An easy to tie long floating dry fly inspired by Gary LaFontaine's "The Mess".  Thanks to the packing foam back and poly yarn wings this fly floats for a long time without shaking it out or even drying it off.  Perfect for long slow drifts on small streams where false casting to dry out the fly only decorates the trees.

I went searching for a new body of water to wave my 3wt at last weekend.  My search started at Elizabeth Lake in Green Valley.  The view from the road looked fairly tempting, but my hopes were quickly dashed when I wandered down to the shoreline.  There is a flithy algae/slime along most of the shore, tons of people - some swimming in the murky brownish colored water - and a stiff head-wind.

I went to check out another local stream - Bouquet Canyon Creek with my daughter today.  She took most of the pictures while I had fun trying to fish the tiny creek.

It was a tough weekend for your faithful newbie.  Massive back pain, a horrible sunburn, and a sharp learning curve.

It began with an innocent trip to Piru Creek for some fly-fishing with Hank (my Golden Retriever).

I remember when I was a kid, my family was camping somewhere here in California when I learned a lesson that I never forgot or thought would help me.  I was strolling up a rocky hill (if I remember right, to find a place to pee) when I came upon a rattlesnake.  I was somewhere between 8 and 10 years old and when the rattler sat up and started shaking, I took off back down the hill.  The problem was; the hill had rocks - sharp rocks - and gravity quickly outran my little legs.  I ended up with two bloody knees, two bloody hands, and my father yelling at me to "never panic!".

Here is the result (I will explain)...