left field

Not far from me, but I refuse to go there due to the owners.

WB is a world-class tailwater. BK is okay but you fish there to walk where giants once stood. No argument. Five days on the Margaree River in Cape Breton. 14 hour drive to Halifax, then another four to Cape Breton. After a thousand or so casts, my shoulder is on fire. For all that work - two bumps. Oh well ... Atlantic salmon fishing. Still ...

"Guiz, you're not listening!!!" Seriously, dude. See if they can fit "ad nauseam" to your tattoo.

I agree with the Orvis rec. I use Lamson a lot and have four or five.

This definitely isn't a snagging river. Hard to say if they're "biting" as no one really knows why a salmon hits a fly. Throwing big flies in the hopes of getting a territorial response. The water is low so they've been holding pat in the pools.

Single hand rod, so sinking 9' leader with a few feet of tippet. And a heavy fly. Not sure how to ID it past "sinking leader." On the plus side, when you hit the timing right you can throw 80' pretty easily with all that weight. Atlantic salmon are amazing. I'm seriously thinking about giving up trout fishing.

Also acceptable and excellent design. Nice. Where? 8 but with a heavy sinking leader and big marabou flies. My shoulder is on fire. A thousand casts in the last few days and one tug. Thank you. It was some years ago, but still a very weird experience. Nonetheless, one I support wholeheartedly. A free society should include the freedom to decide the time and manner of your own death. We used to deal with death all the time. People died at home and often families would display the body for a few days. I have portraits of my grandparents in family photos with a dead person in the middle. Usually they were the only one smiling. Now death is weirdly sanitized. Atlantic salmon - the King of Sportfish. Yes.

More than happy to apolo... wait, what am I apologising for? As to stepping down, not until there are term limits, buddy!

Once again, I ring a bell and you come running. Damn, dude. I clarified the bullshit Canadian AS thing that you regurgitated from a July tweet as I have a little actual experience with AS. At this point, I should think you have enough life lived to develop original thought and not continually have to parrot others. You're like the nutty conspiracy version of that college guy in Good Will Hunting. How's your stated, "I'm ready to sacrifice my body or life for the cause" thing working out for you? Have you found your goal? Your raison d'être? Once decided, will you get the word "warrior" tattooed under the snowflake? I'm thinking that "Snowflake Warrior" would be an very cool username for you. My morning: By the way, it's "deep seated" not "deep seeded." Common mistake.

And yet you come running like a Pavlovian dog. Every single time. What exactly are you refuting? That 67% of AS in Canada are cancer patients? That's a pretty well-established statistic. I know a good number of people with cancer in Canada - some died, some survived. My guess is that matches stats from other countries. I don't think a snowflake tattoo is an insult. You are a special and unique fellow, and there's no better way to announce it to the world than a tattoo. Well, maybe shitposting nonsense that you read on a twitter feed. You are a little melty too as you seem to be in a continual state of Sturm und Drang. Opening up this sub in the morning and all one sees are your "the world is ending" posts. That has to wreak havoc on your psyche, man. And it's going to push you to do something tragically stupid. I'm reminded of the Thoreau quote: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.” There's some good advice in there for you. And me. I'm off to try and catch an Atlantic salmon here at the top of the world in Canada. Good luck to you, sport. Try not to hurt yourself.

When the artist tattooed the snowflake in the small of your back did you ask for it to be crisply defined so that everyone could see how special you are, or melty and droopy to reflect your continual state of "woe is me"? 67% of those assisted suicide cases were people with terminal cancer. That is the cause of death. Assisted suicide in the manner of death. I had a friend who chose assisted suicide in Toronto. His stomach cancer had taken over and he was in constant pain with a prognosis of a few months if not weeks. Rather than subjecting his family to watching him waste away in severe pain, he and his wife decided this would be best for everyone. On the day, he threw a party at the hospital for his family and friends so that they could say goodbye. A few hours later, at the appointed time, he nodded at the medical team and they wheeled him out with his family at his side. In a little while, his family came back in to say he was gone. That is an honourable and ethical way to die. RIP Rob.

That really doesn't look that difficult to knock down. Doubt you'll need a lift or climbing equipment.

I left because I have just enough time for another chapter or two and I have done my NYC time. Bought a house in Mexico and will spend winters there. Here, there and travel to fish. Museums, restaurants, galleries, bars, culture, cool people, street vibe - NYC has it all. A quiet country life is wonderful, but it ain't "world class." Thanks. The Mexico place. This should be fun. I grew up on Lake Ontario, so pretty good when it comes to that experience. Big box and grocery stores are convenient to have, but I'm after a different vibe. Just sing the Green Acres theme song and you'll be fine. "Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside!"

Look forward to visiting your deeded home. I can understand that. I'm from a small town in Canada so the idea that I got to live in NYC for 22 years is still pretty cool to me. The last 11 have been in a PH apt with views of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings, as well as Central Park. I was very lucky. But unless you have stupid money, the city is really for young people. I was in Brooklyn last week and walked into some dive bar filled with 20-30 year olds having the time of their lives. Anyway, I traded this: for this: Works for me.

