<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Secret Soul Fly Fishing Adventures]]></title><description><![CDATA[Articles]]></description><link>http://www.secret-soul.com/</link><copyright><![CDATA[Copyright Secret Soul Fly Fishing Adventures]]></copyright><generator>sNews CMS</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Drift]]></title><description><![CDATA[      

  I attended the Fly Fishing Show in Denver a few months ago and what a great time that was. The show is like the Willy Wonka factory for Fly Fishermen. I spent three days wondering in and out of booths, talking to manufacturers, testing gear and seeing all the new stuff. One of the highlights of the show was the premier showing of the film Drift. It was held in a huge tent with thousands of fly fishing folks drinking free beer. Needless to say, the atmosphere was perfect. When the film started up there were wild cheers from the crowd and with every hookup it just got more insane. I was in the back and my thoughts were two fold; 1. this is the most beautiful film I have ever seen, 2. how cool is it to see this much energy at a fly fishing show. It was refreshing and hopeful to see the cool effect with a sport that is so traditional and even spiritual. Maybe that is why the film was met with such excitement, it was touching us all in our secret souls.  

  Amazing work on this film and my hat is off to Jim Klug and the gang who shot and produced it, bravo!!  

]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:30:56 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/drift/</link><guid>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/drift/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Florida Keys Fly Fishing School]]></title><description><![CDATA[  I saw the fish about fifty yards out and my first thought was………….. shark.  At twenty five yards I was thinking holy #%*@ that's the biggest bonefish I have ever seen.  The client on the front of the boat was struggling to make a thirty foot cast.  On a wide open white flat under clear blue skies I needed a good sixty feet to put the fly on this fish.  First shot, not even close, the fish moved off into the wind, second shot after poling fifteen minutes into the wind, no chance.  These are the moments that test a guide, you just feel bad for the client and frustrated that you can't help with the those last sixty feet. 
  

  One of the mantras I say to my clients is "practice your casting before you come down." I would say that the majority of people I fish with struggle when it comes to dealing with the wind and making the kind of cast demanded by big fish and windy flats.  
There are great schools all over the place and I can't stress enough that if you are thinking about a bonefishing trip you should take advantage of a good school or the instruction from your local shop.  If you are thinking about a school, let me recommend one of the best in the US,   The Florida Keys Fly Fishing School  .    

  As a continual learner, and for my professional development, I decided I would invest the time and money to attend the school run by Sandy Moret and his great crew.  I can't say enough about the value of the experience and the down right fun I had at the school.  How can you go wrong with instruction by Flip Pallot, Steve Rajeff, Graig Brewer, Sandy Moret and others all set at the world famous Boca Cheeca Lodge?  The knowledge and experience of the teaching staff is truly legendary and the comradeirie of the class made me feel like I was on a fishing trip with a bunch of good friends.  Class sizes are small and the instruction is tailored to each student.  If you want to treat yourself to a great weekend, become a better caster and gain a deeper understanding of the sport, give Sandy a call and see if there is room in the next class.   ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:47:15 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/florida-keys-fly-fishing-school/</link><guid>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/florida-keys-fly-fishing-school/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fly fishing and fine rum]]></title><description><![CDATA[  

  Zaya is estate produced and bottled in Guatemala, where rich volcanic alluvial soils and tropical temperatures produce the best sugar cane in the world. Zaya is produced using the finest sugar cane, hand selected from the estate. The selections go through an elaborate extraction process to obtain only the "pure virgin honey" of the concentrated juice, which is then double distilled in small copper pots to achieve greater complexity. The water and its limpidity are an important foundation of world class rum. Zaya uses indigenous natural artisan "Millenary Waters" that display purity that is beyond compare. Most countries require any rum to be aged for a year before bottling. Before its release, Zaya is gently matured for 12 long years in the finest oak barriques, imparting deeper, more complex and smoother flavors.  

