I've probably fished less in 2025 than in any other year since I took up fishing at the age of 9 or 10, maybe with the exception of the Covid year when we couldn't legally leave the house for non-essential reasons. The main reason for this was my hand injury sustained on day four of a month-long fishing trip to the Bahamas. I did actually fish out the trip, although I had to struggle to learn an effective left-handed double haul. By the end of the holiday I guess I was doing ok – I was catching bonefish, some nice ones too, but I couldn't handle the weight of my predator outfit so didn't catch any cudas or sharks. I've continued to do some left handed casting practice once I got home, getting to the point where my best with a #7 outfit was over 120ft and getting close to that mark with a #5. Perhaps that will remain a target for 2026 – i.e. to cast a #5 over 120ft.
Details >
Starting next month, long term Sexyloops contributor and outstanding professional rod builder, Andy Dear, is going to be building Sexyloops rods in Texas for us and the US market.
Details >
I am back from my road trip to Arkansas for the holidays and have had several hours to sit and ponder. Please put your tray tables in the upright position and prepare for launch!
While there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking happening, I have been reflecting on whether there's more ground to break in the fly-casting world or if my ignorance is inspiring creativity that leads me to ideas that, while different, may not be good enough to win, let alone break any ground. On the other hand, I would hate to educate the creativity out of myself. More often than not, when I think, “Why hasn’t anyone figured this out?” I usually discover that I failed to account for some variable or another that others have identified during their experimentation. They ruled their ideas out long ago, and I am just now fumbling my way through those same trials. “Everyone else has tried that, and it isn’t going to work.”
However, I believe my dad created a brilliant casting platform. As I tell him often, “Does it really matter if someone else came up with that idea before you? If I hadn’t known that something had been invented and came up with the idea out of ignorance, then didn’t I essentially invent it too?”
Details >
Last week I wrote about teachers and that none of mine were memorable as mentors nor examples. But, yesterday, out of the blue I gratefully recalled an impactful someone I hadn't thought about for years, Mark Freeman. I would have to call him a mentor. We both worked for Dorr Oliver, an engineering company emphasizing liquid/solid separation technologies of various types - phosphate mining thickeners, cornstarch wet milling centrifuges, papermill fiber screens, also offering unique fluidized bed solids reactors and calciners. Mark was a plasma physicist, I’m recalling a Berkeley PhD but am not sure. He was very tall (6’6” or 6’7”) and an exceptionally loud talker. Our project was in rural Georgia. We were working in Gordon and dining there and in small nearby towns, Ivey, McIntyre, and Milledgeville (Georgia’s capitol during the civil war). Gordon, Ivey and McIntyre had a common 50 page phone book - many residents were listed by their nicknames (“Key-man Turner” for example). This was truly “country.”. We would walk into Mildred’s in Milledgeville for a barbeque lunch, and his noise and size would turn heads. I was mortified but people there loved him.
Details >
Today I’m writing about my experience of taking care of myself in the jungle. Some of it has probably been mentioned before. We know that Paul was complaining about being cold one night. And waking up the next morning kind of dead. These days when Paul was gone meant I had to learn, and got the chance to learn, a thing or two by myself.
Details >
Everyone is doing summaries about year 2025. How much they achieved, what things they did, travelled etc. Spotify gives you lists what you are top songs etc, even pornhub realises list what kind of porn people are watching in different countries.
December is time for these lists. I can easily say I fished too little, didn't travel enough, didn't spent enough time with casting. I didn't catch any dream fish this year.
Details >
Merry Christmas everyone. It's just a very short one from me this week as I still need to put the cream on the trifle before I start my festive breakfast beverages.
Details >
As we're nearing the end of 2025, James and I would like to wish everyone season's greetings. We hope if you're celebrating you are enjoying all the socialising, eating and drinking that is integral to activities at this time of year. We would like to thank Chris for writing on our day for quite a few weeks – it was lovely to hear about how he progressed to becoming an FFI casting instructor and we look forward to continuing to have his support at BFCC activities. The club is only successful if volunteers like Chris support Mark, James and myself with the events and we very much appreciate everyone who helps us.
Details >
Is late! So I’m fifty-fucking-five now. I know that will surprise many of you who, quite understandably, think I’m very much younger. But I’m actually quite grown up and almost in my prime. Soon I will have some regal, statesman quality about me. I might even get to wear a crown or underpants. Of course a haircut is right out of the question.
I’ve been fifty-fucking-five for four days now and I can tell you, that I think by this point in life, no one can tell you what to do, think or how to behave. You don’t need to fit into the world anymore, but instead the word needs to adapt to you. So that’s exciting and I’m curious to see where this is all going to lead to this year. There will be more hair, of this there can be no doubt!
