the future.

To donate please visit: http://castingforrecovery.org/donate Retreat name: Casting for Recovery-Carolinas