Even though I signed all the papers, answered about a million emails congratulating me on the promotion, approved my new business card and this morning, I even spoke to the godfather himself, Lefty, I’m still having to pinch myself to know I’m not dreaming that I’m the editor of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters. So – here I sit, writing my very first blog as editor and I’ll be honest, I still feel like this isn’t real!
I found out I landed my dream job and immediately hopped in my truck to watch Enrico Puglisi conduct a fly tying demo at Orlando Outfitters. While there, I found out that before becoming a “fly mogul”, Enrico was a chef – can you believe that? After watching him tie, it makes perfect sense. For a dish to really “sing”, chefs have to pay attention to every detail from taste to presentation. In a heavy Sicilian accent Enrico says: “I gonna make you-a plate of food that-a looka so good, youra gonna like it before-a you taste it.” He has the exact same mentality when it comes to creating and tying flies. He’s gonna make it pretty and you’re gonna like it with your eyes first, weather you’re a fish or a customer.
Personally, I love his baitfish patterns and even though I consider myself to be a decent fly tier, whenever I try to mimic one of his patterns, well – they come out looking like crap! I know what materials he’s using and I know how he’s tying the material in, so why is it that his come out looking so good and mine are so bad! I guess it’s just one of those things that takes years to perfect. In all honestly, I can’t think of any fly that I would say that about. It’s not that his flies are super complex and who knows, it could just be a fly that gives me extreme headaches. One thing I will say about his flies is that unless you can catch on to the subtleties within his techniques, you are going to have a hard time duplicating one of his patterns.
If you get the chance to watch the man tie – go and watch the man tie! You aren’t going to be able to pick up on these minor details from a book or magazine and that’s coming from a magazine editor!
After seeing Enrico’s demo, getting the news about becoming editor, I had a major itch to go fishing. So, it only seemed natural to close out the week by spending a day on the water to celebrate. Joined by Fly Fishing in Salt Waters publisher Gary Jennings and my good friend Capt. Nick Sassic, we headed out to fish the north end of Mosquito Lagoon. You couldn’t have ordered a better day. There was virtually no wind and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, which actually made the fishing tough. We saw tons of fish and had many shots and we finally fooled a couple small ones. And of course, a day finished out JB’s Fishcamp with a few cold beers is never, ever going to be a bad thing. Looking forward to week two!
John Frazier
Editor – FFSW
