u/ChanceWhole6565

I lived on the Cape from 1976 to 1988 and met people frequently that had never been to Massachusetts. They had never been over either bridge. I was shocked. I assume now those folks would be rarity. So are there any reddit people or people you've met that have ever left the Cape.

There was a story that circulated around Brewster long ago when the population was under 600 about a gentleman that took the train to Boston and was stunned it had a roof over the whole city...he never left south station

I clearly remember 3 100 fish days trout fishing. 2 were a week apart on the same river during a brook trout spawning migration. It was almost impossible to NOT catch a brookie on each cast. A fellow fly fisher who was sharing the same 100 feet of river and I were trying not to catch a fish on each cast. It was nesrly impossible. He was fishing a little white caddis patern, and I was fishing a zebra midge.

The third day was at the mouth of a small stream that flowed into a reservoir . It was Memorial Day weekend, and where we wanted to fish was still buried in snow. As the day warmed flow increased with the upgradient snow melting and washing all kinds of aquatic life downstream. It was nuts.

None of the experiences were sport, but someone had to catch them. All were released

I've been a loyal Orvis customer for around 30 years. Their service and warranty work has always been top shelf. I've fished many other brands of fly rods in the 30 years, Sage , St Croix and a few bamboo like Granger and a 3 dollar yard sale Fenwick that I caught hundreds of blue gill with but my favorite rods have always been Orvis.

I miss having the convenience of having a relatively close by store.

I have no idea how many fly rods I've owned, but probably north of 50. Started with fiberglass, then transitioned to grafite...mostly Cortlands which broke all too often. Finally, I bought an Orvis Trident 9' 2 piece 6 weight mid flex. Fabulous rod... perfect for my style of fishing, mostly roll casting in small brushy New England streams. I broke it 4 times in 10 years of fishing 100 plus days a year. Orvis repaired it free until the last time. It was beyond hope, so they replaced it with an up grade, a T3, and the same configuration. That lasted 8 or so years and went in for repair due to stress cracks. Sorry, we can't fix it ..so they gave me a Helios 9' 4 piece 6 wt. Nice stick, but nothing was as good as the Trident. Im still fishing the Helios, I like it, but dont love it. My wonderful wife found a Trident on eBay and bought it for me.

I bought my first pair of breathable waders from Orvis just before a trip to Utah. They were the cheapest they had. I was fishing the Weber River when I holed them on a barb wire fence. When I returned I went to the Orvis store and they gave me a new pair. I holed those, and they gave me another pair. 3rd time they repaired them..4th time a new pair. Crazy warranty!

I did a 6 week solo trip tent camping in Wyoming and lost 40 pounds eating my own cooking. I had carefully planned my food suppy to give me about 2000 calories a day..I burned about 5000 calories fishing like a mad man thus the wait loss. When I returned to Massachusetts, I headed for the boston orvis store to have more warranty work. Long story short, I left there with the top of the line guide pro waders that fit after my weight loss and a 20 buck credit. I still haven't figured out why, but I didn't complain.

Now the nearest Orvis store is at least 2 hours away.

Hit the link ...read it. There is light at the end of the tunnel

I bought a Marlin Cowboy in 38 55, a Uberti highwall in 38 55, and a Uberti highwall in 40 65. Shot them for several years trying to get the perfect load. The 40 65 i gave up on..just couldn't get a decent group . The 38 55 highwall was great fun.. experimented with different powders, brass, and several different diameter bullets. I bought it right and made some good money when I sold it. I'm currently shooting the Marlin Cowboy with hard cast bullets from Cheycast and Blue dot powder. It groups well. Does anyone have a suggested load for the 38 55? I like experimenting

I bought my first firearm at age 13.. a 22 ..I paid half with money i earned mowing lawns , my parents paid the other half. I would pedal to the local hardware with my 22 tied to the handlebars and buy a box or 2 of ammo and pedal off to my friend's house and off we would go to shoot for the afternoon. I've owned a firearm continuously for 65 years. A problem is guns are like potato chips..you can't have one!

Prior to my retirement, I was coming home from a conference with my assistant, and he asked how many handguns do you own. I didn't know.. started to do a mental count and answered too many. So I sold 2 and bought 5..did it a second time sold 2 bought 5. So when I retired, I realized I owned many guns I hadn't shot in years... maybe decades. So I began a purge.. I did reduce the inventory.. could finally close my safe easily and find what I was looking for. As I sold off guns, I bought some that I had always wanted, but I had fewer and fewer. I'm now at a point where I shoot almost everything I own. I now sell one buy 1.. I think it's now under control

As a kid and up to age 30, I shot in sandpits. I grew up in cranberry country in Plymouth County. There were sandpits everywhere. Does anyone know of any sandpits in Plympton MA where I can shoot l legally?

