That time I went conclaving and it changed my life

Last September, I attended the Fly Fishers International FlyFest in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was the first in-person "conclave" for the organization in several years.  For those readers who are not into the sport, a fly fishing conclave is defined as "a celebration of the sport featuring education, gear, and community". These 2 or 3 day events typically feature expert seminars, fly tying demonstrations, casting instruction, workshops, and fundraising activities.  

While the term "conclave" is antiquated, and replaced by "fly fest", these events are pretty much the same as they were since their inception in 1964.

Since 1991, I've attended one or more national and/or regional conclaves every year.  I've even been a presenter or demonstration tier at several. While education is a large part of these events, it's the comradery - the community aspect - that draws me to them like a moth to a light.

Which takes us to 2026.  The 2026 FlyFest will be held September 24 - 26 at the Redding Civic Auditorium in Redding, California. As part of the promotion, FFI is asking members "Have you ever met someone at a FlyFest - or conclave - who changed your fly fishing journey?".

For me, the 1993 FFI conclave in Livingston, Montana was that event. Held at Park High School, it was probably the largest FFI event ever. That conclave featured over 60 programs, 100+ fly tiers, dozens of workshops, and over 40 exhibitors and vendors.  The lineup of speakers, tiers, and instructors was a who's-who:  Lefty Kreh, Joan Wulff, Mel Krieger, Mike Maxwell,  Joe Humphreys, Maggie Merriman, Jack Dennis, Dave Whitlock, Trey Combs - just to name a few!

My experience began the year before in 1992.  We were on family vacation in Yellowstone during the same time that the FFI Conclave was being held in West Yellowstone.   Although I'd been to the regional conclaves for the Southern and Southeastern FFI Councils, the national event was like exploring a new planet.  I decided then and there to attend the Livingston show the following year.

Two days before flying to Billings for the 93 fest, I came down with fever and a total lack of energy. My fever was still elevated when I arrived at the Murray Hotel late in the afternoon. I hit the bed and didn't wake up until 10am the next morning.  But when I did, the fever was gone and I was full of energy.

I drove out to an access area on the Yellowstone and waded out to a promising area with a tandem dry rig of a Daves Hopper and Stimulator.  Over the next 3 hours, I landed several nice trout, including an 18" rainbow and a 21" brown. 

The next day was the first full day of the conclave and I had signed up for an afternoon tying class with Lefty Kreh.  But prior to that, I perused the many exhibits and some of the featured tiers. There were so many tiers, some of them were tying in the gym bleachers. 

Among the tiers in the bleachers was this older gentleman tying some very buggy trout nymphs.  The tier's name was Polly Rosborough - and he was definitely a "conversationist", lol.  There are folks who talk a lot, and not interesting to listen to, and those who you could listen to all day. Polly  was the latter.  He had some great fishing stories, and his philosophy of buggy patterns made so much sense.  

I would later adopt his variation of the Hares Ear Nymph into an ever buggier version, which I call the Rosborough Hares Ear. It has been my all-time best submergent pattern for both trout and all species of sunfish.

The tying class with Lefty was also an eye-opener. He also did a seminar on 150 fly fishing tips which I attended.  It was my first deep experience with the greatest fly angler of the 20th century and one which truly took my fishing to another level.

The next day included a casting workshop I took with Mel Krieger. It was an added course to the agenda, and it turned out to be the forerunner to his later video on "Fly Casting Faults and Fixes".  Mel was a spirit legend in our club, his video on "Essence of Fly Casting" had been shown to members the first and third year of our existence.  His demeanor was exactly like that in his videos... he made us laugh often.  But his every teaching got absorbed. 

After the class, I participated in an adhoc casting instruction by Bob Lay. Bob was a legend in the FFI - an accomplished and award-winning tier and casting instructor. And a great guy to boot!  

It was from Bob that I learned a technique I employ to this day with my basic casting students.  Bob had us sit in a chair to cast - which eliminates body motion and focuses the casting mechanics to the lower arm.  The result is better control and accuracy.  But as someone engaged in the early evolution of kayak fishing, this technique greatly reduced "rocking" when casting from a kayak - a gamechanger!

