Every year I predict the arrival of the Green Bonito and the False Albacore, typically I count on about the 8th of September for the Albies and a week or two earlier for the Bonito. Bonito this year were a disappointment (at least for me), however, in their place we had good runs of Chub Mackerel for weeks on-end. Although these fish are not as prized as the Bones, they are nevertheless fun to catch and a great break from catching Stripers and Bluefish. They are on the smallish side but they travel in fairly large schools, and are often seen blowing up on the surface in patches averaging about 100 square feet. On a six weight fly rod or very light conventional tackle they are loads of fun, not necessarily easy to catch even when you get exceptionally close to the action. The mackerel catching continued on into early October however the False Albacore filled in as predicted about the 8th of September.

One of my very best friends is Steve Key. I met Steve many years ago when we both worked for Textron in their corporate headquarters in Providence, RI. Steve was the Chief Financial Officer of the corporation and I was a Director in the Risk Management and Insurance Department.

My first personal introduction to Steve was at a wedding of a mutual friend. We were sitting adjacent one another at the reception dinner and through general conversation discovered that we had a mutual interest, fly fishing. That chance encounter was the start of what has become a long and wonderful friendship. Steve and I fish together quite a lot, both in Rhode Island- primarily in the saltwater, but we also make the journey north to Maine most years where we fish for smallmouth bass and landlocked salmon, mostly at Wheaton's Lodge.

Like many of us, we were both introduced to fishing by our fathers. They were both bait fisherman and perhaps only thought about fly fishing when they read articles in Sports Afield or other field sport magazines.

Steve had this to say about his father's passion for the sport...

Steve's father's bio is very interesting. The following excerpt is from Wikipedia about Ted Key. The photo to the left is of Ted Key and his friend Shirley Booth (who played "Hazel" in the TV show by the same name) reviewing cartoons that Ted drew of that famous cartoon character. That's right, Ted Key invented Hazel, a character many of us "older folks" recall very clearly as we anxiously read the Hazel panels in the newspaper comic section as we were growing up.

"Born in Fresno, California, Key was the son of Latvian immigrant Simon Keyser, who had changed his name from Katseff to Keyser, and then to "Key" during World War I.^[1] Though his family thereafter went by Key, Theodore Keyser did not legally adopt the name until the 1950s.^[1] Attending the University of California, Berkeley, Key became the art editor of the student newspaper, The Daily Californian, and was associate editor of the campus humor magazine, the California Pelican^[2] and was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.^[3] After graduating from college in 1933, Key relocated to New York City, where he published cartoons and illustrations in a number of periodicals, including Better Homes and Gardens, Collier's, The New Yorker, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, McCall's, 

Cosmopolitan, TVGuide, 

Mademoiselle, Look and Judge. Key also worked as associate editor of Judge in 1937."

In 1977, Ted Key received the National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Panel Award for his work on Hazel

Early this year Steve gifted me two of his father's draft cartoons or what's known in the industry as "roughs", single panel fly fishing themed cartoons that Steve had framed and that are now displayed in our house. One features Hazel imparting some fly casting wisdom to a young and eager student, the caption reading "Now Holding the Rod So", the other is from the "Sales Bullets" collection designed to inspire and motivate salesmen- that caption reads: "Knowledge inspires confidence, once you've convinced your prospects that you know what you are talking about, they will be far more interested in doing business with you."

One of my all time favorite fly fishing authors is John Gierach. John resides in Lyons, Colorado and has published something like twenty books (most of which I own) based on his various fly fishing adventures. His work has appeared in Field & Stream, Gray’s Sporting Journal, and Fly Rod & Reel. He is a regular columnist for Trout Magazine and the Redstone Review. Gierach is the recipient of the US Federation of Fly Fishers Roderick Haig-Brown Award.

I'm a subscriber to The New Fly Fishers YouTube channel. While reviewing their latest uploads of fly fishing videos I noticed that Colin McKeown, producer of The New Fly Fisher, had recently produced a video podcast with John. Of course I had to watch that, and it was there that I learned of John's newest book, "Dumb Luck and the Kindness of Strangers". In short order I bought the book through Amazon...and it's terrific, highly recommended as are all of John's books.

If you're a Gierach fan or even if you're not familiar with him I think you would enjoy reading his new book and as an added bonus, quickly learn more about him by watching Colin's interview (link follows) on The New Fly Fisher's You Tube channel.

The Orvis Fly Fishing Learning Center is a great resource for all ages and levels of fly fishing expertise. The site contains information under the following headings: Video Lessons, Fly Tying Videos, Podcasts, Animated Knots and Choosing Equipment.

For me The Fly Fishing Podcasts hosted by Tom Rosenbauer are the best portion of the Learning Center. Each podcast begins with a section called "The Fly Box" which contains questions that listeners email or phone-in on a variety of questions and sometimes tips they offer that pertain to all things under the sun that relate to fly fishing. The second portion of the podcast features a guest that Tom has invited to be interviewed. The subject matter covers a very wide spectrum of topics, for example: Species of fish- Steelhead, Trout, Bass, Pike, Carp, and various saltwater species. Also included in the Learning Center are angling Techniques, Equipment, and Conservation.

The podcast page also includes a search capability to make it very easy to find podcasts on a wide array of topics.

I had the opportunity to participate in one of Tom's earliest podcasts, our subject being, "The Effects of the Moon and Barometric Pressure on Fishing"

If you haven't visited the Orvis Fly Fishing Learning Center, I would suggest you do. We have a stretch of cold, dark days ahead and with the social constraints of Covid-19 keeping us closer to home, this resource can make those days more enjoyable and even make you a better fly angler.