Who needs a "to-do" list anyway?

I picked up this book a few weeks ago after reading JP’s interview with Tom Dickson. It’s easy to feel a bit isolated from the fly fishing community out here in Oklahoma and the book sounded like a good enough substitute for getting in some on-the-water time with the rough fishing gurus.

I’ve always been a fan of a little fishing variety and it seems like this book is opening up a few more fly fishing options for me. I definitely haven’t been disappointed with the results thus far. After picking up my first Flathead a couple of weeks ago (admittedly, more luck than a result of reading the book…spend enough time on the water and something cool is bound to happen sooner or later), I pulled in my first bullhead. Check another one off the species life list!

A not-so-black black bullhead

With a little academic motivation from Fishing for Buffalo and having knocked off 2 new species from the life list in as many weeks I thought I should expand on my “Gar Goal” a bit more… I’m always trying to find ways to continually improve and I figure there’s no better way to ensure it happens than to come up with some specific challenges for myself.

SUMMER GOALS:

1. Catch a Gar – Still #1, but I think I am going to take after Trash on the Fly (one of the best posts I’ve read in a while) and just fish for them opportunistically. I’ve burned a lot of time fishing for them recently when I would have probably been better off chasing something else.
2. Develop some all around rough fishin’ skills. The vast majority of the time I’ve spent on the water this  year has been chasing carp in still water, I need to break out of the rut. This one has to be broken up into a few parts:
   1. Fish more moving water.
   2. Find and catch at least one species of Redhorse
   3. Find and catch at least one species of Buffalo
   4. Find and catch a Drum

Having more goals will give me better opportunity for success and I think will really help me to pick up some new skills over the summer. The water is low and the days are hot and long. Gotta take advantage of it while I can.

Tight Lines.