The Select Angler Program

I've been honored to be picked for Pure Fishing's Select Angler Program. Select Anglers, in Pure Fishing's words, "increase our brand awareness and assist with training programs and events when Pure Fishing staff is not available". Which is fine by me as Pure Fishing has some of the worlds best fishing tackle. Brands like Hardy, Fenwick, Hodgeman, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Pflueger and more.
I'd already set a personal goal for myself to regain the grace I once had with a fly rod in 2016. So when Pure Fishing said they would send me a couple outfits of my choosing I knew exactly what I wanted. I chose 8wt and 6wt Fenwick Aetos fly rods paired with the new Pflueger Patriarch fly reels. In several independent tests the Aetos are supposed to be comparable in performance to any fly rod at any price. I can't wait to get my hands on one.
For those of you who have only met me recently this may seem like a pretty big departure from the norm. It actually is a return to form. For decades my fishing was split pretty evenly between conventional tackle and fly tackle. A younger (and skinnier) me would spend weeks every year backpacking the Appalachian Mountains with my wife. I've fly fished  every significant stream in the Great Smoky Mountains as well as a huge bunch of the insignificant ones. Every summer we would be off to West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina or even Colorado in search of a bit of wilderness. Which for various reason we hadn't done much of the last few years. I remember having my license checked by a warden one year and having to root thru six or seven states licenses in my wallet to find the correct one.
Then last year I was teaching some people how to flycast and realized, you know, you just don't have it any more. I know it's a bit like riding a bicycle and you don't forget how. But gone are the days of throwing a curve cast around a boulder to a trout or throwing a 90 foot cast to schooling white bass.
So it's going to be an adventure to reteach myself the beauty of fly casting. I couldn't think of better tools to learn with.
Of course I'll still be doing an inordinate amount of the fishing I've come to be known for the last few years. I'm in love with fishing in all it's various forms. I'm hoping it will make for an interesting year, I guess I'll have to quit slacking off and fish a bit more now...