The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 01.03.2025
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
Happy New Year! On the evening of the 1st, I undertook a reflection-and-looking-ahead exercise, outlining all the things that I plan to, need to, and would love to do in 2025. I was on my computer, which made typing easy, so the outline got fairly lengthy. By the time I got to the “Fishing” section, all I wrote was, Go fishing a lot! That seemed to sum up my thoughts on that. Wanna come?
Cheers,
Jesse
P.S. — Tickets to the 10th Anniversary show of Writers on the Fly in Seattle on Feb. 6 are going quick! Please come to the show, and please get your tix now!
Banner photo: You know it’s cold when your flats guide wears jeans. Florida Keys in January.
Top Five of ‘24
In the spirit of High Fidelity, here are the Top Five essays I posted on my blog in 2024, as determined by YOU, faithful readers!
Thanks so much for staying with me. And, enjoy!
From Lani
Lani Waller, legendary steelheader, educator, writer, and conservationist, passed away in August but his memory and spirit lives on in the books and films he left behind. This week, Fly Fisherman magazine announced that a final collection of unpublished essays is now available as a free download, and will also be posted online, chapter-by-chapter. As a preface, Lani wrote, The stories included here were inspired by real people and real events I encountered during some sixty years of travel, fishing, and “keeping my eyes and ears open.” In exchange for the essays, a donation to the Babine River Foundation, which Lani founded, is suggested.
Books, Books, Books!
I recently returned home from holiday travel abroad to a large stack of cards, letters, magazines, and some packages. I recognized all, except for one, addressed to me and sent from Wales. Inside was the print catalog for Coch-Y-Bonddu Books, sent from my dear Uncle who had been traveling there last month. Incredible bookshop, you would love it, he wrote. After browsing the print catalog and their website, I know that I would. Have a look, and see if you can avoid adding anything to your online cart!
Carter’s Taimen
Following the passing of President Jimmy Carter this week, I’ve seen numerous articles on his life and legacy, especially relating to the environment and even angling. One story about President Carter that has stuck with me is written by Oregon-based fly fishing guide Matt Ramsey, who guided the President in Mongolia a little over a decade ago. The title, “Grit and Grace,” serves as premise enough for the story. Related, the publication of a book entitled Jimmy Carter: Rivers & Dreams was recently announced. In it, the authors “recount how President Carter and his lifelong friends changed the course of world history, all while casting flies and pursuing the perfect strike.”
Guiding Dreams
No, my worst nightmare is you fall, hit your head and tumble into the river unconscious, and before your waders fill with water, you drift into the mouth of a bear. Then, you wake up and club that bear with your wading staff, escape, and scramble up that ridge, grabbing blackberry stalks with your bare hands, just to get hit by a Rivian, no, a Sprinter van, as you try to flag someone down on the road…
~ Fly fishing guide, writer, and friend Anne Landfield in the latest Flyfish Journal
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© Jesse Lance Robbins, 2024
