“Keep calm and wear odd socks”
-David Spires
rainbow caught on PMD by author
My fishing sock returned! I’ve missed it. We’ve been separated for 6 months. I accidentally left it in New Zealand in a rental car at Christchurch airport. My friend, Roman, found it when he thoroughly checked the hatchback of the rental before his return flight to Canada.
The sock travelled a great distance. It went from Crowsnest pass to South Island NZ, was worn daily on many great rivers, then travelled back to Canada with Roman to Ontario. There it stayed for several months, dry but very eager to wade and fish again.
The sock finally returned to its home, the Crowsnest Pass, when Roman came out for an angling trip, with his two boys, Christian and Daniel.
It’s a well-travelled neoprene Simms sock. Now ready for duty on my local streams. It has been reunited with the other one. A sort of balance has been resorted and all seems right with the world!
Here’s a photo of the international jet-setting sock looking happy to be home again…
This past week I had the opportunity to fish with some friends: Joe, Roman, Rick, Christian, Daniel and our four-legged tag along, Abby. All good angling mates. Fishing at times was tough but at the end of the week we all caught some fish….and a few great ones I must say. All were taken on dries, mostly sight-fishing. The weather was good…summertime in SW Alberta.
Some memories from one week in July:
-Joe’s favorite line, “Hey Bobby, I’ve got another one on”. One of his browns and a rainbow were the prizes of the week.
rainbow on a PMD dry fly
brown on PMD dry
-The boys, Christian and Daniel, double hauling into the wind. Both great casters. They picked up some nice ones and ended their trip with a multiple fish day on a cutthroat stream. Their favorite lines: “Hey Bob can you pull my fly line through the rod tip” and “My fly is stuck in a bush, can you un-hook it for me”. Some of their fish…
brown on dry
electric cuttbow on beetle
cutthroat on drake dry
Other memorable events: Rick casting from a seated position on the river; and the boys repeatedly asking their father, ” Can you untangle this”…
river crossing
Roman and Christian chasing a bull trout
the group working a pool
abby
long day
brown on beetle
rainbow on dry fly
I hope to have the chance to fish with them again next summer…in the meantime I’m going to put on that happy sock and wade a local river.
trout on dries 
Hi Robert,
Six months is a long time to be apart, especially for socks. If you send Simms your story about the reunited wading socks, maybe they can use it in some of their advertising. Who knows, maybe they will send you a new pair for free.
It’s great to see young, enthusiastic kids that like to fly-fish. It looks like they had a lot of fun on their trip.
Vic:
Yes, the kids were super enthusiastic; they couldn’t get enough…reminded me of me when I was their age…in fact I’m still the same; still have the “fire’ to find and catch fish; albeit a little less energy!
Maybe Simms will send me a box of socks; lifetime supply…I’ll check it out.
Thanks for dropping in. Enjoyed your recent posts esp. Canada day one with Expo 67!!Lived in Montreal then and attended the exposition frequently with family.
robert
Bob, I agree on the less energy part when it comes to fishing. I still dream big though.
Les; We are same age…good we still dream big!
bob