I'll be posting from the Steelhead Lodge.
I've been making Facebook friend requests of a lot of anglers, trying not only to build our readership for this blog, but expand the community I store on this little machine. Feel welcome to send a request to me. Some fishermen have huge communities and subscription, so sending a request identifying myself as a freelance writer seems to make sense. But that's what I do with all I approach, and felt the other night that some might feel, "What the hell's a freelance writer doing asking me? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Well, not when you consider I have two blogs to pitch by posting it on my status with it going to news feeds in turn. I'm not concerned about getting my name out as a magazine writer, since newstands and subcriptions take care of that. I'm much less concerned that others know my name than that they enjoy and are edified by my blog anyway. I'm proud of it, but I hope I don't ttake the center of attention, unless, perhaps, I come across so well that you feel spoken to. But that's not a billboard ego (If sometimes my titles are ;-).
So busy I still haven't managed to fish North Branch Raritan as planned. Killies leftover from Sandy Hook have almost all died off, maybe a dozen left. That last excursion was wonderful, it really washed all the tension out of me, and left me feeling at home in the world.
But this is the big weekend coming. Last year my son and I were utterly driven to catch salmon, most of them shaking or breaking free, a ratio of about 12:1. One of the best weekends of fishing I've ever had. This year my brother Rick, nephew Kyle, and Dennis Fairburn, who grew up with Rick and I, join my son, Matt, and I. This would instantly become a tradition--Rick had already claimed this suggestion when I told him that next year Matt wants to go to southern Illnois with me to photograph snakes. Maybe I can get Rick & company to join us for steelhead next year, but I think in ensueing years we'll all back for salmon.
Check out http://www.fishinginnewjersey.blogspot.com/ I may post that North Branch outing tomorrow night.