Hi all,
Just a quick intro:
My name is Eric Blackshear from SoCal, in an area I think is paradise. I'm smack dab in between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, about an hour each way. 5 hrs from the famed Eastern Sierras and 15 min from the Pacific Ocean, specifically near the Channel Islands where they are 11 miles off the coast.
I'm a lifelong fishaholic and have been fishing for 36 of my 38 years, or so I'm told. I started on local streams with my father and then graduated to lakes in high school when I was able to save up from summer work and purchase a small aluminum boat. I fished Lake Casitas when it was a world class largemouth bass factory every chance I had as it's only a half an hour from town. Once we had the quagga mussel invasion and boat quarantines became the norm, I started focusing on the salt.
All of my fishing has been conventional up to this point, I have many accomplishments under my belt, a billfish grand slam, 17 Roosterfish over 50lbs, tuna up to 150lbs. I have my own 24' Ranger bay boat that I fish locally and am taking it for a week to one of the great stillwater lakes, Crowley Lake, for a week of fishing and exploring with my wife and special needs 11 year old son. Fishing is my only hobby and truly a passion for me, if I'm not fishing, I'm reading and learning about fishing.
This past September, my brother took me up to the Sierras to fish a little and explore. Since then, I have become completely and utterly obsessed with fly fishing. I'm 5 rods deep, and started tying flies back in March. I've since fished the Sierras several times since, close to once a month, and have fish up to 25" on the fly so far. I'm so, so excited to be part of the fly fishing community because I can truly see the passion everyone has for this sport.
I hope to be a contributing member of this community and hope to share some adventures along the way.
Best,
Eric