The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 11.22.2024
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
I’m packing up to head home for Thanksgiving, and even though I won’t be fishing when I get there, I realized that I’m still bringing a lot of fishing gear: some flies I tied for a friend, a rod for another, fishing books and magazines to read while on the way and while there. So, if I’m bringing a bunch of fishing gear and reading and thinking about fishing for a lot of the time, is it actually fishing trip after all?
Cheers,
Jesse
At the Confluence
Bri Dostie lives in a confluence, a mixture of nature, art, pioneering women, community and angling, all against the backdrop of the Maine outdoors.
So begins the profile I wrote about artist, angler, and community-builder Bri Dostie, for her Flyfish Journal Gallery, which was recently posted online in its entirety. As is often the case for folks with which you have multiple mutual interests and acquaintances, I’ve forgotten how we first met but we became fast friends. Bri’s artwork is often mixed-media and the subjects pull from and combine her varied passions. The result is a confluence that anyone can pause in, feel belonging, and enjoy - just like her organization Confluence Collective, which works to remove barriers, support individual and community growth, instigate change, and amplify diverse stories on the water.
Click here to read the story about Bri and see her beautiful artwork. And then click here to browse her online portfolio and shop.
Oregon’s Boat
I consider myself lucky to live mere minutes away from the river that’s known to have spawned the modern day drift boat - the McKenzie - and we float it as often as schedules and weather allow. With 80-ish miles to access and launches every four or five miles, it’s tough to beat from a pure floating standing and the fishing is pretty good too. A while back, I became aware of a documentary project in-process that celebrates and tells the story of the McKenzie River Drift Boat, and now it’s finally being released to the public for viewing. Watch the trailer to the film, Oregon’s Boat, on their website and if there’s a showing near you, check it out!
Flow State
My most intense and most memorable experience of imposter syndrome was in the first hour of the first online writing workshop I took. Two years ago, I enrolled in a virtual workshop through the Freeflow Institute, based in Missoula, and at the beginning of our first session, we all introduced ourselves and what we were working on. As my turn neared, that imposter syndrome feeling came over me so I said as much to the group. The course facilitators couldn’t have been more understanding or reassuring. In short, the workshop was a perfect dose of inspiration, instruction, and community. Freeflow leads writing workshops both online and in the field and they just announced their courses for 2025. Take a look here!
5 Years of Science on the Fly
The concept behind Science on the Fly is simple: anglers go fishing and while they’re on the water, they collect water samples to be sent to the labs at Woodwell Climate Research Center in Woods Hole for analysis. The data recorded is used for long-term studies of climate change impacts and can also be used to influence policy decisions. Citizen science at its finest! SOTF is now celebrating its fifth anniversary and in doing so, is spotlighting the people, places, and stories surrounding the work. There are also some cool giveaways.
Start Digging
If you ask any writer how to get started, I think you’ll get countless variations on one piece of common advice: Start writing. You just make yourself do it, even if you’re not sure if it’s any good at first.
Writing is a lot like digging a hole in the ground: You only make progress after you actually start.
~ from Brendan Leonard’s blog Semi-Rad
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