On the final day, I did a bit of fishing that afternoon but returned for the event barbecue.  No sooner I went into line, three gentlemen approached me from behind - fellow members of the Red Stick Fly Fishers club!  They had been out fishing the Madison that week and decided to take in the final day at the conclave.  We sat under a clear sunset sky, enjoying some fine barbecue, and telling tales of fish caught and ones that got away.

I could go on about a few other things I learned from the 1993 Conclave. But this story is long enough. And the point has been made... FlyFest not only offers a unique learning experience, but a community experience that will provide memories for a lifetime.

Frying Fish The Fred Cormier Way!

During Lenten season, many of us Catholics abstain from eating meat on Friday.  In Louisiana, that's often an excuse to enjoy crawfish, oysters, shrimp, crabs and fish. And for this flyfisher who often practices catch & release, an excuse to keep a few fish.  

A recent early morning catch of eight large crappie was enough to provide a few meals. Some of the fish were caught on an olive Fluff Butt, while the rest were taken on a purple / white Crappie Candy.

I prepared the filets using my dad's method, which included a trick from Frank Davis' book, The Seafood Notebook.  

First the filets are seasoned with salt and grounded Zatarains cayenne pepper, a little water added, and thoroughly mixed. Then yellow mustard is added and the fish are stirred again.  Then each filet is patted down in Frank's mix recipe::  1/3 corn flour (seasoned Zatarains Fish Fry), 1/3 cornmeal and 1/3 baking flour. 

The fish are fried at 350 degrees in a mix of corn and canola oil.  The coating mix that Frank suggested keeps the oil clean and preserves the juicyness inside.  Make sure to only fry 2 -3 filets at a time to prevent the oil from dipping below 300 degrees.  That insures that the fish are not too greasy.

Incidently, I fry all my fish and shrimp in a black iron skillet or pot.  The heat retention allows me to cook in less time than an aluminum pot.  My wife also suggests that it gives a better taste.

If you would like to enjoy this type of fried fish at a restaurant, check out Prejean's in Carencro.  Their catfish is prepared this same way.   

 

Review: 2021 Subaru Ascent Premium

During a fishing trip to the coast last week, I ran into Chad Foster. Some of my fellow fly anglers will recognize that name as the host of the popular "Fly Fishing America" which ran for eight seasons on national television.  A native of Lafayette, Chad was a highly successful businessman while in his early 20s, and by age 33 took a step back to get involved with Special Olympics and later as an author and youth skills motivator.

Chad had been fishing with a mutual friend, John Williams of Pack and Paddle.  He noticed I was driving a Subaru Ascent and stated he was interested in an Ascent. He then had the distinction of being the 100th person to ask me about my vehicle. For that, he wins a Big Mac Meal from McDonalds. But maybe I'll send him a box of Plantation Pride pecans instead.

Yes, everyone - I mean everyone - has asked me about my Ascent. So to avoid having to write up a detailed report every time someone asks, I'm simply going to post this and refer to this blog post.

Subarus are popular. Especially with the outdoors crowd - and dog owners. We qualify as both. Two years ago, our daughter bought a Forester in the Base model. After driving and riding in it, my wife - in need of a new SUV - last summer bought a Forester in the Touring Edition.

A couple of months later, I was looking to replace my Highlander which had 240,000 miles. My older son and his wife were looking to replace their minivan. I had just sold a property and with the cash, was able to buy both him and I each a late model used vehicle (I stopped buying new vehicles years ago). We were both looking at 3rd row seat SUVs, so I got a chance to test out several models.

In the end, they chose a Ford Explorer. My choices were down to a Ford Explorer, Subaru Ascent, Toyota Highlander, and Honda Pilot. There was also a highly-rated Hyundai model, but I didn't care for the odd design. While I liked the Pilot, the cost of maintenance and some reliability issues bothered me. My current and previous vehicles where Highlanders, and I knew they had rock solid reliability. The Explorer and Ascent were longer than the Highlander, and had quite a bit more cargo room with the 3rd seat down than the Toyota.

It was close call between the Explorer and Ascent, but the "fun" of driving, the gas mileage, and the safety features sold me on the Ascent.

After having driven this vehicle for a little over a year, and across several parts of the country, I feel I can give a very good assessment.

