Fly Fish Chick

Willie Nelson is 75 years old today. I hope he gets his economic stimulus check right on his birthday, and he spends the government’s money on __________.

Oh, I don’t know. What do you think he should spend it on?

Happy Birthday Willie.

This post doesn’t have a lick to do with fishing, but I thought I’d throw it in the mix nonetheless…

If you’ve been following along, you know I recently launched WWLD 08. Also known as my own personal What Would Loretta Do Live Music Tour of the Texas Hill Country.

Friday night I went to see Marc Broussard at Antone’s. Now if you’re out of the loop on this one, Marc Broussard is a New Orleans bayou rocker with talent to spare. To look at him he’s your average-looking white kid, but close your eyes and he’s an oldschool Stax-style soul singer with Delta demons clipping at his heels. He had the joint jumping Friday night.

Loved his new song Must Be the Water and he looks like he was having so much fun when he played Where You Are and other hits from the Carencro album. Truthfully he and his band looked like they were having a blast up there, and the mood was infectious. At one point he eased off one tune into something odd and familiar.

What was it? I listened a second longer. Really? Are you kidding me…For real? Is he playing…..

The Bird???? By Prince?

Oh, that’s right. You heard me… Wawk!! Hallelujah! Whoa-oa-oa-oa. Whoa-oa-oa-oa.

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that one. I’ve never seen Antone’s so crowded and Marc Broussard had the whole hot sweaty crowd doing a-not-so-brand-new-dance. And it’s called The Bird. Just as he had the entire mob squawkin’ & rockin’ he launched back into his own tunes. It was classic.

His signature song, Home is the epitome of hard-driving swampwater-rocknroll with a splash of voodoo-funk. Go download it off his Carencro album — I dare you not to like it. We all waited, desperately wanting to hear it. Then again dreading the start of it, knowing full-well it would be his last song of the night.

He kicked into Led Zeppelin, “You need schoolin’, Baby I’m not foolin…” and the crowd went nuts. Then quickly switched to ACDC Back In Black. Got everyone more in a frenzy. And then took it on Home to finish the night. It was spectacular.

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Then on Saturday it was the first ever Lonestar Jam with two stages of Texas bands all day long. It was a nice little festival smack dab in the middle of Austin, I liked it. Easy to navigate. Mostly college kids and youngsters trying to gnaw off their Under 21 wristbands. Actually, someone did ask me if I went to UT, which completely made me laugh. And lest that go to my head… I promptly ran into two of the college girls who look after Little Chick, and they called kept calling me “ma’am.”

I really only wanted to see Cross Canadian Ragweed and happened to arrive just as they took the stage. They were sublime, rocked as always. I will admit I’ve been a little slower than usual to fall in love with their latest album Mission California. But I’m totally there now. Fun to hear I Believe and Cry Lonely and In Oklahoma.

All-in-all my live music weekend was everything I’d hoped for. I’m going to fly high on my moments with Marc Broussard and CCR just a tad longer, and then it’s time to switch gears. After all, it’s WWLD 08 and the beat goes on…

Back in February I ventured down to Gruene to fish the Guadalupe and play with friends. Clear water, cold beer, hungry fish, lots of laughs.

It was a pretty great way to spend a day…

For the past 15 years Joey Lin has been working hard to help people find the fish they’re after…whether it be Texas, Argentina, the Bahamas or Mexico. A guide for about ten of those years, he now manages his own booking business Far Out Fishing Trips while splitting time between Argentina and Austin.

But before he was lost to our favorite cause, he was a professional photographer. He’s incredibly talented and I’m mesmerized by his sharp, fresh take on these far away places. But I have to say, exotic locations aside, I simply adore his Texas Hill Country pictures. All really good stuff. Below are a few of Joey’s images from various fishing adventures…

All images are copyright Joey Lin 200x.

