It’s a New Year’s Top 100 Celebration!

Jan5

Wowee! 100 followers of Currentseams. I can’t thank all of you enough for your interest in the site, and I’ll try to continue to provide you with more of the same good stuff in 2014.

Speaking of which, let’s celebrate with a little giveaway. The prize is a selection of one dozen wet flies tied by yours truly. Here are the rules:

1) No purchase necessary.

2) You must be one of the original 100 followers of currentseams. That means you started following before January 5, 2014.

3) To enter, leave a comment on this thread saying you wish to enter. (Additional flattering comments about me, my writing, or the site will be appreciated, but will have no bearing on your chances of winning. Really.) One entry per person. Deadline for entering is 11:59pm January 12, 2014. The winner will be chosen at random by Mrs. Culton, official accountant and attorney of currentseams. The winner will be notified in the comments section of this thread, and will be responsible for sending me their address so I can ship the flies out.

4) All decisions by me are final.

Photo for drooling purposes only. Flies may or may not look like these. You get what you get and you don’t get upset. Flies guaranteed to be lovingly crafted by Steve Culton and doused with an abundance of good fishing karma.

Merry Christmas from Currentseams

Dec25

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my loyal readers for hanging in there with me over the last couple months. Now that the holidays are winding down, the big kitchen project is almost finished, and there is light at the end of the work tunnel. I’m hoping to get back to posting more reports (this would mean actually getting to go fishing — yes!), stories, articles, and fly patterns on a regular basis this week. I have some appearances to tell you about, and I’m about a third of the way through my fall 2013 steelhead story. I think you’re going to like it.

I hope everyone had a very happy and safe Christmas day.

Your flyfishing platter is ready

Jul9

Currentseams is pleased to announce that Steve Culton has not fallen off the face of the planet. In fact, rumor has it there will be a Farmington River report — dare we say it? — today.

Thanks for your patience. It’s good to be back.

Turning Gray-Green Water Into Red Wine

Apr14

There was nothing miraculous about it. I simply switched liquids. Let me explain.

I had an invite to a casual gentlemen’s (gentlemen being used in only the broadest terms) dinner at my brother-in-law’s Friday night. He was baching it for the weekend, and a few of us were gathering to enjoy the pleasures of food and wine. Since Ye Olde Striper Spot was on the way, I figured I’ve give it an hour before I made my way to Kevin’s house.

A cold front had moved through, bringing with it torrential rains and a biting easterly wind. The water was the aforementioned colors, stained, high, and chopped to pieces by the broadside gusts. To make a long story short, I saw one striper landed in 55 minutes of fishing, and that by a spin angler who was bombing casts a ‘way out there.

So, I decided, if I cannot catch stripers this evening, I shall now drink spectacular wine.

First, you need a brief introduction to Kevin. Kevin is passionate about wine the way I’m passionate about fishing. Which is to say it rules his life. I am likewise vino-infected, but only fractionally compared to Kevin. He has a stupid good wine cellar, and the only thing Kevin loves more than his wines is sharing them. Luckily, I am on the A-List.

The first wine we made love to was a 1999 Opus One. I certainly can’t afford it, but it is opulence in a bottle. If you’ve had it, my next sentence will blow you away: It was my least favorite wine of the evening. Of course, that’s like saying Giselle Bundchen isn’t as attractive as Brooklyn Decker. It’s all a matter of personal taste.

Next on the decadence docket was a 1997 Niebaum-Coppola (yes, as in Francis Ford) Rubicon. Utterly spectacular. We all thought that there was just a little more there-there than the Opus. Sorry, Bob and Phillipe.

I have to tell you at this point that I make a Tuscan-style steak that most definitely doesn’t suck. How much does it not suck? One of the guests had told Kevin that he wasn’t coming unless I was going to be manning the grill. (Isn’t that right, Joe?) It’s a simple combination of NY strip and flame and garlic and salt and pepper and olive oil and fresh rosemary and lemon juice. The wine we drank with it was a 2001 Fontodi Flaccianello. Wine Spectator only gave this bottle a 97 — churls — but if there is a more perfect bottle-to-food pairing, I have yet to experience it. The bite of the lemon and the rosemary and the texture of the beef melt seamlessly into the wine as it fills your mouth. I have goose bumps just thinking about it now. Absolutely stunning wine. My favorite of the evening.

Last but not least, a humble little 1998 Ornellaia to go with our pasta and sausage and veal. Since I can’t afford this bottle either, it was wonderful to create the illusion between sips that I was independently wealthy and dining in a private little restaurant in Bolgheri.

I don’t recommend that you drink several glasses of fine red wine and then go fishing. But the other way around — now that’s something I can heartily endorse.