The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 12.27.2024
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
This week I visited a ‘millennial’ tree - over 1,000 years old. Imagine the things it has seen, we said to each other, imagine what happened during those years, and then tried. It was staggering but still possible. Maybe 1,000 is the limit to conceptualize — we do seem to use that round number often, namely: the fish of a thousand casts. Think of one of those ‘millennial’ fish you’ve caught and recall what happened along the way. Now that’s worth visiting.
Cheers,
Jesse
Banner photo: Floating into the new year and the unknown.
End-of-Year Support
As we reflect on 2024, give thanks, count blessings, and perhaps make holiday gifts, consider the organizations, groups, and people that work to support, protect, restore, or foster the places and things that you, or those you care for, hold dear.
“Support” translates in a variety of ways: time, money, voice, mindspace, platform, creativity or more. Simply ‘following’ an organization, becoming informed, and sharing or spreading their work is extremely valuable!
Following is a list of non-profit organizations that I support, for various reasons and in various ways. I offer it in endorsement of the specific organizations as much as encouragement for you to create your own list.
Honest Fly Fishing
Most Oregon anglers, and probably many from outside of the state, are familiar with the blog of the Eugene-based Caddis Fly Shop. A longtime and beloved author on that blog is Jay Nicholas and, at this point, his writing can only be considered prolific. In the past decade or so, he has self-published a collection of extremely unique and intriguing fly fishing-related books. As one who’s been exploring the many publishing avenues available today, I took to heart this note from Jay: I decided to take the Amazon/Create Space self-publishing route because I feel a great sense of urgency. I wanted to get these books, stories, paintings, and sketches out the door quickly, while I can… in order to make my stories and art accessible now, rather than risk leaving the stories untold. Topics range from fly tying and fly patterns to history, biographies, and fishing inspiration, and you can see his entire catalog here.
Calling All Dirtbags
A podcast worth checking is Dirtbag Diaries – their episodes feature a mix of environmental conservation topics along with some great adventure storytelling from all corners of the country and globe. Obviously my personal, primary recreational interests lie in fly fishing and river-running but I appreciate the passion and cerebral elements of the episodes that center around rock climbing, trail running, mountain biking, and other pursuits that I don’t know much about. Once a year Dirtbag Diaries accepts story submissions and they’re open now through January 19th, 2025! I’m 0/2 but also love to believe that the third time is the charm.
Rewilding Elwha
When I moved to Washington in 2011, the dam removal projects on the Elwha River were just beginning, so it’s now over a decade since the river was entirely free-flowing. With its headwaters encapsulated entirely within Olympic National Park, this restoration project is special in the extremely high quality of its habitat that awaits the returning migratory fish species. And, have they ever returned! Here’s a recent video about the ‘rewilding’ of the Elwha River, including footage from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s first day fishing the river since the removals, and some great game camera photos of wildlife in the former reservoir site.
Essentially Solitary
Fishing at its most rudimentary level is essentially solitary. Not only that, but its components, outside the particular baggage one brings to it, are entirely trustworthy. I mean, what creek ever teased you about your pimples; what breeze ever ridiculed you in front of your friends?
So then, some of us found something we could count on, a world in which we could participate without having to own the right brand of bicycle or have the same pug nose as the class president. In my own case, that world expanded into many other things, the most important of which were friendships, at first limited, it’s true, but later expanded, deepened and broadened.
~ Russell Chatham, in Silent Seasons
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© Jesse Lance Robbins, 2024
