2015 Thank God it's Here

So here we are again. One year has officially ended and another is underway. Thank God! Some years are just better than others. As personal annual cycles go 2014 has not been the best in recent memory though it has by no means been a personal worst. There are things harder to swallow than medical issues.

 All in all though the tough times have been offset by the thrilling ones.We were blessed with a new angler to the family. He, Hunter hasn't held a fishing rod yet but I think he better learn to stand first. Luckily the task won't be left solely to his grandpa. I put a fishing rod in his dad's hand at the ripe old age of 2 and he like me has never looked back.

Sharon and I were able to do some camping and fishing in the late spring visiting one of our favorite spots on earth. Sorry I won't be divulging where it's at. Some places are just fine the way they are. I will say though that the fishing is good, the scenery is great and the people we meet there are excellent.

With an abundance of small feeder creeks and a good size river at our campsite the cutthroat and rainbow fishing was a long overdo treat for both of us. But that was also the trip when we realized the old bum knee was going to need one more reconstruction. We didn't let it stop us though.

I was able to get out a few times through the summer and hit some of the more easily accessible trout water. Trout were hooked and landed, photographed then released. Then there were the trout that released themselves.

There were other outings too that kept the year in fishing from being a near total bust. On a day when other anglers were fighting the wind just to catch a few small trout then moving on I stuck it out, tried something a bit different and it paid off with a pair of really good trout.

Another trip south to the Sunshine state gave us more time with the rest of the younger half of the Wood clan.

Fall brought the opportunity to do a bit more fishing and test some new equipment. Having picked up another of my favorite rods, a vintage Orvis Silver Label and a new reel a little time on the water was required despite a flooded kitchen and a leaky shower. The rod and reel performed just as I had hoped. The reel was actually a pleasant surprise, though not that much a surprise. The rod is just one more in a collection of full- and mid-flex Orvis graphite rods.





Regretfully the remainder of the year was filled with kitchen and bathroom rebuilding in a mad rush to be done before having that bum knee rebuilt again. Though not quite a breeze the back side of that is going well. I'm not up taking over the fly fishing world just yet but that could be just around the corner.

For the past five years I've been working on building a small fly fishing based business. That effort has been strained by one procedure after another and the resulting recoveries. I have high hopes that struggle is now behind us and 2015 will be the break out year for J Wood Fly Fishing.

Look for a new website to go live soon with a wide variety of flies, more leaders and some new net models through the year.

Thanks to some uncanny luck and a very generous friend I have some new equipment to test this year. You can count on the fact that I will be expressing my opinions on the rods, reel and line once I'm able to put them to the test.