And while you’re browsing around Joey’s blog, check out this footage from Casa Blanca Lodge in Mexico. He went last year with a large crew, and a member of the group compiled the video. Looks like a pretty fun trip, don’t you think? Instead of waiting for my engraved invitation, I’ll just go ahead and RSVP ‘yes’ for the next one they put together.

According to this Reuters news story, police in Congo have arrested 13 sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal men’s penises.

Uh….pardon?

If you read further into the article, you will see that in most cases, the penis isn’t actually missing, just critically downsized. While some doubt the veracity of these nefarious spells, members of the community are understandably rattled by the shrinkage to their manhood. According to one witness in Kinshasa, “It’s real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny.”

Oh my goodness where to start. Too many wisecracks, too many wisecracks. Hmmm. Can’t decide, can’t decide.

I think it’s best if I just refrain for now.

But c’mon, are we seriously going to pin this on black magic? Isn’t it usually the cold that’s to blame?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.

Poor Candy. I bet a fly fisherman wrote that. A fisherman who’s still snowed-in somewhere and getting a little grumpy.

Good heavens what if her sign had read, “HELLO, NEIGHBORS! What’s the magic bug on this river?”

Or, “HELLO, NEIGHBORS! What’s your favorite fishing spot?”

And there’s always my personal favorite from the super chipper trountnuts, “HELLO, NEIGHBORS! Are we living the dream, or what?”

I particularly like how the grumpy respondent with bad handwriting took extra care to place a comma after FUCK YOU. After all, expletives and a bad mood are not an excuse to abandon proper grammar.

We went to Yellowstone a few years ago and Little Chick was determined to be the very first one to spot a buffalo. Armed with some fancy Zeiss binoculars she kept a keen watch…

A good reminder that sometimes what you’re looking for is closer than you realize.

I love this picture and keep it in a frame on my desk because it makes me laugh out loud every single day. But despite the fact that I type away with my nose right under it for hours at a time, ironically, the lesson was recently lost on me.

About six weeks ago I was in a flyshop and saw the new Patagonia Sun Shade shirt. And I wanted it. Unfortunately they only had the men’s so I launched into the usual drill of looking for the women’s version online. It didn’t take long to find it at several online retailers.

I don’t know what weird hoodoo was at play with me and this damn shirt, but I literally ordered it three separate times from three separate online retailers. Each time they took my order and each time they came with some quirky problem. Sorry, it’s actually out of stock. Sorry we forgot to process your order, do you still want it. Sorry, we don’t actually carry it in that color.

Getting the damn Patagonia Sun Shade Shirt has become a bit of an obsession.

Yesterday I had some time to kill so I wandered down the way to Sportsman’s Finest. After all my online research and calling around, I walk right into my local flyshop and there’s the damn shirt. Why didn’t I just start there? They had plenty of sizes and colors to choose from. Mens and womens alike.

Sometimes what you want is closer than you realize.

To some degree this theme continued as day turned into evening and evening turned into a late night on the town. I went to a swanky artsy fundraiser last night but dashed from there to The Saxon Pub to see Seth Walker play. I needed a dose of blues music and a bit of boogie.

Now you may recall from my post on Springfest, Seth Walker was a highlight of the whole Florida weekend. You may also recall I get very shy around musicians.

So last night I sashay up to the Saxon Pub in my party clothes and lo and behold…there was Seth Walker hanging out on the sidewalk. Ooh la la! I acted like a bumbling fool but I did muster the nerve to fawn all over him and tell him all about traveling to Florida to see him play and how great he was.

He could not have been kinder. But he did laugh and say, “You went all the way to Florida to hear me and you haven’t ever heard me play here?”

Yeah yeah, Seth. I know.

Sometimes what you need is closer than you realize.

I am a woman of limited interests. Other than my daughter, my family and close friends, I really only love two things: fishing and honkytonk music.

Now I adore all kinds of music – soul, blues, rock, jazz, Sinatra Sinatra Sinatra, bluegrass, gospel, disco, hiphop. But I cut my teeth on good old honkytonk music and it holds the hotspot in my heart to this very day.

