The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 11.29.2024
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
If you’re like me, you’re home for Thanksgiving and you’ve been making the rounds, checking in with all your old haunts - bars, restaurants, trails, roads, etc. Along the way, I urge you to not forget to pay respects to the home water, while you’re at it. I think it’s worth remaining recognizable in places that are near to the heart.
Cheers,
Jesse
“Effortless and Pretty”
Years ago, after and encounter-less day in upstate New York, a friend of mine and I decided that swinging flies for steelhead is like being up to bat, only you’re blindfolded, and the pitcher doesn’t actually throw the ball every pitch…
We can debate what the ultimate goal is. I’m pretty sure every big-league hitter loves watching a ball fly over the fence; but I bet they also love the sound of the crowd, the feel of the dirt under their spikes and staring into a pitcher’s eyes. Thankfully, my own contract doesn’t depend on the number of steelhead I tail each season…
Documenting the Atlantic Salmon
The Trebek Initiative funds conservation, documentation, education, and research projects in Canada and is named after the longtime Jeopardy! host. A recent grantee is filmmaker Nick Hawkins, who’s embarking on a two-year project related to Atlantic salmon - documenting their life cycle, using imagery to raise awareness, collaborating with conservation efforts, and highlighting the salmon’s connection to the greater ecosystem. Hawkins’ underwater photos and videos are awe-inspiring and his project webpage has a host of multi-media information on the iconic fish, the challenges they face, and efforts underway to protect them.
After You’ve Gone
Featuring artist, conservationist, and guide Rachel Finn, the short film After You’ve Gone is a powerful look into a life lived well, but not without hardship or loss. Shot in New York and Argentina, we follow and learn from Finn’s approach to angling, her outlook, and her optimism - an inspiring tale reminding us all to be thankful and enjoy the ride!
Do Stuff & Things
While attending a leadership training course a while back, I was introduced to the concept of applied improvisation, which applies concepts and foundations from improv comedy to communication, business, and life in general. After the presentation, I asked our instructor for some book recommendations and the first he gave was Do Improvise, which comes from the Do Book Co., out of London; it turned out to be the first of many books that I’d order from Do Book Co. Their catalog has all sorts of fun and interesting topics to learn and do, like storytelling, singing, walking, beekeeping, preserving, and more.
Guilty Little Secret
Like everyone else who writes for sporting magazines, I have a guilty little secret: I’m in it for the money.
If getting paid for going fishing is the Eighth Deadly Sin, then the work of writing about it must be its Absolution.
~ William Hjortsberg, in Silent Seasons
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