Details >
My mother informally protests the idea of me writing while I’m home for the holidays, but was totally fine with the four hours of accuracy leader experimentation that went on today. My is it good to be several latitudes south for a little while. I know that I haven’t been home throughout the entirety of the harshness up in Wisconsin, but I was happy to head south for a 75 degree Fahrenheit Christmas.
Details >
When I was a kid we had a mono record player in a room we called the sun parlor. I’m pretty sure that most of our vinyl was mono as well - this was during the fifties. Our collection was modest but eclectic. We had Goldman’s band playing Sousa, Fat’s Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehaving”, a couple of Sidney Bechet albums, some Glen Miller and Benny Goodman and two musical theater albums - West Side Story and Three Penny Opera. Somehow my revisionist memory throws Guys and Dolls in there but I’m pretty sure the album wasn’t in our cabinet. But it was West Side Story that most captured our imagination. I saw the play on Broadway and then the movie came out in 1961 dictating all of our cultural attitudes and fashions. I loved it. Except for the song “Something’s Coming.” It was Sondheim's line “catch the moon, one-handed catch” I objected to.
Details >
I’m on my way home from some really great, some less great and a bit scary days, and adventurous days in the jungle. Right now in the taxi and then 26 hours of air travel. Hopefully I’ll do that again. To get a redo of the missing days, it would’ve been fun to get some casting in and a number of more beers. It was a blast seeing Paul, or as some refers to him; my second girlfriend.
Details >
Our mini holiday with Satu in Sweden was great. I had three weeks between playing snooker and using cue. During first frame on Friday I notice again similarity with fly casting. While making "fake" shot and aiming I could see easily how cue was moving sideways. And that lead missing easy shots, if I put more power, always missed a shot. When keeping so-called pocket speed, there was no problem. When doing backspin with white ball, often miss cueing and missed shot.
Details >
This week's fly of the week is another exercise in perfection. I'm really spoiling you, but it is nearly Christmas. What is this perfect fly? Bob Wyatt's deer hair emerger of course.
Details >
Incredibly disappointing to get seriously ill for three days of Rickard’s trip. This has never happened before and I haven’t felt that ill for as long as I can remember. Even Covid was “like a birthday present” by comparison. Yes I’ve showed Rickard half of “Withnail and I.”
Details >
So at the moment I’m going around the lake and trying to figure stuff out. There has been quite a bit to figure out as Paul is sick. So my days have been like going out fishing for a while, coming back to check on Paul, rest a bit and out on the lake again.
Details >
Huddled in the corner of a plane bound for Chicago, the glare of my phone reflects off of my fishing glasses, as I reflect on practice.
Im doing thumbjitsu typing the best that I can on my phone. I know there are at least 6 of you readers out there and I try to never let you down.
Details >
There's more than one way to skin a cat.
Details >
“Can passenger Rickard Gustafsson come to the desk at gate B15”. Then they took my boarding cards and asked me about my luggage. Well this can’t be good. Then they asked me about some form for permission to enter somewhere that I hadn’t filled. And started to print new boarding cards. This certainly cannot be good.
Then they showed me some link on their screen and gave me new boarding cards. Still the same as before, just different paper. So I wasn’t put on the next flight home at least. But the link they had showed me didn’t work. Some googling and I found something. Something that took ages to load. I started to fill the form and suddenly run into another wall. Address of where I’m going. I’m going into the jungle hopefully far from an address! But that wasn’t an option.
Started writing to Paul. And calling Paul, I needed this right now! Paul didn’t answer no matter how many times I called.
Details >
If a kid is fishing and spending all free time with that hobby and all extra money goes on that, we say that he could use money much worse and that at least he is not making troubles. And that's true statement, any hobby which you have and keeps you out from troubles is a good one. Until it will go beyond certain point.
Details >
I decided to stay (mostly) salty this week, and look at Pop’s jiggy. It’s an excellent fly that was always going to struggle to get the recognition it deserves because of its nominal similarity to a clouser.
Details >
How many times have we as fishing guides heard this? Do I enjoy it? Of course I do. In fact, I obsess about guiding and fishing. Is guiding just about fishing? This may sound strange, in fact I think I may have lost some readers already. Fishing has been portrayed in recent years as an experience, this experience has many factors, simple factors.
I believe that creating an experience adds more benefits to angling, there are many day-to-day things that fishing can help with. Think of fishing as an umbrella and underneath that umbrella are many day-to-day and life challenges, that can be washed away by the experience, to travel down the river and out to sea, where they become a droplet in the ocean. That’s right, fishing can put things into perspective while you're on autopilot or in this case casting to our friends, the fish.
