Sun up. I meet Mike, my tried and true Striped Bass and Salmon Fly fishing buddy, at our first Salmon hole. Nothing happening. The water flow had slowed dramatically and the fish were just not there. We step into our second hole and face the foreboding elements. Cold and windy to say the least. Our guides were frozen as were our hands. We cast a few streamers directly into the wind and nothing. We move to our third hole. Zero. On to the fourth hole and I am just to lazy to put on my waders. So, I stroll out to prime positioning while mike puts on his waders. I strip of line from my real and cast into the wind. A nice Salmon rolls at my fly and nothing after that. I put my rod down and face the sun to try and warm up. Meanwhile, Mike makes his way to where I am. We both look at his flybox and Mike decides to start with some sort of maribou wooly/streamer looking thing. Totally white. He hauls out a beautiful cast and gets a lot more distance than me, because he was wading into the water and using a slightly heavier rod. In this instance, distance did matter. Mike strips once and WHAM! He had a nice Salmon on his line. I was so glad for Mike. He had the flu and it required all his energy to get out this morning. Especially so early. So, if anyone deserved to get a Salmon it was Mike. Mike is also a phenomenal Striped Bass fisherman. He has taught me alot about the dymanics and tricks for catching alot of Striped Bass on the ocean shorelines of Maine. Between what he and Dave have taught me, I have increased my Salmon and Striped Bass fishing skills 10 fold. I used to show up next to them and they would catch 10 fish to my 1. Now, I show up and I can hold my own. Like everything else, Maine Salmon fishing and Striped Bass Fishing is an art and a science. You gotta know where to find the fish and then you gotta know what to do to catch them. Sure some guys can show up and catch a few fish here and there. But, Dave and Mike get fish. Lots of fish and big fish. Consistently. There is, of course, a little guess work and a little luck, but most of their successes are build around wisdom and skill. Thankfully, some of that is rubbing off on me. Nice fish Mike.