PROS:
- This is just a fun vehicle to drive. It feels more like the Forester than a "full size" SUV.
- Gas mileage.  I get 24 mpg around town, 30-32 mpg on the highway.
- Cargo room. More spacious than my Highlanders were, I can hold a LOT of hiking and fishing gear.
- Safety features. This is Subaru's big selling pitch, and yes, it comes in handy at times.
- Full time four wheel drive standard. It's come in handy a few times already!

CONS:
- The turbocharged 4-cylinder really has lots of pep, but sometimes it's a bit sluggish for the first 5 minutes if the engine is cold.
- The leg room in the back seat isn't as roomy as my Highlander was, even though the 3rd seat has more than the Highlander did.
- Some of the interior feels a bit "cheap". Turns out the "Premium" is just above the "Base" and below the "Limited" and "Touring". My wife's Forester Touring is much nicer inside.

Eyesight. This is Subaru's top safety feature. The Ascent has the usual "modern" safety features like flashing when a car approaches on either side, or gets too close behind, or rear camera when backing up. Eyesight reads the road ahead. It gives alerts when the driver leaves the lane, or changes lanes without using the blinker, or when the vehicle in front starts moving. When using cruise control, the Ascent will slow down to a safe distance behind a slower vehicle.

But there's a kicker... there's also a "driver assist" feature to Eyesight. During the first couple of weeks, I noticed anytime I came into a curve that the vehicle would want to make the turn. I even tried it once, on a good country road with wide shoulders, and the vehicle turned by itself!  It does get a bit annoying after a while, so I turned it off. But it might come in handy for those who don't pay attention to the road, lol.

Safety features aside, I need an SUV to do the following: carry my kayak for long trips (instead of using my kayak trailer), have good cargo room, get good gas mileage, accomodate those times when I'm driving the grandkids (3rd row seat), have good reliability, and be a good purchase value (yes, I'm frugal).

The Ascent hit all those requirements. It's what SUVs were intended to be... an outdoors vehicle. Not some luxury vehicle, or a fashionable transport for soccer moms. If there's one thing I could change, it would be to bring back the step bumper that SUVs once had.

To see more detail on the photos above, click on the photo. 

2023 Spring Garden - May 6 update

It's been a long time since my last post here. There have been several highs and several lows.

Highs: my daughter got married, my younger son got married, a couple of my nephews got married, more grandchildren came into our lives, and LSU won a national championship in football with Joe Burrow winning the Heisman. I also won three kayak bass fishing tournaments including my 2nd consecutive"Bass on the Fly" world championship, as well as placed in five other kayak bass tournaments.

Lows: I came down with Covid-induced pneumonia in August 2021 and spent 6 weeks in the hospital. My sister and I also lost our mother (not Covid related) who was as close to being a saint as anyone I've ever known. She was a pillar of the Cecilia community and St. Joseph Catholic Church. Our family truly appreciated the outpouring of love from so many folks who knew her.

Since it's May, it's time for a garden update. This year here in the west Cenla area we had a late freeze so the plants didn't get into the ground until late March. But the plots have really become productive the last couple of years and growth has been nothing short of amazing. The secret?  It's actually a few things:

• I've gone from adding "topsoil" to strictly adding cow manure - 2 bags per plot. 
• Adding ag lime a month before planting. The lime unlocks the nutrients locked in the low pH soil.
• Stocking earthworms into the garden.  I learned at TOFGA that they can really transform a garden!
• Eliminating plastic barrier.  While it was breathable, it seemed to repel some water as my plants would wilt a bit after only a few days without water.  Since eliminating the barrier, I don't have to water quite as often.

In the photo, the plants up front on the first plot are Celebrity tomatos, the back plants on the first plot are Cherry 100 tomatos. The other side of the plots have bell peppers. The plants on the back end of the 2nd plot are Sweet Slice cucumbers and eggplant. The Celebrity tomatos would be taller - so would the bell peppers - but I learned a trick that trimming the top causes earlier maturation of fruit. On the bell peppers, it also causes multiple limbs to sprout which pays big production numbers in the Fall.

As for the citrus and blueberries, the late freeze hurt both. The only variety with any berries are the Premieres. One of the Washington navels has a few oranges. Everything else - barren!  The freeze also knocked out any fruit for the dozens of wild elderberries we have on our property. Oh well, maybe next year!

