It's inevitable. When our loved ones pass we tend to hold on to things maybe longer than we should, all for good reason. Remember I held onto Ryan's car for the past six years? It sat there, all cleaned up and nice, but in the end and underneath it was a rust bucket. So I said good-bye. Funny story, last week
Lauren was in Podunk, PA looking for truck parts as Brandon got hit and the insurance would no doubt total it out. So they went and looked and what do you know. There was Ryan's car...right where it belonged. At first I was disappointed, like somehow I thought someone might tooling around in it. It was time. It's over Johnny.
So over the last five years Jim's wife and backbone Laura has been, let's say dealing, with all that Jim designed, created, invented, altered, and just a few more things, purchased. He had things, and then things on top of things. He may have invented Costco but we didn't know it, because, boy did he believe in buying in bulk.
About two years ago I listed the bucktail dryer on Facebook Marketplace. I reached out to my bucktail guys, like Brad Buzzi, but this is not just something you go and get and set up in the basement. We tried going the taxidermist route but that didn't happen. So, in the end, it hit the dumpster. It stood there for decades, and was broken down and loaded in about 20 minutes.
Friends of Jim like Mike Ferraro and myself have been selling off rods and reels and stuff over the last few years. There was a solid pic by those close to Jim shortly after he passed. It's always kind of
creepy, in a way, when someone you know has passed and you are offered or have interest in something they owned, loved, and treasured. I was blessed to purchase Jim's boat, finally paid in full, and hopefully shortly will be ready for some fall fishing here in New Jersey. One thing I feel is that the person and their family take great pleasure in knowing someone is enjoying something they lived with and saw their loved one enjoy over the years.
Jim was the Pulse Disc. He designed it. Designed the contraption to produce it. And then made them and sold them with Laura at various shows along the East Coast. While it would be great if it were just the flick of a switch to produce the Pulse Disc it may have continued to live on. There were some buyers that approached Laura but in the end those possibilities just faded, and maybe rightfully so.
There were more parts and back up parts then you could imagine and it was all salvaged and nothing went to waste. After the dumpster was loaded up by a handful of helpers I started going through the things that had to stay, had to go, or I might be able to find a good home for. One thing I tried to do was
to take everything down off the shelves that doubled as storage and as a display of Jim's fly tying mastery. He did things you can't even fathom, taking pointers from all the best out there but always putting his finger on it and tweaking it to his liking. Each time I've visited his laboratory always looked basically the same, like he could just pop down there and crank out some discs or flies. Now, it is a space, with things organized into categories for ease of location, donation, or sale. I regret not spending a day when it was pretty much untouched, just to be in his space and at his vice. I may do it yet, but it won't be the same.
In the corner was a contraption that Jim used when building rods, and he loved to build rods. He did one handers but two and spey rods as well. Of course he super glued the sections together except the tip section and Laura and I laughed as we tried to separate them, "Of course he did".
I didn't know who I could offer this to who would get out of it what Jim did. I knew Leif built a rod from time to time but this was an operation. Then I thought of Phil. Phil's a sweetheart of a guy and someone who is like Jim, extremely intelligent, likes the scientific side of things, works with his hands as an electrician, fly fishes and builds rods, from single to two handers.
I first fished with Phil in Montauk in 2014. We also hooked up here in New Jersey when he jumped on the boat with Andrew and Ian. He's just a fishy guy. Before I went out for the dumpster party Phil
had posted the above story of his best yet on a rod he designed for that spot. I knew he was the guy. I reached out to Laura and she agreed. Theresa and I loaded it up in PA and unloaded it at our house
where it sat in our living room before I could hook up with Phil. Luckily I had a pick up because the rod dryer went over 10 feet long. As I unloaded the stash I looked in one of the bins and couldn't believe my eyes. Jim, of course, twisted up his own guides......"Of course he did" I could imagine Laura saying with
a smile. And then on Saturday morning Theresa and I drove south and dropped Jim's stuff off at Phils. Things like this found their rightful home, either the dumpster or in the hands of someone who is going to continue to create things or memories with something Jim once touched.
So, in the end, the below picture may be all that we have to remember "BrineFly Innovations". The machine will be gone, the stock will be gone, and maybe even the sign will be gone. But the good times and memories we have of both seeing Jim and Laura running those flies up and down that tank will live on. This fall I must remember to tie one of those on and catch one for Jim.
