Before I get to the meat of this, I would like to thank Mel Liston & Jim Glidden for their positive response to my last article. In addition I would like to thank all of the other folks that take time out of their day to mention how they Enjoy my columns when the see me. That is the main reason I can still sit here typing when it is so laborious for me. It takes me an average of 5/6hrs per article. Thank you VERY MUCH, everyone.

I know we have all had THEM. Those days were nothing goes right. Everything you put your hand to goes wrong. It seems that the harder you try to do it right the more Murphy & his law lives through you. Well I had one of those days a little while ago. Not only was Murphyís law in application, he was sitting right on my shoulder and laughing all day about it. Every time I took a swat at him to knock him off, he invited a monkey to sit there with him. By the end of the day, I could have succumbed to the shear weight of them all on my back. However, even with all of that I still had good fortune I was doing what I love to do. Being outside in Godís realm! The Great Spirit will prevail. Even with all of this life is still good.

It all started on a Sunday night when at about 9pm I got a call. However I could barely hear the person on the other end, & never did find out their name. Trying to be the gracious host, I offered to call this person back. When they asked if I would like their number, I told them that it would on the caller ID. When I went to call them back, I was told by a RECORDING that I could not contact this person that way as they were using a pre-paid calling card. OH. Well if it was important, they would call back, right. But could I wait for that OH NO,,, I had to try and figure out who it was. The only person that came to mind was the gent that I had for Tuesday for an afternoon/evening float on the Connecticut River. So, I called him. Not only was it not him but he had been to his sons and been drinking a bottle of wine. Therefore, he was admittedly a bit tipsy. In talking with him, it came out that he had not been the fellow that had called. HMMMMM wonder who that was? We discussed the particulars of the float & as we were ending, I told him we would meet at my place at 1pm. To which he answered that he liked to be early and would be there by 12:30pm. Oh great.

Well I do not know about you but when I get a time in my head that is what my body is timed for. Therefore, when someone tries to push up the time it just totally screws with my system. To coin an old phrase ìdanger Will Robinson, danger, it does not computeî. Well that was me, to a T. That Tuesday morning started just the way the day ended. When Iím not with a client in the morning my routine includes checking my e-mail. Right off the bat I had problems with the provider. Oh great. I really kind of need to check the e-mail as I am getting more & more business that way. So I call up the provider. With what should have been a 10/15min call turns into nearly 2hr.. That makes things a bit tighter but still doable with the moved up time. So on with the routine as Jo & I are getting things ready this gent pulls in the drive. So I go to see what I can help him with. He was inquiring if I sold flies to which I answered yes. He went on to explain that living locally it was hard to find a good fly selection with out traveling 50 miles. True I responded that is why I deal with bulk orders offshore. Well 30 min go by & this gent like to chew the fat, just a BIT. Another 10 minutes & I had to excuse myself as I had to make ready for my client. He left & I continued preparing. Now, there was little time for error as the meeting time was drawing neigh. At this time the skies were broken clouds & a bit breezy. We got it together just in time before my client arrived. He did & we proceeded to the might Conn.. This in my opinion & observation is the most underutilized fishery in the northeastern USA. Most of the area that put in on are areas the no one but myself or a canoeist will get on due to access restraints. That is one of the benefits of a drift boat. They are not only highly maneuverable on the water but on land as well, short wheel base trailer etc. That way I have very little competition for my clients. That is just the way I want it. By the time we got to our destination, the skies had become a blue bird day. While I love the warm sun it does not always make for great fishing. My client made a point of asking me to fish with him. I explained that he did not hire me to fish with. He hired me to guide him. It is just my policy My clients do not hire me to play, but to work, for them & their best interest. I feel that I can not provide that if I am playing & not working. The time on the water started out slowly while we were trying to find a pattern that they liked. My client was patient at times & not in other timeís as we tried several patterns. As time wore on, we got to talking about equipment & the value of having ìgoodî quality equipment as opposed to Wal-Mart specials like what he was using. Do not get me wrong Wal-Mart offers good value on what they sell. There is better quality to be had a higher price & as a professional that is the rout I chouse to go. In time, I was able to make my point. The fishing was predictably slow but was begging to move up toward late afternoon early evening. Then before I knew it Murphy was back on my shoulder with his monkeys on my back, & I could feel their combined weight. He had snagged the line several times over the afternoon & we had been able to get a release each time. Until,,,,,,,,,,, this,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, oneÖÖÖÖ While casting around a submerged clump of trees, he was snagged again. I tried every trick in my book at the oars to get it free. To no avail. So I rowed up stream once more & took the pole from him. Once again, using every trick in my book to get a realize & once again to no avail. I decided to break free I tightened the drag & the line. My client offered me a knife to cut the line. Which I refused, stating that I preferred to break the line as close to the hook as possible. Explaining that it leaves less line in the water to affect the environment and wildlife. I let us drift down stream to get as taught a line as possible, & it would still not break. So I decided to reel up the line a bit to increase pressure. With not even two cranks on the handle and the shaft inside the reel snaps. Damn cheep quality crap. I ended up cutting the line as far down under the water as I could, but it left more line that I would have liked. After that, he declared that he had enough for the day. I wanted to wait a bit to see if there would be fish on the rise to cast to. Eventually there was but my client was not interested. All the way to the truck as it grew latter, there was increase surface feeding. I made it a point several times to point out the hatch, & what they were feeding on. Still no interest from my client. Oh well you can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink.