Well as long as I'm technically correct that having my name on a deed means it's my property, I guess you're welcome to whatever point you're trying to make. But to correct you on another point, the land was BOUGHT by NYC to ensure clean water. It was SOLD to NYC by people who wanted that big city money. I've never understood the NYC hatred. It's the only world-class city in the USA and a hell of a cool place to live and hang out. I talk to people up here who have never been to the city and we're only three hours away. It really boggles my mind.

The LAND, for the most part, around the reservoirs and the rivers is owned by NYC. The reservoir property was appropriated but the rest was sold by upstate people to NYC. Fortunately, NYC allows people to recreate on their land. Let me know how that 30% works out for you.

You control nothing. The DEP and the Bureau of Water Supply controls and polices that city-owned water. Also, 70% of just income taxes in this state come from Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk and New York City. Good luck replacing that.

When I fished the Central Valley in CA we would leave our cars open with the windows down and glovebox open, and a ten dollar bill on the dash so the tweakers wouldn't break a window. This was before catalytic thievery so who knows what the anglers do now.

You might like this, phade. https://www.thefield.co.uk/macnab-challenge/macnab-challenge-2022-47596 But there seem to be some regional challenges. Real Macnab A salmon on the fly and a stag, as the trio did in John Buchan’s John Macnab. They must be ‘poached’ in legal sporting manner from an owner who accepts the challenge. Classic Macnab A stag, a salmon and a brace of grouse. The Classic Macnab epitomises the best of country sports in Scotland and is the sporting test behind The Field’s Macnab Challenge. Southern Macnab A couple of snipe, a sea trout and a roebuck. Macmarsh A foreshore goose, a pike and a fallow buck. Macnorfolk A bass on the fly, a brace of wild grey partridges and a fallow buck. Macscandi A moose, a capercaillie and a trout on the fly. Macargentinian A golden dorado, 100 brace of doves and a wild pig. Macafrican A brace of sandgrouse, an impala and a tigerfish. Maccharlie Riding to foxhounds, harriers and staghounds in a day. Corinthian Macnab Riding to hounds in the morning, shooting a brace of partridges in the afternoon and then catching a trout on the fly in the evening. All Macnabs must be completed between dawn and dusk, and within one day. --- Maybe time for a McNY - whitetail buck, brook trout and turkey? A few good stories from 2021: https://www.thefield.co.uk/macnab-challenge/the-field-macnab-challenge-2021-46631

$50 - $250. At the higher end it's a pretty lucrative night's work.

That just sucks. Sorry.

All good, but thanks.

There's a documentary called The Bridge about suicides off the Golden Gate Bridge - the number one jumping spot in the world. The crew trained cameras on the bridge for a year and witnessed all kinds of people jumping or just sitting on the edge and thinking about it for hours. Some jumpers survived the fall and when interviewed after they said that the moment they stepped off they saw the solution to their problem. You had a tough job, Nomad. My father tried to kill himself twice by hanging. In each case, I was home alone with him and had to cut him down. The first time I was 12, the second 16. He eventually decided that liquor was the more fun way to go and drank himself to death at 49. Those scars cut to the bone. I think my locked gun would be safe from anyone trying to kill themselves, but yes, motivated people tend to be successful.

I don't disagree at all. Mental health is a very big issue and one that deserves more attention, money, and study. It really raises some uncomfortable questions - why do more American kids (or adults) kill themselves than people in other countries? Is it a failing of the culture? Our society. The school system? Parenting? I have no idea. I would also be curious as whether easy access to a gun results in more spontaneous acts of suicide. Do the steps of taking pills or setting up a rope give one the opportunity for a second thought? I really don't know. Yes, I consider every death by gun a gun death. I'm having trouble understanding why you separate suicide. Is your argument that suicide isn't using guns as they were intended? I'll ask again, accidental discharge that results in a death. Gun death?

Hey Belo - I'm honestly not trying to be a contrarian here. I thought the ad was silly hyperbole but it not the first ad to use that approach. Put aside the tiger thing for a moment and there are two points being made. 1. it's not unreasonable to ask your friends to secure their firearms before you kids play there; and 2. guns are now the leading cause of death among children. 1. I don't think anyone here disagrees with this. I have a lot of non-gun owners bring their kids here and I go out of my way to show that my guns are secure, though when I'm alone they can often be out. I have zero issue if they ask. 2. Statistics are a very generalized and at times an imperfect tally of something. In a measurement of deaths, all gun deaths are added together and therefore, suicide by gun is a gun death. I would even suggest that there have been kids who have found a friend's unsecured weapon and killed themselves. Where do we count accidental gun deaths? So, back to the ad. A kid finds an unsecured gun at someone's house and shoots his buddy - gun death. Another kid finds an unsecured gun and screws around and accidentally shoots his buddy or himself - gun death. The last kid finds the weapon and kills himself - gun death. This goes very deep and into a lot of different areas. I'm sorry to hear about your coworker's son. There was a kid down the road from me that hung himself a few months ago. I can't imagine the horror of losing a child like that.