I bought a new fly rod today. I didn’t tell the wife what I had done. Hey, just realized I could put this to the tune of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.” But, seriously, my better half has never really understood my collection of, um, Essential Fly Fishing Gear. When I did tell her of this purchase, she was a bit put out; in the sense that Kennedy was a bit put out on learning the Soviets had parked nuclear missiles 90 miles from Miami Beach.

The wife offered that, as I already owned a fly rod, I did not need another. Knowing she was an avid golfer, I explained this would be equivalent to having only one golf club; would you send me onto the course with just an eight iron in the bag? Badly misplaying her hand, the wife responded “So by that analogy, you need 13 more fly rods to complete your fishing set?” My responsive nodding caused a slight strain to the C4 vertebra.

There are, of course, multi-step programs for this compulsion: “Hi, I’m Brad, and I’m a Fish Gear-a-Holic.” I’ve tried these, but then I enter Fisherman’s Warehouse, stumble upon the display of new wading boots and, well…

Of course, none of this is my fault, as I have been selectively targeted by the fishing industry (aka Big Fish) and seduced through annual, monthly and now even weekly catalogs and offers from Orvis, Cabela’s, Bass Pro and the like. Pure crack to a fisherman. Worse, I am now besieged by other marketeers that Big Fish apparently considers related to the fly fisherman demographic. These include catalogs for guns, “performance” potions, butcher supplies, camping gear, whiskey and bourbon, cigars, knives and jackalopes, power tools, shaving stuff, beef jerky and, inexplicably, Victoria’s Secret. Love the Churchills, less so the thongs.

I bought a reel today, oh boy.

And some flies from Fish Emporium

And though the flies were rather small,

She had to count them all…

Anyway, our club meets twice a month for breakfast at Stone & Barrel (seems we enjoy food as much as fishing). It’s always fun chatter and good camaraderie, and you are welcome to join us. For information, please contact George Abernathy at [email protected] (480-521-1060) or Randy Smith at [email protected] (480-371-8406).