Now I was planning to do a bomb on my truck the next day. For those not in the know, a bomb on a truck are modification not provided by the OEM. I was planning on installing a fuel tank ventilation kit as the OEM had put it in a place on the tank that left a 3 gallon area to fill slowly. Often taking an additional 12/15 min to totally fill the tank. Now this bomb requires you to remove the tank from the truck. Therefor you want as little fuel I the tank as possible. Yeah I know what your think now, but your wrong. I did think ahead & had a gallon of fuel with me in that event. I am not a totally fool you know,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, just partly a fool. So true to my plan the truck did run out of fuel on the return. I promptly got out got my gallon & dumped it in her, got back in the truck & wet to start her up. I expected a bit of a delay as the fuel was pumped to the motor. Now for those that do not know. I drive a Dodge with a Cummins Turbo Diesel. A highly superior power plant to any gas motor, but it has ìsomeî differences. One of which is that you need to prime the lift pump. Ahoh. I did not know that & that means that I did not do it. She would not start. No matter how much I turned that key,,, & prayed she would not go. My darling wife Jo who has a cell phone had insisted that I take it with me. I protested but finally relinquished. You probably know from past columnís that I hate those damn things. However I begrudgingly admitted when we were moose hunting it did come in handy , & also again this night. Well when it became apparent that that she was not going to start I decided to call Jo. Well it did connect but the reception was terrible. All static & such. With muck LOUD talking, I was able to give directions to my wife & daughter, or so I thought. I also thought I was able to tell them what tools I would need. Now I have taken the time to teach my daughter what tool is what & where they were. So I anticipated that finding them & bring them would not be a problem. While we were waiting for the Calvary to arrive several cars went by but no one stopped even though I had the hood up & my hazard light on & my reflective triangles out. After an hours wait & wondering where my beloved family was a truck finally stopped offering a ride. My client was getting antsy so I made arrangements for him to be transported to my house so he could go on his way.

Another 45 min went by and finally my wife & daughter arrived. I thanked them profusely & got in the car to go get some more fuel to prime the pump etc. They volunteered to stay with the truck while I went. Just so you know my daughter while in her early teens is a big strong girl & an excellent shot with my 44magnum, & she has my attitude about life. Screw with me and I will make you pay for that indiscretion. I instructed them to lock the doors & not open them until I got back. I was back in about 30min. When I asked them to get the tools I had asked them to bring they said they werenít sure due to the static etc. just what tools to bring. It seems that they went to a neighborís house to get help loading my toolbox. Well that is no small feat. I have a stacked draw set of boxes. Even the small one is really heavy, but in lack of specific knowledge the did the right thing. I then got the pump top off got the fuel & primed the pump & put the rest in the tank. After a few seconds of cranking she sprang to life. Now during this time I had faced my wifeís car toward my truck with the lights on & left it running with so not wear down her battery. When I was done with all of this a I left my truck running and went to pick up my hazard triangles. As I was getting to the furthest one my daughter & wife start screaming that Joís car was smoking. I told them it should not smoke that it would cause lung cancer. That was not met with a laugh but with more panic. I yelled to them to shut it off & open the hood. When I returned we found where coolant had boiled over and was running across the road. Well I did not have any water with me so we flagged down a passing truck. Lots of trucks in the North Country. It was a young couple that offered to go to the girlís house & get us some water. By the time they returned I had figured out that the radiator fans were not working. No wonder when it was sitting it over heated. While it is moving the ram air is enough to keep it cool enough, and my wife usually only drives it back & forth to work. We filled the expansion chamber & found that the water pump was working. We instructed my wife to put he heater on high on the ride home to help dissipate the heat some. So home we go with no further incident. Over the next few days I found out why my wife & daughter were so late getting there. Neither one is really good with directions. Jo has only been here 3 years from the Philippines & Miranda is good in the wood, but other that that,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. It seems that Miranda told Jo to go south to ext.44 when they needed to go north to exit 44. They went south for about 8 miles before they got it right & turned back north on interstate 93. It seems that Murphy & his monkeys had visited them on my behalf also.

So what is the moral to the story. Fist be able to look at situations like that & get a good laugh from it. It is important to keep a positive outlook. No matter how bad it seems I know that the lord will bring me/us through in his plan. Also I know that my plight is not as bad as some other poor sole who needs the Almightyís help more than I do. Second no matter how well prepared you think you are if you can always look for the unexpected. I did not do that, & looked foolish in the process.

So you see that the life of a guide is not always about being on the water or in the woods. We have many things that need to be attendee to in addition to what our clients need & expect.

So that is my tale for this time. My you allow the Lord to help you make it a Great Day.