2019 Spring Garden - May 6 update

It's time for my annual Cinco de Mayo spring garden update. Here's how it goes: I have two square food gardening plots measuring 4x16 feet. Each year at this time, I take a photo of the TPC plot (tomato-pepper-cucumber) which alternates each year between the two plots. I then compare the current photo to past photos to determine the progress of the garden.

If you look back at the post from May, 2018, you'll see that this year's crops lag behind those of last year. Last year we had record cold and much below normal temperatures that delayed the planting until late March. This year, we had a much milder winter, but it was a sustained cold. We had two nights of frost the first week of April.

But it's rainfall, not temperatures that are the main culprit for this year's underperforming veggies.  We've had 144 percent of normal preciptation so far in 2019. Great for ducks, crawfish and mosquitos. Not so great for gardens.

According to multiple sources, too much rain and overcast skies can slow a plant's growth as well as leach nutrients from the soil. For that reason, I've taken to adding Jobe's Organic Fertilizer to the TPC plot in the last week. As poor as my plants look now compared to past years, they REALLY looked poor prior to adding the Jobes. It's made a big difference.

Then last night, I added earthworms to the garden. While there's already a few in the beds, my experience is that adding worms greatly boosts plant and fruit production.

Sadly, the weather prognosticators are predicing heavy rainfall over the next several days. Seems like we can't get a break here in Louisiana.

Easter Sunday 2019 - Beer Can Chicken

We had a big family gathering at the homestead for Easter Sunday. Two of our kids, all of my wife's siblings and their husbands and kids, her father, my sister and her husband, and my mother.

My wife picked up a pork roast to cook in the oven, but she knew that wouldn't be enough meat for everyone. So she asked if I'd do a chicken on the grill. Well I decided to do two chickens. Better safe than sorry. Besides, when done right, there are never complaints about having beer can chicken (BCC) for leftovers.

I've done BCC many times, so I thought it would be nice to share my method.  Preparation begins with fresh-picked rosemary from our herb garden, mixed with Balsamic Vignerette salad dressing. The bird is saturated with this mix, then placed in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

On early Sunday morning, I took the bird out and lightly washed off the rosemary, then rubbed the bird down with salt, cayenne pepper and a light dash of olive oil.

I don't use beer cans, but rather a product called the "Chicken Tipper" made by a sheet metal shop in my hometown of Cecilia. The aluminum is much thicker and heavier than a beer can and can support a large chicken. I place the Tipper in a pan - with a little water in the pan - to help catch the drippings for gravy. The water insures that the drippings won't dry up.

Inside the Tipper I add grape juice. Most recipes call for wine or beer, but I find that juice adds more flavor while not drying out the meat. There are many, many opinions on this, but that's my observation.

I preheat the Akorn grill to 325 degrees, and set the temperature probe into the thickest part of the bird, with the alarm set for 165 degrees. Once the internal temperature is reached, I wait a few minutes to take off the grill. Then I place the bird in an aluminum pan and cover with aluminum foil.  This was a technique I read about in one of the grilling forums. Seems to extend the "internal cooking" of the bird but without drying out the meat.

The marinating and seasoning of the bird helps in the flavor. But anything you cook on an Akorn, Big Green Egg, Kamado or other domed charcoal grill will have that great smoky flavor that brings folks back for seconds.

2018 Spring Garden - May 6 update

2018 May 6 TPC plot

2015 May 5 TPC plot

We've had an unusually cold and wet winter and early spring here in central Louisiana. In fact, the average daily temperature up until April 15th was 9 degrees below normal. Let's put it this way... during the Little Ice Age - which peaked in the 17th century - the average annual temperatures were only 2-3 degrees cooler than the 20th century!

Before you start looking at igloos for your next home, realize that this was just an abnormality. Temperatures in late April moderated to near normal and the forecast for May looks to be slightly above normal. But just to give readers something to think about, check out these articles on why another ice age could be a possibility: sun growing colder and demise of the Gulf Stream.

How has this cold winter affected my spring garden? I looked back and found only one other photo for this time in May and that was from 3 years ago. Even so, it's quite telling. I knew my cucumber plants were extremely sluggish this Spring. They're in the 2018 photo.  Behind the bell pepper plants on the left.  So short they can't even be seen.  Compare to those in the 2015 photo.  

