The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 08.02.2024
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
August has arrived and with it, a re-prioritization of angling efforts. We are looking for colder temperatures, cooler elevations, cooler parts of the day, shaded parts of the river; maybe we’re even looking ahead to cooler months. If the latter, I trust that you have your fall trips on the calendar in bold ink. And if not - get to it!
Cheers,
Jesse
The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere Playlist, Vol. 1
I’m one of those people who likes to have some music on just about all the time, and en route to or from fishing is undoubtedly a prime time. Here’s a baker’s dozen tracks to put on and turn up the next time you’re headed to the water.
Writers on the Fly, Revisited
As you may recall, the Writers on the Fly crew was on the road this past spring, making stops in SF, Sacramento, Talent, and Eugene. We had a time, that’s for sure! Joining us at our final stop was videographer Erin Spaulding and she’s been at work assembling a recap of sorts. Her short film features WOTF founder and host Jason Rolfe and soon-to-be author Steve Duda, and it follows them around the water and around a conversation about fly fishing and writing - the good stuff. I loved the film before it had ended. It brought me back to that week on the road with those fine, fishy, and fertile folks and all of you who spent an evening with us while we rambled about angling minutia - thanks again!
A Read on A Read
Here’s a lovely article from the New Yorker and writer Kathryn Schulz about Norman Maclean, author of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories. This must be the most well-known book dealing with fly fishing but, at least for me, less is known about the author himself. Schulz’s essay covers much of Maclean’s life, his prowess as a writer, the history of his most-famous book, and its influence; I found it a perfect complement to Norman’s son John Maclean’s recent book Home Waters that touches on many of the same topics, albeit from a much different and personal perspective. From Schulz’s essay: “Like every brilliant author, Maclean simultaneously seems inexplicable and demands explication—some attempt to answer the questions raised by his prose. One of those questions is practical, a matter of craft: How does he do this? But another is ontological: What kind of man could make this work?”
An Original Guide on the Everglades
Spend 50 years working a skill in a particular place and you’ll gain an understanding of both - and their intersection - that not many, if any, have. When it comes to fly fishing guides, there aren’t many 50-year veterans but Steve Huff is one of them. Steve has spent his career guiding in south Florida and much of that in the Everglades. I’ve seen him out there and it’s hard not to watch him because you know that he knows something you don’t. A recent article from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership shared some thoughts of Steve’s about the Everglades and conservation thereof. It’s a good read and there are some great links in it as well.
Twenty-Five Years Later
July 1st marked the 25th anniversary of the removal of Edwards Dam from the Kennebec River. Both this river and this dam (or, the absence of it, to be specific) have had a long-time and significant effect on me: I fly fished the Kennebec for trout and striped bass as a young fly angler; ice fished it for smelt while in college; and I also studied it, writing my thesis on the environmental economics of the removal of Edwards Dam. This recent video has some great old footage of the river and the dam removal. And if you’re curious about my thesis, here’s a link to the abstract. (All credit for the great title - “Demolish It And They Will Come” - is due to my fantastic academic advisor Lynne Lewis.)
Thoughts on Fly Casting
The following comes from decades-long Sage Fly Fishing employee and friend Chris Andersen. It was originally in response to a debate about grain weights of fly lines and when I caught wind of it, I immediately tucked it away. Blunt? Yes. Unsympathetic? Perhaps. Valid? I believe so. Chris says:
Based on my 40 years of fly fishing experience, many of which were sent guiding around the world, one can take most six-weight lines, for instance, and put them on most six-weight rods and have them work very well.
I would argue the problem is generally not with the current system or standard we have in place for matching lines to rods, but with the average fly angler and the lack of effort put forth to master the cast.
For those of you who are putting in effort to master the cast, in lieu of casting with a friend, I think these short videos are as good as any.
Looking for a casting friend? Let me know!
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