Monday Morning Coffee with Cardboard Kirk

no cardboard cutouts were scalded in the making of this post

 Ewwwawwwwhhhhuyghgh!!!  Yawn, stretch, scratch, repeat....Man o man, is it Monday again already?  Let's have some coffee.  As you can see, I have some company- Kirk Werner in cardboard form.  We're drinking some Cafe Bustelo- a blast from my NYC days.  I didn't want to take a chance on French press, those Seattle folks need their espresso.  Cardboard Kirk is on a tour of the country or who knows, maybe the world, before heading back to good old Seattle.  He hasn't told me his full itinerary, but to be fair I haven't told him the itinerary here either.  He went fishing for steelhead with Rebecca Garlock of the "Outdooress" blog and the River Damsel out in Idaho.  He then came here.  He says that he traveled comfortably, if a little cramped.  The cup is always half empty and half full for Seattle-ites.  (Kirk wrote about his trip with the Outdooress and the River Damsel here.)

It's very hard to get a Pacific Northwesterner like Cardboard Kirk to come fish the Great Lakes region.  They, after all, live in the original home of the steelhead and salmon that eventually found their way here, and they have that stunning scenery as a backdrop.  The funny part is that both the Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest have similar histories rooted in mining and logging.  So similar in fact, that a lot of the immigrant workers who came to Michigan to work in the lumber camps later moved on to Washington and Oregon when the timber played out here.  I'd like to think we made a fair exchange- we sent them some of our people, and they sent some of their fish.  Both stayed and flourished in their respective new environs.

We're in a bit of a cold snap right now, which has really suppressed the fishing at the moment, but Cardboard Kirk says he doesn't mind hanging out for a couple of weeks, so I'm going to show him some of the sights, take him on a few excursions, and hopefully catch him some fish.  I've settled him in the guest room and we're going to sit around

Kirk tucked into the guest room

 the campfire (not too close) and tell stories and I'm going to show him a few fly patterns.  I'm really looking forward to showing off my corner of the world- we may not have those high mountains, but the northern Great Lakes region definitely has its own beauty and charm- drama even.

This week I'll do the first installment on the new drift boat being built over at Croff Craft, I have a brief post on common mistakes I see on the rivers (including ones I've made myself), and Friday, being April first, I'll continue my Angler's Year series.  So hang with me here, it's going to be a great week.

Congratulations to Brian Kozminski on winning last weeks giveaway- a mixed dozen steelhead flies.  Look for the next giveaway next week starting Wednesday April 6th.  I may have to break down and make it a half dozen streamers.  Why not, I need some help testing them.

All right, coffee is done, and Kirk is going to mind the office while I go to work- let's get after it!

P.S.  I overheard some grumbling from downstairs last night about the fact Rebecca is on Andros Island after bonefish while he's here in frosty Michigan.  He'll change his tune once we get into some fish.