The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 02.21.2025
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
There’s a lot going on, huh? When feeling overwhelmed, I am benefited by things to do and calls to action. So in the links below are a few things to do — stories to read, readings to listen to, causes to get behind, communities to join. However, “doing nothing count as something,” as a friend says (or has said), so let’s save some time for that too.
Cheers,
Jesse
Banner photo: In four months, this will be a good place to fish.
Writers on the Fly 10th Anniversary!
A couple weeks ago, at the new Emerald Water Anglers location in West Seattle, Writers on the Fly held its 10th Anniversary show to a sold-out crowd. It was a greatest hits-style event, featuring stories from nine readers of past shows across Washington, Oregon, and California. Here’s a nice write-up about the event from Seattle writer Lily Cutler and here are some great photos from the evening, taken by Dave McCoy, owner of EWA. A very special thanks to everyone who came to the show and to those who have, and continue to support Writers on the Fly - THANK YOU!!
Photo by Dave McCoy.
2025 Fisherpoets Gathering
Every year, over the last full weekend of February, fisherpoets from across the country gather in Astoria, Oregon to share tales from the water. Similar to Writers on the Fly, stories and poems are read before a live audience and the community’s energy is palpable. The Gathering takes place this weekend and even if you can’t make it, you can listen online here on Friday and Saturday nights. Here are some reflections from last year’s gathering.
Of Salmon and Self
For whatever reasons, most of the fly fishing-related writing that I’ve found myself reading lately is in essay or short story form. So when I started Marina Gibson’s new book Cast, Catch, Release, what immediately struck me was the arc that took form. What’s more is that Gibson’s own coming of age is set alongside a detailed depiction of the life cycle of the Atlantic salmon, her favorite fish to pursue. It was a refreshing read for these reasons, along with the insights into her lifetime of angling experience and rise within the fly fishing industry. Reading it has also encouraged me to pursue more biographical fishing writing — from others and perhaps even of my own.
Write with DJD
It’s no secret that I am a large and longtime fan of angler and author David James Duncan. Suffice to say, I even have a tattoo inspired by one of his books. Along with John Gierach, his writing opened my eyes to the possibilities of angling-related literature. Duncan is hosting an in-person writer’s retreat in Montana this spring and a few spots remain. Dreams do come true!
Smug Ingratitude
No, it wasn't simply the death of fish that bothered me. The thing I found offensive, the thing I hated about Mohican-mountain-makers, gill-netters, poachers, whalehunters, strip-miners, herbicide-spewers, dam-erectors, nuclear-reactor-builders, or anyone who lusted after flesh, meat, mineral, tree, pelt, and dollar —including, first and foremost, myself— was the smug ingratitude, the attitude that assumed the world and its creatures owed us everything we could catch, shoot, tear out, alter, plunder, devour... and we owed the world nothing in return.
~ From Gus in DJD’s The River Why
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© Jesse Lance Robbins, 2025