Details >
It’s been an entertaining week. It didn’t turn out to be the prime week of the year, as the recent years have all produced; 18 sets of babies over 5.5 days is decent but not record-breaking. There was some free-rising activity, as well as 5 Gourami sighted, two of which we were unlucky not to get a shot at, because they would likely have eaten had they stuck around. And that would have made for a blinder of a week! Two Snakehead in the boat, chases, other eats, a 5Kg “T-shirt” fish breaking the wire, a couple of other huge fish shot moments, elephants, gibbons, good food, wine, beer, lunchtime swims, discussions about flycasting, life, the jungle and very much more!
More like a good week in July than a prime week in December, particularly with the weather, but fishing is anything other than predictable, and if it was predictable then we probably wouldn’t do it. Matthias did well, put in some really fine shots, and the two fish he landed were on his first shot at each respective adult. And one of those in particular was a technically hard shot to execute. Had we had more of that, after he had figured out that he could do it, then we would have seen more fish to the boat.
Details >
Again, we find ourselves in a week where I don’t have a compelling story coming to mind as I sit down to write. Unfortunately, that means I will need to ramble on about what’s been happening with me here in Wisconsin. It feels culturally appropriate to mention that the Packers and the Bears are playing each other in football as we speak, and if you’re a Wisconsinite, you’re expected to hate the Bears, Illinois, and the people who live there. So, Go Pack Go!
Details >
A week ago, after the rains I walked a couple of miles of LA River and found a bunch of fish milling around in a slow run 3-4’ deep above a big deep pool, where the fish might have sought shelter when the river swelled. Elsewhere there were singles but no pods or groups. Water clarity was and has been exceptional. Ben went last Monday and found the same group, and only that group, showing themselves. Two days later I walked 3 miles, and with the exception of a few pushes and swirls at dawn saw not a SINGLE FISH over six hours. Maybe the clear water is freaking them out in the full light of day. Maybe it’s the colder nights. I vote for fear of death from above. But it was a beautiful day. I got my steps in and tied on a small popper at a big pool and practiced snakehead shots for a while.
Details >
Some things you have to lose to miss. Do you get what I’m saying? I think the most obvious thing to miss when we lose it is our health. It can be hard to think of when it is fine. But damn you miss being out walking and running when you have hurt your leg. And the regrets you have when you are hurt just because you did something stupid. Or being bed ridden because you are sick. I try to appreciate my health even when I am fine and take care of my body so it will be with me and let me do the things I want in the future. But this week I got a reason to appreciate my health a bit more, because I lost it a bit.
Details >
Interesting week behind, weather had been everything between plus celsius and rain to minus and snowing. So far we have survived with weather and our trails are still good to go, well I don't about Friday as I'm writing this at 3 am. I think they should be okay. So our winter season has started.
Satu and my daughter says that I have manflu. I called that fucking bad flu. Women often says that, we man have this manflu as it hits us harder. My problem is always that I don't get fever which would really launch things. There are studies which shows that flu and different kind infections can hit harder to men, as estrogen protects woman and testosterone can weaker immune system for man. I have never met a man who says after "manflu" or hit to the balls that well it was nice I hope to get one again soon.
Details >
I thought I'd do a saltwater pattern this week: Skok's Mushmouth. Mostly because last week I remembered it and tied my first one in probably a decade, but also because they're really good.
Details >
There’s two ways as I see it, of approaching the teaching part of the CI exam. Which is to either read the scripts and suggestions in the FFI study guide and give them back word for word succinctly, which shows you’re really good at being a parrot and deserve a cuttlefish treat, but doesn’t necessarily require, or demonstrate an understanding. Or, by sticking to the key points laid down, whether you agree with them all or not; interpret it and freshen the script up. While showing you have an understanding of this skill that your teaching; cover requirements for effective learning, while ‘engaging’ student and showing them the value of this exercise towards achieving their goal.
Details >
We have had two days of fishing so far. Yesterday was very slow and we only found one set of babies. Matthias did however put in the shot and hooked undoubtedly a T-shirt fish (over 5KG) which unfortunately then broke the wire. Maybe I overstressed the importance of playing the fish hard! That was his second cast of his trip. The first cast had a follow from the same set.
Details >
I’m considering starting a fire as I sit here next to my fly-tying desk gazing out the window at the foot of snow on the ground outside. I suppose I might as well keep a fire burning in the stove for the next couple of weeks… at least. Outside activities will be limited for the foreseeable future, and my mind continues to whirl. So, it’s project time. I have been playing with a few fly patterns and rigging ideas that are working well. So, I suspect that once my materials order makes it here, I will be tying with a purpose beyond refilling boxes for my fishing companions.
Details >
