It all started when Marck recently sent me a photo of a fly pattern he observed whilst at Creekside Anglers in Issaquah, WA. The photo quality is not great, but it’s clear enough that it caused me some alarm.
Fish Taco Pink 2
A casual glimpse at the photo is no immediate cause for concern to average person. After all, it’s simply a photo of a pink fly pattern in a bin labeled “Fish Taco Pink 2”. We can assume that the “2” is the hook designation. It’s obviously some sort of streamer fly. Given the time of year and the location of the shop in the Pacific Northwest, it’s some sort of steelhead pattern. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Wrong.
Last I checked, there was only one Fish Taco, and it was parked in my garage. And it is white, not pink. I’ve made countless references to it over the past couple of years: the Fish Taco is my 2003 Toyota Tacoma. Now before you jump all over me for being cute, let me state that I don’t typically give pet names to my vehicles. Prior to the Fish Taco there were two exceptions to that rule: the Mack Daddy and Diesel Daddy–trucks I’ve owned in the past. These were trucks so glorious that they begged for their own identities. There was nothing cute about them.
Actually, the Mack Daddy was already named when I bought it. It was a 2000 F350 Crew Cab, 4wd, long bed, with the Triton V10. The sales manager had scribed “Mack Daddy” on the temporary key fob at the dealership. Coming in at just under 65 feet in length, it was by far my biggest truck up until that point in time, and it was deserving of the Mack Daddy monicker, so I kept the name intact. It was replaced a few years later by the Diesel Daddy, which was even larger, or at least wider. It was the same basic truck, with the added girth of dual rear wheels and of course the 7.3 Powerstroke Diesel. It was a tool for hauling a very heavy camper and it did an admirable job of doing so. With it’s wide hips it was not very condusive to daily driving situations–situations in which one might encounter drive-through windows or narrow country roads occupied by bicyclists. I miss that truck. Sigh.
Fish Taco, white
These days I drive a much more reasonably-sized truck, one of the duties of which is to get me to and from fishing locations, thus the “Fish” designation. “Taco” is simply an abbreviation for “Tacoma”. I thought I was being rather clever when I bestowed this name upon the truck, assuming I was the only person in the universe who had named his truck the Fish Taco. Therefore I have a sense of territorial ownership when it comes to the name. You can understand why I was alarmed when Marck sent me the photo of the Fish Taco Pink 2.
As anyone would naturally do, I began wonder what the Fish Taco would look like if it were in fact pink. So, using “Pink Toyota Tacoma” as a search phrase, I set about on an internet quest for enlightenment. I had hoped to find a similar, if not identical, truck to mine. Only in pink. After all, it’s a vast world and one can find just about anything on the internet if one is willing to delve into the bowels of Google or Bing. Unfortunately it was not meant to be. The results were interesting, but mostly just disappointing. And frankly, more than a bit disturbing.
This is a pink Toyota Tacoma.
This is also a pink Toyota Tacoma.
And another pink Toyota Tacoma.
Yes, this is a another Toyota Tacoma and yes, it is pink.
A pink-ish Toyota Tacoma, with the hood up.
Look! Another pink Toyota Tacoma with the hood up!
As is evidenced by the above photos, a certain theme began to reveal itself and I began to give up hope of ever finding a Toyota Tacoma like mine, in pink. But just as I was preparing throw in the towel I happened upon this gem, which is a flaming hot pink Tacoma. Still a far cry from the Fish Taco, at least it’s not a lowered street truck:
I am left speechless.
This final search result isn’t even a Tacoma, but it showed up on the first page of results so it’s worth mentioning. I believe this is nearly identical to the Toyota FJ that Chris Hunt (featured in last week’s Drivel®) just ordered. Have fun driving around eastern Idaho while you blast Lady Gaga in that, Chris (wink, smiley face).
A pink Toyota FJ...Solid.
With search results that left me verklempt, I embraced the theory that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. With that in mind, I offer forth THE Fish Taco, pink:
Fish Taco, Pink.
I’m confident that by now I’ve lost most of you, but if you’re still reading you may be wondering about the Fish Taco fly pattern that inspired this entry. Google revealed more favorable results with regard to information about that here.
I may have to stop by Creekside Anglers and pick up a couple flies, because clearly I need to go fishing.
Be careful. The pink ones might be females;-)
We can only hope so! Thanks for stopping by.
I…um…Hmmm. Maybe you can help out the Urban Dictionary with a new definition.
I’ll have to look into that, Fred. Definitely. For shizzle.
Well I can see it. You, the Pink Fish Taco version, pulling up to a river and impressing the fellow fisherman around you. You might as well embrace it, paint it and cause a stir.
Just think of the photo ops you’d provide your fellow fly fisherman!
I should have thought of this last summer when I hit the deer and had to have the front end repaired/repainted. It could be fairly expensive to do it right, because the door jams, engine compartment- everything, will have to be painted. But you’re right. Think of the possibilities…This will open doors for me.
Caught a fish swinging a very similar pink fly last week on the Milwaukee river. The original is probably made on the rationalization that the pink color resembles a squid or shrimp that the Steelhead may encounter when he was in the ocean. I’m sure the Steelhead I caught has never seen a Squid. While many like to wax poetic about the noble steelhead it is probably the dumbest fish that swims! This does render the match the hatch paradigm completely hollow. The reality is that – I believe- the fish is simply curious or attracted to anything that moves the right way across the current. The color may only be consequential based on water clarity. My rationalization is as good as any other.
Out here, where steelhead swim in their native salt as they were intended to do, it’s widely regarded that the color of the fly matters more to the angler than the fish. I’ve never thought of them as dumb, because if they were then we’d catch more of them. Of course that could be due to the fact that there simply aren’t many to be had any more–not in most Puget Sound tribs. Whatever the case may be, this was not about steelhead, or flies per se – it was about Pink Fish Tacos. I think you missed the point, Chuck 😉
I think that the lesson to be learned is that if you truly were to drive a “pink taco”, you would need some hydraulics…unless of course you were to be driving the Chris Hunt mobile, and then you’d need to be selling some Mary Kay…
I agree with Rebecca though…think of the opportunity to impress fellow anglers.
Damnit, Sanders- you are brilliant! I have just enough room for one more sticker on the back glass of my Taco…let it be a Mary Kay sticker!
As a fellow Tacoma owner, I feel slightly violated.
Yes, me too. But I’m not sure if I violated myself or not. That would be wrong. Thanks for stopping by!