From the ‘who really gives a hoot in hell’ file, several friends have been pestering me to share some thoughts on my first few days ‘in the South’. After leaving Olympia just before noon on Tuesday and rolling into Birmingham before lunch on Friday, it’s taken a few days to salve the road burn (right around 2700 miles worth).
Good fortune allowed me to connect with some fishy and other friendly folks Friday afternoon and over the weekend as well as begin to catch up on some lost shuteye.
Notable observations:
The Fly Bin Surveillance Trick works here too. Stand near the fly bins in just about any fly shop, keep your mouth shut and pay attention, and you’ll most likely be rewarded with a running dialogue of what’s hot and what’s not (flies, where to fish, guides, shops, food, bars, women, etc.)
Pertinent corollary: See the Yes M’am Effect below.
Big Just Might Be Better. The array of top water and salt water flies are bright, colorful, and just damned big compared to some of the match the hatch trout stuff in size 38 (or even the standard nymph assortment in the 3/8” long and brown category). I have to say that holding a handful of big, colorful poppers does tend to make one smile.
It’s hot. No surprises here, but dammit, it’s not even August yet.
Orange and Blue wins the day thus far. The food (as expected) has been killer, though the winner by far has been the Orange and Blue Oysters at the Dixie Seafood Company. Fried oysters dunked in a traditional butter and hot sauce (Crystal of course) wing sauce with crumbled blue cheese on top. I guarantee you can’t eat just one.
The ‘Yes M’am’ Effect. Overall both She Who Must Be Obeyed and I have found the locals (with one notable exception) with whom we’ve interacted to be without a doubt the most polite, most gregarious and pretty much the most talkative folks we’ve seen in many moons. For the most part folks have been bending over backwards to be helpful, offering help and information at nearly every turn.
The greatest harvest of information has come from asking ‘what’s the best barbecue joint in town?’, though ‘where do y’all fish around here?’ is running a close second.
More to come.
