Back on July 3rd, I posted a piece called A Daunting Task that was to be continued about the renewal of my 40-year-old tired and frayed studio. Well, it’s done! Almost everything is back in place. I vowed to eliminate 1/3 of the clutter and succeeded. The walls and ceiling are patched and freshly painted by me. Joe Rocco’s company Artistic Floors by Design put in the beautiful new hardwood floor that replaces the old paint spattered and worn out wall-to-wall carpet. Joe was highly recommended by my neighbor who builds custom homes. Joe was a pleasure to work with. There are still a few pictures to hang, but I’m finally painting again and feeling as refreshed as my new surroundings.

 Here is a video of Ann playing her 15-pound Atlantic salmon to the net. Watch for a classic jump. This fish put Ann on the board. She didn’t want to be the only one to not catch a fish. She handled it just right, putting on pressure when the fish tried to rest and giving line when it wanted to run. There’s no stopping a fish that wants to go, only some bruised knuckles, a broken leader and a lost opportunity. This salmon took a Green Machine, one of the most reliable wet flies. You’ll see, when the fish is netted, it is quickly photographed and released.  

ann’s salmon from Eldridge Hardie on Vimeo.

 It’s almost impossible to catch the instant of the fish taking the fly, but on this rainy evening the fish were coming up for the dry fly so well that I turned on my camera to see if I could capture it. It happens on the sixth cast. A little farther into the video the salmon makes a couple of exciting jumps.�

Ginnie’s Atlantic salmon taking a dry fly on the Restigouche River, New Brunswick, Canada from Eldridge Hardie on Vimeo.