2014 Fly Swap Loot: Rinehart's Carpin Koozies

Gather 'round children and let me spin you a yarn. Many ages ago, in the time before Instagram, fly fishermen were a respectable lot.  They fished small flies to small fish in clear water. Some went as far as declaring the dryfly the only fly fished by gentlemen and rarely was a hiphop song used as the music in a home-shot flyfishing video. As hard as it is to believe, tattoos weren't even a part of the sport!  Can you imagine?  Fishing trips were often followed by sipping expensive bourbon and smoking ill-gotten Cuban cigars. I call it the time of tweed and pretension.

During these dark times a band of rebels dared to catch fish on the fly that weren't salmonids. Pike, bass and even some saltwater fish were intentionally hooked and surreptitiously released. The scorn for these miscreants was real, if not always vocalized. If these brave souls functioned in the shadows, a few truly daring anglers only worked under the cover of darkness. These free thinkers chased carp on the fly. Few people knew this band existed and the ones that did certainly did not approve. And yet, they toiled in the mud and grime and caught big fish. 

In time, these heroes would begin to sing the tale of carp from the mountain tops. "They are difficult and fun to catch." the fearless band would proclaim. "I'm very good at flyfishing and my ability to catch carp proves it!" they would announce. A following would develop, then a movement and eventually a revolution. Josh Rinehart has provided everyone in the fly-swap a custom can koozie to commemorate the brave souls that have pioneered the way, lest we forget.  

- A History of Flyfishing as Interpreted by a Carp Flyfishermen. By Dan Frasier