Conversely, the tomatoes may be my best crop ever for this time of year. Plants are thick and full of small fruit.  That's because I supplemented my garden bed with a bag of Azomite which I picked up at the Texas Organic Farmers and Growers Association (TOFGA) Conference. Azomite is a natural rock dust that contains over 70 minerals and trace elements. Research has shown that it benefits many plants, but especially tomatoes. Leaves are greener and fruit production higher. If this warm weather pattern continues, we should be eating tomatoes by Memorial Day... if not sooner!

Cucumbers are a tropical vegetable. Even though we had no freezes or hard frost after I planted in mid-March, we had MANY nights were the  temperature dipped into the upper 30s or low 40s. And many days where the high temperature never got above 70 degrees. According to guidelines, cucumbers shouldn't even be put into the ground until soil temperatures are at least 70 degrees.

However, I believe that putting the cucumbers in early as I did has helped the plants establish a good root system. That's the thing about cukes - they can have a tough start, but if the root system is set, then the plants will grow rapidly and fruit heavily once conditions are right.

Kurt Loup's world-famous gumbo

With another blast of frigid arctic air moving in for a full week I thought now would be a good time to share a gumbo recipe from my old friend, Kurt Loup.  Over the last couple decades, it's made quite an impression on a whole lot of folks.  Kurt used to make this gumbo for the first few years of the Bayou Coast Kayak Fishing Club's  Paddlepalooza tournament.  

I also prepared it one year at the Little Mo Fly Fishing Fest and another year at the Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) Southeastern Council expo.  At the Southeastern event, I had folks taking french bread and scooping up the residues on the bottom of the pot!

Here is Kurt's recipe for chicken and sausage.  For a seafood version, see below. The base recipe is the same for either version. Makes about 1 1/2 gallons.

2 cups onion
1 cup green bell peppers
1/2 cup celery
3 cups okra
1 pod of garlic
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 cups dark roux (1 cup flour, 1/2 cup oil) or
approximately 3-4 large tablespoons Savoie's roux
1 bunch green onions
2 tablespoons parsley
8 bay leaves
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons file'
6 cups water or chicken stock
3 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes (if not using chicken stock)
Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning to taste
1/2 pound andouille sausage
1/2 smoked pork sausage
2 pounds boneless and skinless chicken
(3-4 pounds if with bones)

OR for the seafood version, substitute the last 3 ingredients above with...
6-12 cracked and cleaned crabs depending on size
2 lbs. peeled shrimp

Sauté first six ingredients until soft. Add roux, stirring until blended. Add stock and bring to a boil.When boiling, add remaining ingredients. Simmer for at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Ca c'est bon!

Mother's Day brisket

One of my resolutions for 2017 was to post more on food. In addition to our garden, and involvement with the local Farmers Market, Em and I do a lot of cooking and it seems a shame not to share.

This past weekend was not only Mother's Day, it was my daughter Cokie's Masters graduation from Southeastern (outstanding grad student in Health Sciences, Magna Cum Laude - Oh, Lawdy!) and my sister and BIL's anniversary. We decided to have a big celebration at my house.

The top two suggestions for entree were Shrimp & Grits and Brisket. Em said, "We can do both!".  With one problem...  Em's S&G are awesome, but in the 3 years I've owned my Akorn grill I've never done a slow meat cook of any kind.

So I went to the web and researched. There are several great forums, articles, and videos on cooking brisket. Enough to make it somewhat confusing. But what I learned was that I needed to make a few "modifications" to my grill.

1) A thick pizza stone. This sits on a lower grate. A 14" round stone leaves about 2 inches of spacing between edge of stone and interior of pit. The stone not only deflects direct heat to the meat, but it also acts like a heat sink, stabilizing and holding heat in.

2) It was suggested to wrap the stone in heavy duty aluminum foil. More often than not, the stone breaks when close to flame. The foil keeps in one piece.

3) A dual-probe meat thermometer, for measuring meat temperature and one for grill temp. Turns out the cost of a remote unit was only slightly more than a regular unit, so I went with the remote set. A wise choice on my part!

4) A couple of cheap aluminum pans from the dollar store.

5. Wood chunks - NOT chips! Also, after reading much heated debate, I went with briquets over charcoal chunks. Again, a very wise decision!

