Bonus Footage

Here I am landing my first trout on a fly I  tied. A real beauty. My landing technique is still a work in progress, as you can see. Hear Deepak say "Give me" halfway through.    

Tight Lines

My new favorite thing (again) is fly fishing. It was my favourite thing for a time when I was a a young lad, 8 or so. But I didn't ever really go fly fishing, I just collected the equipment and read Field and Stream and took a fly-tying course in a Peterborough strip mall with some old men. 

So actually going fishing for three days on the Tirthan River in Himachal Pradesh was a real thrill. The weather was a little ugly but the valley was beautiful and the fishing was great fun, but also serious. There is something very serious about fly fishing. 

The Tirthan, and other rivers across appropriate terrain in India, contain salmo trutta, Brown Trout. They're not a native species, but they've lived in the mountain streams and rivers for a hundred years or more- they were stocked by the British. "Wherever the British army went, there are trout," our host Christopher told us. (Such an aquacultural feat amazes me - how did they manage to transport the fry, keep them at the appropriate temperature, etc...?)  Over two thousand years earlier, Alexander the Great's army inhabited these valleys as well. 

Day One saw us rent one fly rod, and start off at an easy spot to cast, where I hooked a decent sized fish (10 inches is a keeper) but lost it on behalf of a poor landing effort. As the afternoon progressed, I noticed Mel getting a little frostier. Not cold, but bored. I realized I hadn't been sharing the rod very well. Maybe at all. We decided to rent two rods the next day, and hire a guide, in hopes of more fish. I read Way of the Trout at night, voraciously. 

Losing a fish

The next morning we were still very much "finding our rhythm" with the line which accounted for many lost flies. After we had lost 10 or so, I asked our faithful guide Deepak how much the flies cost. Maybe wondering if the bill would come through to us. He said they were 200 Rs - $5 each. This could get expensive, we thought. I did manage to hook into a keeper male, which we decided to have for dinner, smoked. 

All Thumbs

Handiwork

At lunch I decided to tie a few flies, mostly to save us the expense of losing them. My skills were rusty since my Ptbo days - I broke the vice - but I managed to produce a few passable weighted nymph imitations. In the afternoon, I managed to hook a nice little trout on one of my flies. I can't believe it actually worked. Who knew. It was a handsome feeling. 

Happy

Day three was two rods and no guide. Still going through many flies but I was starting to feel the whole thing out. I only caught a tiny trout, but Mel caught the fish of the day (on another one of my flies) as the sun was going behind the mountains. I was glad for her. 

All Smiles

If you're ever in the neighbourhood, I highly reccomend a stay at the Himalayan Trout House. Great food, atmosphere, and fun in a remote mountain village setting. We were only charged 150 Rs for all the lost flies.

All in all, a magical three days for me and another obscure and expensive hobby, refound. 

Fish On

Nice Spot

Johnny Appleseed, Amen

The Road Home

Himalayan Trout Expedition

We're going here today. I'm so excited.

Rajasthani Moustaches

Four out of five Indian men have moustaches. Usually, they're unassuming, neatly trimmed, nice black 'staches. But in Rajasthan, the moustache culture is out-of-control amazing. Pride in the 'stache runs generations deep. Rajasthanis are generally super nice to begin with, but the men really light up when I ask to take a picture of their moustache. These guys know how awesome their facial hair is, but not in an unbecoming way. They're like, "I know, right?" They're always whipping out little moustache combs and styling, probably with coconut oil. Again, not in a creepy, lugubrious wannabe-suave way (like some Indian bachelors publically preen their bangs), but rather in a passing-the-time, may as well do some work on the ol 'soup strainer kind-of-way. Add in the psychedelic neon turbans, and the outrageously awesome footwear and you have some of the most stylish, poised, quietly-confident gentlemen I have ever had the pleasure to be around.

Honorable Mention

Food of Late

Crazy declicious saffron, cardamom and lemon lassi in Udaipur. So rich. 

Somewhat underwhelming butter chicken at the supposed "Mecca" of butter chicken, Moti Mahal in Delhi.

Really good trail-mix snack in Udaipur- peanuts, golden raisins, sugar, salt.

The ubiquitous chicken lollipop.

Good authentic Japanese vegetarian in Dharamshala. 

Vintage Car Corner

The maharana of Udaipur has a fine vintage car collection. All left hand drive. Unfortunately, we were unable to see the crown jewel of the collection- the custom Rolls Royce James Bond used in some Octopussy scenes. It was under wraps for no reason we could understand- too precious to display, or something. We tried to get our money back, to no avail. 

I liked the hood ornaments. 

This is the car he takes to polo.

We're Back

Apologies, loyal readers (Mom) for the lengthy hiatus. We were occupied with some visitors.

We promise to attempt to provide slightly less sporadic updates from here onwards.