I grew up singing Willie, Waylon, Ernest Tubb, Hank Thompson, Guy Clark, Faron Young, Webb Pierce, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn. Oh, Loretta Lynn!

I’ll spare you my impassioned monologue on why Loretta Lynn is the greatest female artist of all time. I have a fuzzy memory of boring Charlie Robison and his entire band one night in Little Rock Arkansas as we drank til dawn and I pontificated about how Loretta “broke down barriers” and “wrote her own songs” and “put out avant garde lyrics for her time”. Blah blah blah. I was brilliant in my own mind. In retrospect, I doubt that’s where Charlie’s band thought the night was going after diligently plying me with liquor til 6am. Oops.

But what can I say, I just love Loretta Lynn. One time I went on a blind date with a guy who, over appetizers, managed to reveal that he couldn’t stand fly fishing and despised Loretta Lynn.

What?

I suppose everyone is welcome to their own opinion. But….what? I tried as gracefully as possible to decline subsequent invitations but finally just had to lay it on the line. I simply couldn’t go on a second date with someone who hates fly fishing and Loretta Lynn.

It’s been a longtime dream of mine to see Loretta perform. I’ve been trying for the past few years but it just never works out. I was going to see her in Biloxi. Even tried to make it to Pennsylvania last year. But something always comes up. So just recently I decided to check in on her tour schedule, and lo and behold…

Loretta Lynn is playing in Austin June 13th!

Right when I will be fishing in Montana!

Ah! Now obviously I do not pass up any chances to fish. Especially in Montana. But it does sting just a little that she’s coming here while I’m gone.

Hmm, what would Loretta do? I mustered my very best kick-this-thing-in-the-ass-keep-on-keepin-on Loretta attitude and decided it is my duty to see as much live music as possible before I take off for Montana. It may not be Loretta, but there is a lot of honkytonkin’ to choose from in Austin. Here’s my wish list:

4/19 Seth Walker

4/25 Marc Broussard

4/26 Lonestar Jam with Cross Canadian Ragweed/Cory Morrow/Kevin Fowler

4/27 Allison Moorer and Steve Earle

4/30 Will Hoge – and we all know I [heart] Will Hoge

5/6 Guy Clark/Joe Ely/John Hiatt/Lyle Lovett

5/12 Dale Watson

5/16 Reckless Kelly

5/17 The Derailers

5/21 Charlie Robison

5/22 Junior Brown

5/24 Cross Canadian Ragweed

Whew darlin, what do you think? Can I see it all? Probably not. Realistically, I’ll be lucky if I can shake my tired tail feathers to half these shows. But I’m sure as hell going to make a decent run at it! So by the time I get to Montana I will have my fill of live music and I will be ready to fish my little heart out.

And if you happen to be floating on The Smith River on June 13^th and hear someone belting out a little Fist City or Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ With Lovin On Your Mind, well that’ll just be me. Throwing streamers and doing my best Loretta.

Last spring I went bonefishing in Exuma Bahamas and we had a big big time. Lots of fish. Some pretty big fish. We had one day on the water that was just out of sight, one bonefish right after the next. Toward the end of this gluttonous day, each time someone caught another, our guide Steve would sing out, “Momma told me there’d be days like this!”

I spent about six months looking at the pictures from that trip, smiling and singing that song in my mind. Somewhere around November or December I actually downloaded it onto my ipod, stopped looking at last year’s pictures, and starting daydreaming about this year’s trip.

No question, last year was going to be tough to beat. Really tough. But hot damn! You know what…I think we did it.

I spent last week in Exuma with my parents and some really close family friends — we laughed for a solid week. And our good friend Bonefish Stevie is still like a heat-seeking missile when it comes to finding those bonefish.

Seven days of sunny skies, salty breezes, friendly tides…bonefish and Kalik.

Uh yeah, what Steve said.

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