When it comes to rubbings and coatings, I believe there are more options here than there are stars in the Milky Way. So I went "All out Stubbs" for no particular reason other than I love Stubbs products.

I bought a 12-pound packer and rubbed it down with half-half Stubbs Mopping Sauce and Stubbs Original. I then sprinkled Stubbs Beef Rub on the mixed sauce and rubbed it in a bit. I then wrapped up the brisket in Saran and stuck it in the fridge overnight.

The next evening about 7pm, I started my fire. Built a mound in the bottom of my Akorn using 7 pounds of briquets (which turned out to be 5 pounds more than I needed) and about 15 wood chunks (which was about twice what I needed).  I then lit a small starter cube in the middle and let it burn a few coals hot. Then I placed the lower grate, the foiled pizza stone, a foil tray to catch drippings, and then the Akorn cast iron grate on which the brisket would sit. I also coated the iron grate with Pam Grill spray to prevent sticking.

When the temp got to 200, I put the brisket on and stuck the other probe into the thick end of the meat. On the Akorn, you have to be careful because the temp can overshoot your target. It requires "braking" the temp and making minor adjustments.

By about 8:30pm, everything was going great. The grill temp was a steady 230 degrees. It stayed that way until the very end! I went inside and fell asleep on the sofa watching a movie.

Earlier that night, a fox came into our yard and drove Belle crazy. Well about 4:00am, she goes crazy again and woke me up. I quickly checked my remote hoping I didn't miss anything. Turns out the interior was at 173, just 2 degrees short of my alarm.

So while I was up, I opened the grill (first time!) and saw this beautiful black piece of meat. I put it into another foil pan which had heavy duty aluminum foil in it, and wrapped the foil around the meat. Stuck the probe back into the thick part, put the pan on the grill, and set the new alarm temp to 200.

At 6:00am, Belle woke me up again, this time a deer. Doggone wildlife know something about brisket because when I looked at the remote, it was showing 196. So I pulled the pan off the grill, stuck it into an ice chest and let it sit inside for an hour. Then I put the pan into the top oven in my house, with no heat on, just letting it cool down albeit slowly.

The true test came when my brother-in-law showed up, the Barbecue King of Cecilia. I knew there was NO chance I could do as well as he could, just tried to make it palatable. He and his two sons (my nephews) each took a slice and tasted. "Whatever you did, document it. This is the best brisket I've had". Tears rolled from my eyes, lol.  

Of course later my younger son TigerJake would show up, he who now lives in Texas. He samples the meat then tells me that there's a couple of Texas joints that do better. 

All I know is that when my 85-year old mother can cut a slice of brisket using her fork, it's got to be tender!

A few post-cook observations:

1. There was this film on the inside of my Akorn. It looked like a shiny coating that was peeling off. Except the grill never had an inside coating, it's porcelain. I did some searching on the web and from what I gather, this could've been a by-product of too much wood/smoke at a low temp. I will say I've never seen so much smoke as came out that grill during this cook. Looked like I was burning diesel fuel.

2. The pizza stone cracked. But the foil kept it together. From what I've read, it doesn't matter how much it cracks. As long as it stays together in the foil, it can be reused infinite times. There is a type of pizza stone made from Corderite that doesn't crack. But it requires seasoning a couple times, and later, special cleaning. Otherwise, it can create a bad stink when heated!  Will stick with the broken stone, lol.

3. I probably used too much wood. While it gave the meat a nice smoke taste, everything else stunk up smoke. Like I said, I'd never seen that much smoke - from anything!

4. The remote thermometer is a must-have! Not having to open the pit but once during the cook was a blessing!

Can't wait to do this again. Next time I'll take more photos.

Maine: hiking, fishing, and feasting!

Recently my wife and I joined up with 9 other members of the Louisiana Hiking Club in a "Destination Hike" trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. LHC does about 3 of these a year, in addition to their local hikes. This one was actually our Fall hike, moved up from the usual September time frame so that a pair of students could join in.

The actual number of hiking days was 8, but it takes 3 days to drive there and back, so it was a 2-week journey. Our friend "Mooi" joined us for the grueling road trip, tempered by the fact that we were traveling across some very scenic country. We also added one extra day to our trip in order for me to take a guided fishing trip.

