Monday, January 3, 2011

What's In A Name?


So, I've been wondering how people come up with their blog titles and ID names... I'm sure there is some interesting background or a funny story behind some of them.  Maybe something that we never even thought of!  When I look at some of these titles...I think, wow, that could have been mine!  Example:  Windknots and Tangled Lines...Oh, for sure, that could have been mine!  There are some stories behind "Adventure In Every Riffle".   Oh, when I started fly fishing two years ago, I was a little nervous about wading out in the middle of a river.  I don't have the best sense of balance, you see.  So, I bought a life preserver!!  My friends laughed. Have you ever seen anyone with one around their neck fly fishing?  Well, it is now on the back of my pontoon for the lake, which is a must. After a few times out, I got better on my feet and a little braver.  And I now know what my limits are. But, I had to learn the hard way...

My first "Adventure In Every Riffle", was taking a wrong step in a current that was a little too fast for my own good.  Oh, I could feel the pressure against my legs as I was about ready to go under and down the river!  Fortunately, I was just a few feet away from the bank where there were some large branches for me to hang on to, until a river buddy reached out to me and gave me his hand.  Whew!  My heart was racing on that one.  Lesson learned.  If you get your fly caught in a tree...cut your losses!  A full load of water inside the waders and one Ipod waterlogged.  Oh, I sure do love my Simms waterproof bag, which I bought shortly thereafter! That was on the Greys River in Wyoming.  One of the best dry fly locations in the summertime.  What a beautiful, secluded place it is.  Besides that little scare, it was an awesome trip.  Some great camping areas also.  I'm planning on revisting this summer.

The second "Adventure In Every Riffle", was on the Weber River in my own neck of the woods...Utah.  It was a beautiful, sunny day with a great, blue wing olive hatch going on.  I had two fish netted mid morning and was quite excited about the prospects!  All of the sudden, I heard children's laughter and screaming.  I looked upriver and saw a family of tubers coming swiftly towards me.  Now, this isn't a part of the river that gets tubers...in fact, it was the first time I had seen it on this stretch.  A few minutes later, the children's laughter was turning into shrills!  The tubes had overturned due to some low lying tree branches. The mother had her hands full for sure, as the tubes were going down the river and the children were trying to stay afloat in the current of the river even with their preservers on.  The father was lagging behind and not in view yet.  What was even scarier, was that these young boys were only 4-6 yrs old...So, I quickly went against the current as fast as I could go and grabbed one child and one tube with my flyrod under my arm, while the mother got hold of the other child.  Let me tell you, if that wasn't an adrenaline rush!   It took a few more minutes to gather up belongings and head to the riverbank.  The dad came up as we were placing the children on safe ground.  What do you think was the first thing out of the mother's mouth?  Yep,  "It's time to go home!! We've had enough fun"!!  She was so thankful and appreciative of my help and I was amazed that with my poor sense of balance, that I got over there in time!  What you can do when you don't have any alternative than to help!  Anyway, I sat at the side of the river for probably another half hour, just calming down my heart...And thanking God that everything worked out fine.  And as a damselfly landed on the plant next to me, I couldn't believe how this day was filled with so many adventures, beauties, and blessings and how a few fish were just a side note...

Blue Damselfly.jpg

                 Thus, "Adventure In Every Riffle" and why I am "The River Damsel".

11 comments:

  1. Nice post. I am also fascinated by the creative blog titles others, including yourself, have come up with. I'm a big fan of Howard's "Wind Knots & Tangled Lines" blog title. Howard's blog was really the one that inspired me to start my own back in October. It was about that same time that I had a similar river rescue experience to the one you describe... mine was an older gentleman in the Norfork River (AR) that was quickly on the rise from a dam release. If you want to know a bit about my blog title, you can read my very first post on "The Naturalist's Angle." By the way, I have some cool damsel fly photos I can share with you if you like.

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  2. We should do a whole blog of damsel fly photos - I've got plenty too! :) That was a great post! Isn't it amazing how a little adreneline and you can do things you never dreamed you'd be able to do. I have a friend that tells a story about two young girls sitting on mid-river rocks on an NC stream known for white-water rafting. It was 10 am or so - about time for the water to reach the outfitter's complex of restaurant-store-raft house etc. The mother was either unaware of the danger, or just not paying attention. My friend Bill and his pal Buddy were standing on the bridge, talking about the water that was surely coming down the river when they saw it suddenly start to rise! Bill said to Buddy " That mother doesn't even know it's rising!" and he started to yell to the girls to move and get out of there. He stopped before he yelled though - there was some guy thrashing through the water from upstream, up to his waist now in white-water, totally soaked to his hat...and he snatched the girls up and with great, hulking strides pulled them 20 feet to the bank as the water rushed up over the rocks a full three feet higher than where they sat. Bill said to Buddy " Whew. That guy got them.." as he turned to his silent friend. Buddy wasn't there. Buddy was soaking wet, worn out, and doubled over breathing hard - being hugged and thanked by that clueless mother.

    Sometimes, anglers can be angels I suppose. :)

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  3. What a cool post! I often think about that with blog titles as well, and admire the creativity that lies in each one.

    Way to save the day. It really is amazing what fears and apprehensions fly out the window when a life is on the line.

    -stephanie

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  4. Jay...welcome to my blog and thanks for the story! I will surely stop by your site and check it out. Isn't Howard (Cofisher) great? Yep yep...
    OWL-BUD...Thanks for sharing that story...wow! What an amazing story of inspiration, determination and just being dialed in!
    Steph...I'm grateful for this experience on the Weber...but definitely hoping that it doesn't have to repeat itself!!

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  5. BTW, Everyone...I am looking for a superb damsel picture that I might be able to download and put on my main page...if you don't mind me using it!
    theriverdamsel@yahoo.com Thanks!

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  6. River Angel must have been taken huh ? I myself would say you are an " angel of the river " to be where you were to pull them yahoo's from the frigid water . . . just saying . . . I'm kinda like a newbie at this so be nice and I invite you to all take a look my blog . . .

    http://myflyfishingjourney.blogspot.com/

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  7. Wonderful stories Damsel and everyone! Inspiring to say the least. Damsel, you're my heroine! I'm going to send you a link to the Fiberglass Flyrodders 2011 clave in Star Vally, Wyoming. I'm going to fish Greys this summer. It would be nice to have a lady around to keep the goons in line.

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  8. Journeyman...Welcome to Blogger Heaven...(Angels?) OBN is a great inspiration from a couple of fine people. And there are many people out there that you will connect with that have the same passion of fly fishing and the outdoors! Thanks for the kind words...I picked the right name..."Damsel"..."Angel" would be a little hard to live up to...I think that I would have to go to Lifeguard River Safety Class for sure!

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  9. Cofisher...Cofisher...You still want me to buy the glass...don't you? I think that's not going to happen, but The Greys River just might...I have a couple of people wanting to go up for the trip...let's see if we maybe can coordinate plans. Best dry flyin' anywhere!

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  10. Glad you liked the photo enough to let it grace your blog.

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  11. I had to change to the larger photo to show those beautiful, buggy eyes!!! Love it! Thanks so much.

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