Dave's Fly Bench: Jingle Trout

Jingle Trout, Jingle Trout, Jingle all the way.

Oh what fun it is to fish a stream or lake today!

Well, not until the weather clears up a bit – freezing rain and wind gusting to 60 mph is not my favorite weather for fishing.

However, we can plan and remember and even celebrate fishing every day. And, Christmas Day is no exception.

Since I've never hidden the fact that I love all things fishing, my wife, Joyce knew from the start that I would appreciate things that reminded me of fishing. So, over the years, she has given me Christmas tree ornaments that are fishing oriented.

My sister also contributed until I collected enough fishing ornaments to decorate a 6’ Christmas tree in my den.

The first one was around 2004.

Along with the fishing oriented ornaments, I added a number of fishing lures (minus the hooks) that were bright and Christmassy (is that a word?) looking and also other items to decorate under the tree.

My fishing tree was the first of a series of "Themed" Christmas trees in our house.

Dave's Den Christmas Tree 2014

We now have Nine Christmas trees, each with a particular theme.

The Family room Christmas tree is all about family and friends - a little bit of everything from ornaments the kids made to wedding gift ornaments to many treasures given to us and collected throughout our life together.

Family room Christmas tree 2014

Each has a story that I won’t get into here, but two I will mention now are the two fish on the tree given to my daughters by one of the most exceptional people on earth – my great friend Richard Birt.

While living in Portland, Oregon, Richard and I worked for the same advertising agency – Krupp/TaylorUSA. He was our Database Guru in the Los Angeles Headquarters, and I ran our Portland office.

When visiting on business, Richard and I found opportunities to fish, and he was kind enough to give my daughters these two incredible ornaments.

The Living room Christmas tree is my wife Joyce’s pet project.

Living room Christmas tree 2014

It is filled with Margaret Furlong creations. She discovered them in the Made in Oregon store in Portland, OR and has been collecting them ever since.

Wait - that's a fish - escaped from the Den!

The Hallway tree holds annual ornaments – we bought one with the year on it almost every year that we've been married.

Hallway Christmas tree 2014

Our first Christmas tree ornament

Living room and Hallway Christmas trees

The Kitchen tree has food shaped ornaments - duh!

Kitchen Christmas tree 2014

The Florida room tree has hearts, apples and beads and a Santa Claus top holding a light.

Florida room Christmas tree 2014

The Dining room tree has classic round ornaments that were on the Christmas tree in my office at Krupp/TaylorUSA in Portland, OR. It also has many beautiful handmade ornaments skillfully crafted by Matt Kruzich.

Nativity scene hand painted by my wife Joyce

Matt and Georgia Kruzich were my family’s saviors when we moved across the country to Portland, where we knew absolutely no one. Georgia worked at Krupp/TaylorUSA with me, and, she and Matt became our West Coast family.

The tree in the master bedroom is basic, modern Martha Stewart "on sale."

What - Doesn't everyone?

And the tree in my daughter Meghan’s room has a variety of ornaments including some from the fashion industry she loves.

Meg's Christmas tree 2014 (please note - Meghan did NOT decorate it this year - blame me!)

And, then, number nine, is the Den –

My fishing troll is holding the tip of the first fly rod I ever built. It was deconstructed when it lost a fight with a vacuum cleaner.

He seems to have caught a Banjo Minnow. The "skeptic" (above and to the right - a gift from my niece Danielle) doesn't look like he believes Mr. Troll. There's one in every crowd!