The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 05.31.2024
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
Everywhere I’ve been lately has been boldly green and blue, full of new life and clean water. I used to (and maybe still do) think that September was the month to be everywhere all at once, but now I’m reconsidering May. My opinion might change come June though - I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Jesse
“Floating with Barry”
Here’s an old story of mine, written back in 2011 after my very first trip to the Yakima River. I met a very special character that weekend.
An Issue
Ongoing concern over jet boat use on the upper Rogue River (from the old Gold Ray dam site to the Lost Creek dam) has prompted a public comment period, now being orchestrated by Oregon’s Kitchen Table, a statewide program that works to help Oregonians share their thoughts and ideas to influence the decisions that affect them. Click this link or the map below to join the discussion, learn more, and comment.
An Item
It’s not long after starting to fly fish that we discover all the different types of tackle we’d like to have. While the options for rods and reels are extensive, they do not compete with choices and configurations for fly lines and many veteran anglers will tell you that the line is more important than the rod in many instances. But it’s not necessary to buy a new reel or spool every time you get a new line. So, how to deal with all your fly lines? The RIO Products Cranky Kit is as good a home-storage/spooling/unspooling device as I’ve found. And it’s only ten bucks! As a complement, also consider the Plano Leader Spool Box, which neatly fits six fly line spools.
A Film
Here’s a lovely film about a fishing dog on Cape Breton, in eastern Canada. What makes this dog especially unique is the fact that goes fishing… on her own! From the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the only thing that could make this film any better would be an interview with the doggie herself.
An Essay
My admiration for the late Brian Doyle’s work can’t be overstated; I could just send links to his writing and I’m confident it would be well-received. But “Fishering”, his story of an encounter with the supposed long-gone fisher, is at the top of my list to share. My favorite two lines are the last two, but here are the first two:
In the woods here in Oregon there is a creature that eats squirrels like candy, can kill a pursuing dog in less than a second, and is in the habit of deftly flipping over porcupines and scooping out the meat as if the prickle-pig were merely a huge and startled breakfast melon.
This riveting creature is the fisher…
A Thought
There are many good and noble reasons to protect the wilderness that remains, to be wise stewards of the only planet we’ve got at the moment. Keeping a wild, open landscape available for our encounters with the mysterious and the divine is as good a reason as the rest and maybe the best one of all.
Come on out and give it a try. Maybe you’ll see a UFO. Maybe you’ll see something weirder.
~ Ken Layne, Desert Oracle
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