Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope

Dear friends,

Thanks so much for your support and kind feedback with my website launch and also for choosing to receive my newsletters. Today, I’m happy to share with you the very first installment of The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere.

It’s my hope that these emails provide you with some entertainment, inspiration, and information on angling and writing. Please reach out with any comments, questions, requests or suggestions.

Hope to see you soon!

Jesse

To Set or Not To Set

We almost didn’t fish it, almost didn’t even get out of the truck and walk down the path to see what it looked like.

But we did…

Keep Reading on My Blog

Writers on the Fly West Coast Tour

Join me and the crew next month in San Francisco & Sacramento, CA and Ashland & Eugene, OR! I’ll be reading in Ashland this tour.

Learn More & Get Tix

A New Book

Alaska-based artist Ray Troll recently released a 200-page book showcasing his inspiring, funny, and thought-provoking work called Spawn Till You Die. It’s a great addition to any coffee table or library, and can be skimmed or cozied-up with for a while. From his site: “For more than four decades, this celebrated Alaskan artist has been luring, hooking, and landing fans around the world with his mesmerizing renditions of the inhabitants of Planet Ocean, past and present.”

An Issue

I was in the Everglades last week, fishing with some good friends. I’m constantly disoriented while fishing in there, either feeling like I have no idea where I am or catching fleeting memories of being here before. The backcountry is so vast and remote - like most National Parks or wilderness areas - that that it’s possible to forget about the threats to the ecosystem. Other places in Florida aren’t so insulated though, as recent Lake Okeechobee discharges have shown. Check out Captains for Clean Water for an update on the issues at play and their work to restore water flow into the Everglades and Florida Bay.

An Old Book

While browsing an AirBnB’s library last year, I stopped on a title that, for some reason, jogged my memory. I picked up Jessica Maxwell’s I Don’t Know Why I Swallowed the Fly and in the first chapter realized that she was fishing a lot of the same water that I am. Later, I recalled seeing the book in my father’s fishing library. He confirmed and added that there was a note on the inside cover, from me: “Merry Christmas, Love, Jesse ‘98”. Jessica will be reading at the Eugene Writers on the Fly!

A Tune

To me, the Beastie Boys have always been the coolest and the realest. I went back and forth with a good buddy yesterday on some tracks and eventually found my way to this old, live video of “Gratitude”.

What you think, that the world owes you?
What's gonna set you free?
Look inside and you'll see
When you've got so much to say it's called gratitude
And that's right

A Thought

Seeing as it’s March Madness and the NBA playoffs are coming soon…

But another thing to love about basketball is that you cannot argue with it; when one guy is better than another, he is just better, and that’s that, and you can either whimper about it or learn to enjoy it. ~ Brian Doyle

The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 03.29.2024