4 guys.. Utah, California, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, with a total of over 200 years of fly fishing experience. We've all fished Wyoming in the past multiple times. This trip, we started in Alcova, 100 degrees mid day, tried the Fremont Canyon and the Miricle mile...tried mornings in the high 80s...tried around sunset, still in the 90s Few fish! Off to the Bighorns and the North Tongue where we've fished before..again few fish... cool at night but low flow and warmish water. Off to the upper Green...same..on to the Grey's River. Great looking but no depth, no place for fish to escape the heat. We found a few holes 30 or so miles up and got a few. Had fun..enjoyed everyone's politeness. So two mysteries.. where are the fish, and why is there no ice coffee in Wyoming

The Massachusetts state operating budget for Fiscal Year 2027 is $63.4 billion, which breaks down to approximately $9,000 to $9,100 .New Hampshire’s state government spending is approximately $6,067 to $6,799 per person annually. Massachusetts spends about a third more per person than New Hampshire. Do Mass residents get a better quality of life the residents of New Hampshire?

Flatlanders fishing the high country

I've lived my 78 years in New England..at about 200 ft above sea level. I love fishing the west and the high ( 7500 to 12000) country. I've made annual trips for the last 33 years, anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks to Wyoming and Utah. My best friend lives at about 7000 feet, and the day after I arrive, we head to our favorite beaver pond at 8900 feet. Slight headache on the first day, but after that, im fine. I've read that your blood type can affect your ability to climatize. Im type O

I kept catching fish higher on each trip, finally broke the 11000 foot barrier, and caught fish on Boulder Mountain in Utah.

Grumpy Steve, another New Englander, and i headed to Colorado to fish at over12k. On that trip, 2 very much younger people died from altitude disease, 1 at 9k the other at 10k. Steve and I were perplexed.. we were smoking cigars at 12k and fishing.

So here's the question for fellow flatlanders. Do you go west to fish? How high up? Are you stressed by the altitude?

I posted twice about my ongoing skin cancers from too much sun exposure. Ive had 16 surgeries for skin cancer. I have fished the high country 8 to 10 thousand feet for the last 33 years. I started taking niacinamide after reading several studies on how it may reduce skin cancer by 25 percent for high-risk people..thats me. The whole family has had skin cancers..aunts uncles cousins siblings parents..I just had my 6 month check up hoping the niacinamide worked.

Well apparently not...4 biopsies...suspected basil cells cancers.. I've had 12 squamous and 4 basil cells so far, so maybe the basil cells are trying to catch up.

I posted twice about my ongoing skin cancers from too much sun exposure. Ive had 16 surgeries for skin cancer. I have fished the high country 8 to 10 thousand feet for the last 33 years. I started taking niacinamide after reading several studies on how it may reduce skin cancer by 25 percent for high-risk people..thats me. The whole family has had skin cancers..aunts uncles cousins siblings parents..I just had my 6 month check up hoping the niacinamide worked.

Well apparently not...4 biopsies...suspected basil cells cancers.. I've had 12 squamous and 4 basil cells so far, so maybe the basil cells are trying to catch up.

I have a profound hearing loss sometimes described as deaf as a haddock, over 100 dB in both ears. I wear Phonac hearing aids and speech read. I didn't start using hearing protection until I was around 30 when I bought my first 45 acp. As a kid, we shot 22s all the time , with no hearing protection. So now, at the range, I wear muffs, sometimes with foam plugs, if it's a particularly loud day.

Im off to Wyoming to fish.. been doing Wyoming trips since 1993. One of the hazards is bear encounters. We carry bear spray, but the wind never stops blowing in Wyoming, and if the bear is up wind, you could spray yourself. I also carry a 44 mag bear blaster. My great fear is I would have to use it and deafening myself even more. So I just bought inexpensive in the ear hunting hearing protection that amplifies sound but gives about 32 dB protection when you pull the trigger. I intend to use them while fishing. I've gone swimming more than once unintentionally and don't want to wear my usual $5k aids for that reason. We generally fish in pairs.. one guy has spray. The other guy has a hand cannon.

I have electronic muffs that amplify sound until there's a gunshot, but wearing skull crushing muffs while fishing would not be fun.

Is anyone else in the same boat? Any other deaf fly fishers?

While fishing a Lee's Ferry with Grumpy Steve, our guide, Dr. Pete showed me how to tie a fly on with forceps. I've been using forceps ever since. Tried to show a couple of fishing friends, but it was like..well, they didn't get it. I can change a fly twice as fast as they can.

Do you use forceps to tie on your fly?