four.

You sit in a small boat floating in the pacific.
Behind you a miles long trail of fish oil and blended parts, identifiable above the waterline as a boat-width calm strip that undulates slowly toward the horizon as a shark swims close and eats the man-up's fly. The guide says something then hold up four fingers, you take a photo and the moment passes, quickly forgotten.

You sit in an office chair working at your computer.
The room smells warm. An AC unit buzzes and shakes in the wall and your face glows in the dark with light from the screens as you scroll through images then stop. There on the screen is what looks like a question. Four. Four what? Who cares. But you leave and make food or to go work or masterbate to porn on your phone but you can't stop thinking about it so you write some nonsense on the internet.

The End.

Mikesells Makos: A Video

I have more to say about the subject of sharks and fly rods, but for now I leave you with this videographic deliciousness, edited from last weekends gopro footage.

Enjoy.

Also, be sure to check out Rick's play-by-play write-up over at Trouts.

-A

a slight bitch and a preview of things to come v-8.2

I must have done something wrong like thanking the incorrect deity post trophy-fish netting or running over some old gypsy woman or something because this feel like some brand of voodoo.

First it was the the week-long PM steelhead trip where the first day I began an apocalyptic sinus head-fuck cold/flu/snot-fest that kept me in bed and out of the drift boat for the first few days.

Now it was strep throat for the San Diego shark trip; fever, body aches, headache, prescription antibiotics, the whole shebang.

And if that isn't silly enough, two years ago when I had a day scheduled with Conway Bowman (the guide we had for this trip) who at the last minute had to pass the trip to Dave Trimble because he was sick with, get this, strep throat.

Seriously. I havn't had strep since I was like 8, and now it shows up on the day before a trip with a guy who had to bail because of it two years ago?

Two out of state trips this year, two sicknesses that could not have been planned better for maximum shittyness. Yeah. Voodoo.

But you know what? Fuck it. In Michigan I stuck steelhead and yesterday Makos felt the cold steel so eat a dick, illness. You have to do better than that to keep my fly out of the water, you bastard.

There is GoPro footage to edit, and I am going to bed so hard right now but I will leave you with this little tasty screenshot.

Enjoy.

Spoiler alert: That fly is in trouble.

-Alex who will probably be enjoying soft foods for a few more days.

not talkin' 'bout pleasure boatin' or day sailin'

T-48hrs.

-A

Sandwich and a License

“Hey, how you doin’?” I asked, adjusting the pack strapped over my shoulder.

The man behind the counter typed something into the register pad and looked up with midday indifference.

“Is Dave around?”

“He is down at the boat.” He flicked his head toward the double glass doors at the back. “He said to tell you to get a sandwich and a license.”

The one I picked had salami and pepperoncinis.

Capt. Dave Trimble

Arsenal

Ammunition

Mmmm chum bucket

Wide angle lens makes my legs look long like donkey kong.

permasmile

The biggest one, I think.

Somehow this little guy got all wound up in shooting head. Capt. Dave is on the case!

You and the captain makin it happen!

There is some part of your animal brain that tightens in the presence of a shark.

I have hooked harder fighting fish and larger fish. Fish with equally brutal teeth. Fish that seem to spend more time out of the water than below. But I have never caught anything more interesting. I have never looked at the fish at the end of the fly line with more child-like intrigue. Watching a big blue shark slowly raise its head out of the ocean and munch a popper evokes awe and wonder in the true sense of the word: awesome.

Fishing with Dave was a fantastic experience. Guiding from Alaska to Costa Rica, Lees Ferry to Panama, he knows whats up, and with 1000+ days on the waters off San Diego he will put you on fish.

He can be contacted through ontheflyfishingcharter.com and californiasharkfishing.com.

-Alex who is still in Florida and loving it.