For Em and myself, it was our first time to this part of the country. Our introduction to Maine came with a surprise. At the welcome center, I saw a kiosk honoring famous residents of the state. One of those was a woman Olympic gold medalist. The instant I saw her face I thought to myself, "My god, that's Em!". Yes, she looked just like my wife about 10-15 years ago. Her maiden name is Benoit, my wife's grandmother was a Benoit. We may have to get ancestry.com involved, lol.

There are three aspects of our trip that left a lasting impression - the hiking, the food, and the fishing.

Hiking

We hiked 27 miles on this trip, but most of that was vertical. Mount Desert Island (pronounced "dessert") ranges from sea level to over 1,500 feet, but there are numerous mountains on the island over 1,000 feet that lie adjacent to coastal waters or near sea-level lakes. The trails range from easy (on the carriage roads) to strenous (hand crawling up or down large boulders). The toughest hikes were the most rewarding. The scenery is incredible and the range and beauty of plants amazing.

Em was our trail leader on nearly all the hikes. She scaled rocks like a mountain goat and was non-stop. We had to call for breaks because she wasn't, lol. Her other fault was getting us back a bit off from where we started.  In other words, about a half-mile or mile away from the parking lot.  At least for the first couple of hikes. It probably looked a bit strange for folks to see hikers walking along the side of a highway, lol. It earned her the nickname of "Fearless Leader" and the entire group the nickname of "Road Warriors".

Food

Our tough - and sometimes wayward - day hauls were well rewarded in the evening. Dinner time offered some of Maine's finest - fresh boiled lobsters, lobster rolls, clam or seafood chowder, scallops, clams. Most of our meals were enjoyed with locally produced Blueberry or Ginger Ale soda. Dessert was also highly anticipated - the specialty of every restaurant is blueberry pie ala mode or Whoopie Pies. Unless they offer popovers.

Okay, so let's delve more into the lobsters, whoppie pies and popovers. A common sight on Mount Desert are the "lobster pounds". These can be enclosed restaurants or outside food stands, named so because they serve boiled lobsters, where you choose your own and pay by the pound. The crustaceans are boiled with corn, and then served with either salad or cole slaw.  Now I'd eaten lobster before, but never this good! Dipping small pieces of the claws and tail into that dipping butter was a treat for the palate.  A lobster roll is somewhat like a lobster po-boy.   While they also have shrimp and crab, much of the seafood offerings are foreign to Louisianians - e.g., lobster, scallops, clams, haddock.  It's all good too, even if it could benefit from some Tony Chacheres seasoning.

Nick Curcione once observed about Louisianians and our food - "Eating here is a contact sport!".  In Maine, dessert is a contact sport!  In addition to blueberry pie, another favorite is the whoppie pie.  Whoppie pies have creamy interiors sandwiched by two cookie dough buns.  Listening to folks up there, you'd think it was the greatest thing ever made.  But I think it's diversionary... the real greatest treat of all time is popover.  A popover is a like a cream puff exterior but minus the creme... it's hollow interior and flaky outside. Served with butter or jam, it's positively addictive!  Unfortunately if you go to Mount Desert Island there's only 2 locations that now serve popovers - Jordan Pond House in ANP and the Common Good Kitchen in Southwest Harbor.  The latter benefits the homeless and besides making the better popovers, they offer great live music.

 

Fishing


We arrived in Bangor a day earlier than the rest of the group so that I could take a guided trip on the Penobscot River with Kevin McKay of Maine Fishing Adventures.  This connection goes back 20 years.  I was looking to transform my fly fishing "page" to a real website.  Kevin had setup a website called "Maine Fly Fishing" with the domain www.maineflyfish.com.  I basically got many ideas from his site for mine, thus "Louisiana Fly Fishing" and the domain www.laflyfish.com.

When I spoke to Kevin about this trip he only vaguely remembered me talking to him back then, but that was okay.  I was impressed that he had continued to grow and improve his site, and that he had transformed his love of the sport into a part time guiding gig.  He offered trips for large brook trout, landlocked salmon, and smallmouth.  When I inquired about fishing the lower Penobscot, he responded, "Yes, we catch lots of smallies up to 20 inches or larger, and quite a few large chain pickerel as well.".    WOW!   Two of my favorite fly rod fish in one river?  Sign me up!