  Why would a fly fishing web site include an article about rum?  Well if you have to ask, it's about the finer things of life.  I would never consider myself a fly fishing snob, I love live baiting for tuna, trolling for Wahoo, or hand line fishing with my father for grunts and snappers.  I will even put a spinning rod on the Secret Soul for those who are not fully evolved.  However when it comes to rum and cigars, I am a self proclaimed snob.  I started drinking way to late in life to have wasted time on the cheap stuff and after working in the Cuban Cigar industry as a La Casa Del Habano manager, I have been terribly spoiled.   

  When a friend suggested I have a signature drink for the boat, the choice was easy.  A sip of Zaya is about as good as it gets when it comes to fine rum and I could not think of a better way to celebrate the first fish or the end of a great day.  Some would call it customer service, I call it the perfect compliment.   

  Zaya is not easy to come by, but one of the best places to order it is   BevMo.com    

  Enjoy!!  

]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:57:36 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/fly-fishing-and-fine-rum/</link><guid>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/fly-fishing-and-fine-rum/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[&quot;Guide&quot;]]></title><description><![CDATA[  

  It was one of those days where I knew I had made a bad call.  The weather had turned to @#$* and we were 32 miles offshore trying to fly fish for blue water "anything".  What was a bonefish guide doing out here with a client that was chucking his guts up and holding on for dear life?  

  I had overreached and in trying to provide what the client wanted, had made a very poor decision. Now I was paying for it.  I looked at my very pale, wet, and cold client and said as humbly as I could, let's get the hell out of here, I am very sorry for taking you out today".  His response was priceless.  He said, "Clint, please don't apologize, I am having the time of my life." I laugh just thinking about it. When we finally got back to some calmer water my client who was a real trooper explained that this experience gave him a great story to tell when he got back to his corporate office where everything is so controlled and safe.  

  In the midst of the craziness of that day something bigger than catching fish was going on, we were both very aware of what it meant to be alive.  I see it many times on trips; a client put the rod down and just dangles their feet in the water, or walks off on their own for time of solitude.  As a guide I know people hire me to put them on fish and hopefully I do a good job at that, but the concept of a guide always has a larger context.  What I do is facilitate experience, yes catching fish, but more than that, creating stories, moments of awareness, memories, the stuff you can't predict.  Mell Kreiger talks about the humble way one should teach the student, realizing that we are all learners; it is in that spirit that I understand the consept of "guide".  I am fortunate enough to be a part of so many great moments, life long memories, and epic days where clients, who become friends, have the best time of their life.  Thanks Steve!!  

  Your guide,  

clint  ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:27:46 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/guide/</link><guid>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/guide/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[What is fly fishing?]]></title><description><![CDATA[  There was a time in my life when I taught Scuba Diving.  One of the most dangerous scenarios a diver could find themselves in was blowing the dive table.  When a diver stays down to long nitrogen builds up in the blood eventually becoming lethal.  I always thought this was a great analogy of how most of us live our lives.  



  The only way to safely surface after staying down too long is to make a decompression stop which allows the body to off gas.  Again, most of us are in desperate need of a decompression stop for our souls and I believe this is what fly fishing is all about.  The experience of a day on the flats can only be captured in spiritual language.  Something happens in the experience of wading a flat or the quiet polling of a skiff that allows our soul to breathe. It is this soul decompression that calls us to these sacred spaces where our senses are rejuvenated as we wait for the gray spirits to make their appearance.  I have spent most of my life trying to save the world, these days I realize that it is my own heart that needs saving, my secret soul that needs life. It is funny how this revelation slowly came to light walking on the flats, decompressing my soul. The all out sprint that many of us call life, leaves our minds, bodies and souls desperate for a place of stillness and quiet, a place to stop and let our soul breath.  

  This is what fly fishing is; oh and then there are those moments when you see that glistening tail that you have to remind yourself to take a breath.  ]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:44:06 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/what-is-fly-fishing/</link><guid>http://www.secret-soul.com/guide-log/what-is-fly-fishing/</guid></item></channel></rss>
