Capt. Slayer
04-15-2007, 01:58 AM
Fellow Tidal Fishers,
I’m a long-time lurker who has decided to heed Brandon’s call to come out of the woodwork.
To introduce myself, I’ve been fly fishing since I was a sophomore in high school in Arlington (that’s 25 years ago, by the way) and initially learned to fish in Big Hunting Creek, Shenandoah Park, and Mossy Creek. After college, I took annual trips for 12 years to Montana and got a really good feel for the trout fishing out there until chronic drought, getting married, and the feeling that trout had lost their mystery made me shift my focus to saltwater. Since then, I’ve fished with guides in South Carolina, Louisiana, Destin, Belize, and Islamorada (the first time there on my honeymoon, no less), as well as with Brady and Bo. Two years ago, I bought my dream boat, a 2005 Jones Brothers Cape Fisherman 1910LT (the Slayer’s Delight), which I’m still getting the hang of. My wife and I have two young kids, a daughter 25 months and a son 9 weeks, so I’m in that phase of life where I don’t get out too much any more.
That being said, I still dream about getting on the water all of the time, and I’ve found Tidal Fish to be a great tonic for keeping my sanity.
I am known as “Slayer” among my fishing friends because of an unfortunate incident in a northern New Hampshire trout pond in 1986 when I was accused of driving the hook too vigorously into the mouths of small brook trout. I was dubbed “John the Fish Slayer,” and the name has stuck. I wear it with pride.
In thinking about what I could offer that others might find interesting, I kept coming back to a tribute I wrote for the family of one of my dearest fly fishing friends who died almost five years ago (I believe the cause was addiction related). Paul and I fished extensively in Montana and in this area. He introduced me to saltwater fishing on a trip to Harker’s Island, and I credit him most directly with making me interested in fishing the salt. What I’ve put together is quite long, so I’ve included a link to it, but for those of you who are interested, there are some good anecdotes about fishing Montana as well as the tale of a near disaster floating the South Fork of the Shenandoah. What better way to memorialize a friend than to introduce him to a group of people he would have loved. Here’s the link:
http://homepage.mac.com/john.mcdermott/Fishing_with_Paul/
I’ve got a couple of other items and discussion topics that I may post in the future, so I’ll try to do my best to stay out of the shadows.
--Slayer
I’m a long-time lurker who has decided to heed Brandon’s call to come out of the woodwork.
To introduce myself, I’ve been fly fishing since I was a sophomore in high school in Arlington (that’s 25 years ago, by the way) and initially learned to fish in Big Hunting Creek, Shenandoah Park, and Mossy Creek. After college, I took annual trips for 12 years to Montana and got a really good feel for the trout fishing out there until chronic drought, getting married, and the feeling that trout had lost their mystery made me shift my focus to saltwater. Since then, I’ve fished with guides in South Carolina, Louisiana, Destin, Belize, and Islamorada (the first time there on my honeymoon, no less), as well as with Brady and Bo. Two years ago, I bought my dream boat, a 2005 Jones Brothers Cape Fisherman 1910LT (the Slayer’s Delight), which I’m still getting the hang of. My wife and I have two young kids, a daughter 25 months and a son 9 weeks, so I’m in that phase of life where I don’t get out too much any more.
That being said, I still dream about getting on the water all of the time, and I’ve found Tidal Fish to be a great tonic for keeping my sanity.
I am known as “Slayer” among my fishing friends because of an unfortunate incident in a northern New Hampshire trout pond in 1986 when I was accused of driving the hook too vigorously into the mouths of small brook trout. I was dubbed “John the Fish Slayer,” and the name has stuck. I wear it with pride.
In thinking about what I could offer that others might find interesting, I kept coming back to a tribute I wrote for the family of one of my dearest fly fishing friends who died almost five years ago (I believe the cause was addiction related). Paul and I fished extensively in Montana and in this area. He introduced me to saltwater fishing on a trip to Harker’s Island, and I credit him most directly with making me interested in fishing the salt. What I’ve put together is quite long, so I’ve included a link to it, but for those of you who are interested, there are some good anecdotes about fishing Montana as well as the tale of a near disaster floating the South Fork of the Shenandoah. What better way to memorialize a friend than to introduce him to a group of people he would have loved. Here’s the link:
http://homepage.mac.com/john.mcdermott/Fishing_with_Paul/
I’ve got a couple of other items and discussion topics that I may post in the future, so I’ll try to do my best to stay out of the shadows.
--Slayer