Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope

My Fishy Friends,

Last weekend I had the opportunity to collide some worlds, introducing different groups of old friends from different places and times of my life. I’d day dreamed about it for a while beforehand, and it made my heart swell to see them interact, tell stories, and crack jokes together. I also collided these folks with a new river - my home river - which was equally as enjoyable. Next week my parents are visiting and I’m going to introduce them to some new rivers as well. I wonder how many waters they have introduced me to over the course of my life?

Cheers,
Jesse

Boat Fish Don’t Count

Here’s a great piece on ‘wetsuiting’ on Long Island; half-fishing and half-swimming, at night, amongst sharks, in pursuit of the largest striped bass that cruise the Atlantic. The piece is in the latest The Atlantic and is written by Tyler Austin Harper, who just so happens to be a professor at my alma mater. I’ll go ahead and call him a Bates Fishing Club Honorary Member. “Anyone who is being honest will tell you that wetsuiting is a sport of considerable torment. But there is also nothing like it,” Harper writes. I haven’t wetsuited myself but I went fishing with a great friend who did (also a Bates guy). I was way out of my element those nights, on edge, and never really felt like I was in the game. But this piece brought me back to those nights and now I wish I could go with my friend once again. (You’ll have to sign up for an account or a free trial to read the story, but there’s also an Instagram post that shares some of the photos and some captions.)

Live Salmon from Anchorage

I (still) love The Moth and, after seeing one in person last fall, I’m even more of a fan. Every so often there’s an angling story and I’ve yet to hear one come from inside the fly fishing industry, so the perspectives are always very interesting to me. Here’s a recording of a live show in Anchorage, where poet Dasha Kelly Hamilton tells of moving to Alaska, her introductions to salmon fishing and harvesting there, and what she learns on the water: “You couldn’t have told me that I would’ve enjoyed fishing, but...”

Brita Ties

Of all the talented fly tyers that I know, Brita Fordice stands out as the most enthusiastic. She just LOVES it. We walked the same office halls years ago and I never tired of her experiments, hand-delivered with a big smile and a backstory. Many of these experiments still live in my fly boxes. Her knowledge of materials, patterns, the history of fly tying and tyers, as well as the creatures she imitates is unmatched. I’m not sure if she has a favorite type of fly to tie but I do know that flatwings, tied Kenney Abrames style, are among them. The photo below is my favorite of Brita and you’ll have to scroll into her Instagram history to get the awesome story of that tattoo. Hear from Brita in this recent podcast interview from The Flyfish Journal and follow along as she teaches flatwing tying in this video from Southern Culture on the Fly.

All Maine Species

Across the globe, there are certain species that get more attention from anglers and fly fishing media than others: trout, certainly, but also the Grand Slam species, plus steelhead and salmon, etc. In Maine, the most sought-after fish are brook trout and striped bass but there’s a vast number of other targets available for the willing fly angler, including smallmouth, northern pike, landlocked salmon, bluefish, lake trout, carp, mackerel, and even sharks and tuna. Next weekend, Oxbow Brewing will host its third All Species Fly Fishing Tournament & Celebration, inspiring fly anglers to seek out those lesser-known targets. I can personally attest to both the difficulty of the task as well as the fun that awaits participants during and after the fishing hours. And, best of luck to everyone who attempts to dethrone the two-time reigning champs!

Artificial Angling

Amy Hazel of Deschutes Angler came up with an interesting experiment: “Just for fun, I typed into Chat GPT: Write a fishing report for the Deschutes River." In this blog post, she posts the AI fishing report and then gives her feedback on where it misses and where it comes close, if at all. One of many great generalities the bot comes back with: Timing your trips around early mornings or late evenings can increase your chances. Super helpful. It’s an amusing read but is also a stark reminder of how lame AI writing is and the value that a good local fly shop provides its community and anglers all around. Amy also reminds us, “If you don't support your local fly shop, then you really can't expect to have great river information in the future.”

Go Down Glug

Ah! my beloved brother of the rod, do you know the taste of beer - of bitter beer - cooled in the flowing river? Take your bottle of beer, sink it deep, deep in the shady water, where the cooling springs and fishes are. Then, the day being very hot and bright, and the sun blazing on your devoted head, consider it a matter of duty to have to fish that long, wide stream. An hour or so of good hard hammering will bring you to the end of it, and then - let me ask you avec impressement - how about that beer? Is it cool? Is it refreshing? Does it gurgle, gurgle, and 'go down glug' as they say in Devonshire? Is it heavenly? Is it Paradise and all of Paris to boot? Ah! if you have never tasted beer under these or similar circumstances, you have, believe me, never tasted it at all.

~ Francis Francis, as quoted in River Songs

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The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 09.13.2024