The lower Penobscot is a clear, wide but shallow river (10 feet deep or less) with several channels, bars, tributaries, and filled with big boulders and logs.  The entire width is ideal habitat for smallmouth, and there's just enough current to require some techical casting (e.g, reach-mend).   By the time we started, the rain had ended and we didn't get another drop the rest of the day.  But on the downside, a strong north wind shortly came up after launching and by noon, there were swells and whitecaps.  Fortunately, by then we'd hit most of the main river spots and were able to shift to the side channels.

I'd brought my Redington Predator 6-weight short stick with a Galvan loaded with 7-weight line.  Several of the flies we used were wind-resistant and because of the wind, I was having to work the Predator fairly hard to get a 50-foot cast (although I caught several fish within 20 feet of the boat).  Kevin suggested I use his Scott Meridian 7-weight.  The Meridian was awarded Best New Fly Rod of Show at ICAST/IFTD last July.  I'd cast it at the show and was very impressed.  But this was my first time to actually fish it.  All I can say is that if I get the $895 to buy one, I certainly will.   It was an absolute joy to fish this rod!

As for the flies.  Because of conditions - cold, windy - it wasn't conducive to poppers.  I really had hoped to get some bronzebacks on top, gives me reason to make a return trip, lol.  The two best patterns were a woolybugger and a woolybugger-like fly that Kevin's son tied that had sili-legs for a tail.  Both had a chartreuse tail.  That's important because many times you don't feel a smallie hit a fly, or by the time you feel it, the fish has done it's taste test and gone bye-bye.  So in the clear waters you watch the tail of your fly and if it disappears, you do a strip-strike.  Sounds easy, but with a cold blustery wind my poor lizard blood wasn't adapting too well.  So it took a few missed smallies to get into my groove.

By the end of the day I'd brought 31 smallmouth into the boat.  The largest was 18 1/2, but most were in the 14-15 inch range.  I'd also landed about 2 dozen chain pickeral.  Kevin said that was the most any client had ever caught, deeming me the "Pickeral King"  (It's a title I was more than happy to accept, lol).   Truth is, I've had lots of practice since moving to the Alexandria area.  Two other species landed were yellow perch and chubs - both the largest I'd ever caught.  Things seem to grow bigger in Maine - smallies, perch, chubs, brookies, moose, popovers and those saltwater crawfish they call lobsters!

 

I also did some fishing on my own on Mount Desert.  There are over a dozen lakes and small ponds, mostly stocked with brook and brown trout, landlocked salmon.  Other species include chain pickeral, bass, and sunfish.  There are several streams with wild brookies.  I love how they nail dry flies and small popping bugs with abandon.

TOFGA 2016

This past week I attended the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assocation annual convention at the Hilton Lakefront in Rockwall, Texas.  As Em and I continue to deepen our roles in the local food and farmer markets initiative, it's been a desire to expand our involvement beyond just support to actually being contributors.  That means converting part of our acreage to a small farm.  I was interesting in learning what other small organic and/or sustainable farmers were doing to succeed.  TOFGA Conference seemed like a great opportunity. 



The conference provided a few surprises. First of all, there was great diversity among the attendees. Most were under 40, making me feel like the old man in the group.  Almost half were women, and probably a third were minorities (Asian, Hispanic, African-American).

I also came into this conference thinking that, with 4-5 acres under consideration, our potential farm might be very small potatoes (or other veggies or fruits).  In one of the first sessions of the first day, a young urban farmer chronicled his success story leasing and planting on a whopping 1.5 acres!  I got a kick when he stated that his friend Tim (who later gave a presentation) had a large farm - almost 6 acres.  As you can surmise, organic farmers make the most out of every square yard.   Another shock came in one session when the presenter asked the audience, "How many of you are actively farming?".  Only about half raised their hands.  Apparently many attendees are looking to lease a few acres to start their operation.

I came away from TOFGA with a wealth of information.  I'm already looking forward to 2017.

On a side note, the conference was held adjacent to The Harbor Rockwall, with several restaurants in the complex.  Several of us were looking for lunch at a reasonable price and we found it at Dodie's Cajun Diner.  I usually avoid Cajun food outside of south Louisiana, but this establishment was founded by a family from New Orleans.  And the proof is in the taste!  Their grilled shrimp monica and seafood gumbo was as good as home.