Do You Look the Part - And A Brown Trout

Continuing my series of classic trout painted on parchment I give you the brown trout.  Not the first one of these fish I have painted but just like catching them, I just cant get enough of them.

I also cant get over how great these painting look on the rich colored parchment paper.  I love old things and I think this is why I love the parchment paper look so much.  I think that it gives the painting a look of age without having to artificial color white watercolor paper to give it that patina.  An added bonus of using high quality parchment is that it comes acid free so the painting wont discolor with time.

Do You Look the Part?
I also decide to add a few thoughts and rules on how we fly fishing fools should look.  Many of you have followed these rules without really realizing it and some of you are not quite there yet but if you are truly a die hard fanatic there are a few basics you must pay adherence to.

    1.  Your vehicle must have a minimum of five fly fishing / outdoor related stickers on the back window.  Of course the more stickers you collect the bigger fanatic you appear to be.  Notice I said appear because if you look closely at an angers stickers as you pass by on your way to the river and you do not see at least a few faded or pealing stickers then the guy might be an impostor.  You do not have to have all the gear you promote on your window (for example I have a Hardy and a Simms sticker, neither of which I own or can afford) in fact you can classify the collection of stickers as a wish list of gear you would like.  True fanatics may have so many stickers that the cop that pulls them over an the way to the river might issue them an additional citation for a sticker induced 'blind spot' in addition to the speeding one they already got.

    2.  You must look the part.  I am not saying that you need to order every L.L. Bean POS that comes your way (and if you do then you will stand out like a poser anyway and we will all be laughing at you behind your back) but you must have a few of the basics.  A hat is a must.  Be it a faded ball cap, cowboy hat, or a fedora, it needs to be missing a few stitches from the flies that have been hooked into it over the years.  Of course if there is a still some ragged flies that are permanently attached then that's okay as well, however you must not place the fly on the hat for looks.  It has to be attached out of necessity.  Always wear dark colored clothing on the river and leave the wife beater tee at home.  You can always sport that ensemble while drinking a PBR and mowing your yard.

   3.   A gear holder is also an essentially piece of equipment.  I have discarded the vest years ago for a minimalist approach Fish Pond pack.  Occasionally I will go out with a chest or backpack as well.  Whatever you use to store your gear DO Not Show Up to fish the river with a tackle box weighing in at over 20lbs.  Fly fishing requires mobility and you cant be very mobile if you are lugging a tackle box around.  (of course there is a few exceptions, float guides for example can bring anything they want.  They are there to have anything you need to hook fish and a tackle box might be the way to go.  Besides, they are the ones lugging it, not you.) Also for the record - I have never been on a guided trip because, well, I am a cheep Dutchman and cant' afford it.
   4.    There needs to be at least one feathered creation on your cars dash, head liner, or sun visor.  It will usually get there because on the way home you realize you've got a hook sticking you in the scalp so you stick it in the visor and say 'I'll get that later' but you never do because, well... it is tough to extract and you got extras in the box.  It will also come in handy for that time that you bust out of the house at 4AM, drive an hour + to the river, and then realize that all your fly boxes are on the bench at home where you left them.  (Additionally for the record - I have done this and it sucks!!!)

    There are plenty more 'rules' but as far as the basic rules go, these should get you going.  Feel free to add a few comments on what rules you would institute to identify a die hard fly fisher.