Wednesday, February 17, 2021

"nostalgia"......

They say that tomorrow is promised to no one, but yesterday is forever.

On these long winter days which turn into long winter nights I sometimes drift back to some of most memorable times in life. Memory is a funny thing. It's like a closet. There's stuff in there and although it may be dusty it will still shine clear when dusted off.

 


 This little fly shop on the banks of a Pennsylvania trout river is where I found a fly that has been in my box for thirty years. I never knew the fly's name until recently. I was fishing the river and noticed lots of dead flies on the side of the building. I went inside and met the owner of the shop. We talked for awhile and he suggested I try a wet fly that worked well in the river. I'm sure he told me the name but I had forgotten it. Well I fished that fly in that river and soon found out what the term sore arms meant. The river still flows but sadly the shop has gone.

The "Lackie Special" the name of that wonderful wet fly I was introduced  to thirty years ago. The name comes from the river...the Lackawaxen in the Poconos of Pennsylvania.
 

Over the decades I have hunted and fished the Poconos of Pennsylvania. I have found some beautiful streams with lovey wild trout. It is hard to say which is the best, but as to which is the most beautiful it by far and away this one. I have fished every pool and riffle along it's course. Early on I would catch brookies and browns. As the years progressed the brookies became scarce but the browns thrived. One of the better pools is pictured here. It now has been several years since I last fished here but I hope to change that this year.
 

 

25 comments:

  1. Hope you share the pattern as it looks very fishy to me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Memories are a wonderful thing on cold Winter days...and nights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mark Kautz
      Thanks
      Mark those memories warm the heart. And at times the heart deserves it.

      Delete
  3. Alan
    Remembering the past for me was the good old days. Yes, it was tuff to make a living back then but we didn't realize at the time but we were living through some of the best years of our lives.
    The only high-tech object to entertain us in our house was the radio and in the later years a tube tv----how times have changed. The image of the fishing supply shop reminds me of the old country store where we use to buy our groceries. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bill Trussell
      Thanks
      Bill they were tough but happy times. And yes I remember the tube TV's. We only had 3 channels. Shops like that go and they will never come back...sad.

      Delete
  4. I love the fly, Alan. It reminds of a darker version of Mark Libertone's 'Genesee Jewel'; I definitely need to tie a few of these up. What was for breakfast, -was it blueberry muffins or blueberry pancakes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mike
      Thanks
      Mike they are quite similar. This fly was born on the river behind that fly shop. Pancakes my friend.

      Delete
  5. Hi Alan,

    It is great when we can return to a river we have fond memories of - and even better when it fishes as we recall from many moons ago!

    There are a couple of really pretty small streams near my home village which were regular haunts of mine when I was a teenager. They held lots of Brownies of no great size but, as they ran directly in to the North Sea, there was always the chance of a bonus Sea Trout (sea run Brownie). Since moving back to Yorkshire 11 years ago, I have often thought about going back to them but through lack of time and fear that they will not be the same, I have never made it to their banks. Perhaps this may change this year, who knows???

    Take care and stay safe

    Alistair

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous
      Thanks
      Alistair those streams you fished in your youth are still fresh in your mind. And those lovely little browns seem to be on the same page as the giant you have taken.
      I hope you have the chance to visit those streams again.

      Delete
  6. Snowing hard here in rural Chester Co. PA good day to take a break from online work, read some SSR, and tie a couple up. I’ll wait for the Lackie Special recipe but my guess is a cream hen hackle, wood duck tail and wing, maybe hare’s ear dubbing on primrose, and a primrose rib. I looked through older SSR posts where Lackie is mentioned but pattern is elusive. These old fly shops were treasures but the internet has forced them out of the market. There was a well known one on the banks of the Little Lehigh in Allentown PA in an ancient spring house which had all kinds of special midge and trico flies for that river but it is long gone. Progress? Doesn’t feel like it.
    Kevin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ned Zeppelin
      Thanks
      Kevin the Lackie Special is a body that is dubbed with hares ear, or Life Cycle nymph dub Tan. Tail and wing are natural wood duck and the hackle is dun hen neck. The internet can't give you conversation with the fly tyer owner who has been on the river for 50 years. I'm going to fish the Lackawaxen this year. Zane Gray territory.

      Delete
  7. I had a visit back to the boarding school I went to as a kid , The school has long gone but the river in the grounds I caught my first trout on a fly is still there . The river seemed much smaller now but I managed to find the corner where I caught that first fish..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beck and Brown Trout
      Thanks
      That's amazing. You never forgot and it was like it was yesterday. It's nice you went back.

      Delete
  8. Alan,
    Those one off shops (fly or otherwise) are special. You see one you have to stop in, just because... You will always remember it. Can't say that about a visit to a big box store.
    JJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beaverdam
      Thanks
      Joe I feel like I'm committing a sin shopping in one of those stores. I enjoy conversation instead of hearing "it's over there".

      Delete
  9. Hi Alan- I'll second Unknowns request, please share the Lackie Special pattern. I googled it and your blog is the only reference I could find. Maybe it was only tied and sold at that wonderful little fly shop? It would be a shame for such a elegant pattern to be lost.

    Dean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dean F
      Thanks
      Dean look in Ned Zeppelins post.
      I did a feature on the shop and the fly but can't remember where I posted it. I'll keep searching for it.

      Delete
  10. I love seeing pictures of old fly shops like that. Simpler times in my memory, but maybe not as simple as the mind makes it seem looking back now. That Lackie Special looks deadly. Spring isn't far off now and it will be especially welcome this year.

    Best, Sam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sam
      Thanks
      Sam I believe you still have a couple of fly shops that fit into that category. I know of one in Charlemont. 29 days buddy...Sox are in camp it looks brighter already.

      Delete
    2. Alan, the crack of the bat will be a welcome sound, as will warmer days with trout rising to mayflies. Days noticeably longer now, we are gaining ground.

      Delete
  11. Alan,
    A post with deep content, you have been able to express the feeling very well.
    Beautiful wet fly, I have used some similar ones like Light Cahill and Dark Cahill, flies that have obviously been created for other environments, but they work very well here.
    Can you pass me the recipe for your "Lackie Special"?

    Humberto (Achalabrookies)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous
      Thanks
      Humberto both of those wet flies you mentioned are great flies. They are in my fly box size 12's. I will do a post on the Lackie Special

      Delete
  12. http://smallstreamreflections.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-golde-badger-and-some-very-good.html
    Kevin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kevin, I am aware of that post. I was very active in a NJFF forum and I'm sure I'll be able to find the thread about this shop and fly.

      Delete