It's Friday, which means I'm on Little M duty - and that a quick fly fishing trip may be in the cards.

Then again, it's August, and a lot of our small streams are hunkered down under the double whammy of summer heat and low summer flows, so a Fishability Reconnaissance Trip - cleverly disguised as a Little M nature outing - is probably the smartest course.

That means hiking books instead of wading boots, and a stream thermometer in place of a fly rod.

Frankly, I'm congratulating myself even as I write this; maintaining the pretense of effective fatherhood while indulging your fly fishing affliction requires both creativity and an ability to seize the moment.

Carpe Kidum...

The Rod Builder Cometh
Also included in today's Big Day Out may be a visit to bamboo rod builder Chris Raine's shop. Raine called yesterday to say he'd worked out the kinks on a new taper, and wanted me to cast it.

My motivation here is clear; Chris gave me the prototype of this taper years ago, and the thing has never really clicked for either of us.

If he has solved the riddle, then a new tip could bring my Raine Frankenrod (it's a builder's shop rod - a prototype built from disparate sections and using mismatched components) up to speed.

Only a fool wouldn't make that visit, and the Underground's no fool.

That I'd be fishing a hollowbuilt bamboo fly rod that clearly wasn't meant for public consumption only makes the whole thing more attractive (and probably to a sizable portion of my readership).

After all, good bamboo rod builders create little works of art pretty much all day long; fishing a rod that ignores cosmetic conventions in favor of proving a concept turns me all warm and tingly inside.

It's not normal, but then, normalcy isn't really the default state for a group of people who go to great lengths to catch fish only to safely return them to the water.

And The Undergrounders Are Headed [insert fly fishing destination] This Weekend?
It's mid-August and Friday is here; where are the Undergrounders fishing this weekend?

As always, the floor is yours. Discuss...

See you with Little M in tow, Tom Chandler.