This Is Fly, No. 61

Right HERE.

Just Sayin'

Within moments of taking office, Trump pledges to roll back measures of paramount importance to anglers.

Waiting Too Long; Fly Fishing Largemouth Bass

Coming sooner than we think.

Waiting Too Long; Fly Fishing Largemouth Bass from Inveteratefilm on Vimeo.

"Ode to the Fish" by Ellen Bass

Daniel Danger

Nights when I can’t sleep, I listen to the sea lions

barking from the rocks off the lighthouse.

I look out the black window into the black night

and think about fish stirring the oceans.

Muscular tuna, their lunge and thrash

churning the water, whipping up a squall,

storm of hunger. Herring cruising,

river of silver in the sea, wide as a lit city.

And all the small breaths: pulse

of frilled jellyfish, thrust of squid,

frenzy of krill, transparent skin glowing

green with the glass shells of diatoms.

Billions swarming up the water column each night,

gliding down at dawn. They’re the greased motor

that powers the world. Shipping heat

to the arctic, hauling cold to the tropics,

currents unspooling around the globe.

My room is so still, the bureau lifeless,

and on it, inert, the paraphernalia of humans:

keys, coins, shells that once rocked in the tides—

opalescent abalone, pearl earrings.

Only the clock’s sea-green numerals

register small changes. And shadows

the moon casts—fan of maple branches—

tick across the room. But beyond the cliffs

a blue whale sounds and surfaces, cosmic

ladle scooping the icy depths. An artery so wide,

I could swim through into its thousand-pound heart.

"Ode to the Fish" by Ellen Bass from Like a Beggar. © Copper Canyon Press, 2014.

Damn, Look What They Did While We Were Fishing

Our friend over at Fly Fishing in Yellowstone National Park is one who has decided to keep an eye on things, and to sound the alarm.

What we're looking at here is not what they might do; it's what they're doing.

Please go HERE and avail yourself of some enlightening links courtesy of FFIYNP.

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On this subject, there's an encouraging development in Wyoming, called to our attention by the boys at Moldy Chum. Get the good news HERE.

Reading for Inauguration Day

Some reading for you as we ponder what the next four years may hold.

From the US version of The Guardian, a British news service:

Congress moves to give away national lands, discounting billions in revenue

Though recreation on public lands creates $646bn in economic stimulus and 6.1m jobs, Republicans are setting in motion a giveaway of Americans’ birthright

Get the disturbing facts HERE. And plan that dream trip before it can only be done in our dreams.

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From the boys at Moldy Chum:

Will the real Theodore Roosevelt please stand up?

The real Theodore Roosevelt

Who is the greatest conservation president since Teddy Roosevelt? Find out HERE. Big shoes that will not be filled this time out.

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From Fly Fishing in Yellowstone National Park:

We're watching closely as a nominee for Secretary of the Interior

talks out of both sides of his mouth.

Get a breakdown of what he has actually done HERE. And try not to break down.

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Obviously I have great concern about what this incoming administration and congress will do to our lands and waters. But it needs to be said that people, especially the most defenseless, are at even greater risk.

So take care of each other; our leaders, I fear,

will be too busy taking care of themselves.

Computer Competition

Sebastian has become skillful with a mouse and can navigate a preset list of dinosaur sites with ease. So he gets time at the laptop.

It does seem at times as though my computer has been transported back to the Jurassic age.

The other night after Sebastian was in bed I went to the computer and discovered that he had left a little herd of dinos to keep me company.

I do get some computer time when he's awake, and he'll pop up while I'm screening fly fishing videos and say "What's that, Grandpa?" And then climb up on my lap to watch.

Then without fail he'll exclaim just what I was thinking: "I want to go fishing!"

Olympic Peninsula Steelhead - Winter Fly Fishing

How it's done.

What Was I Doing One Year Ago?

With my local lake shut down from the last Saturday of October to the last Saturday of April, I was making a two hour drive south to fish Rocky Ford Creek, a spring creek open year round. I would make a couple of trips a month from November to March. It was a sure cure for the winter blues and cabin fever.

The day represented by these photos was a very good day, but I seldom went fishless. I would wend my way through the cattails to my favorite spot on the bank (no wading allowed) and spend hours casting a variety of flies to rising, waking trout. Some of those trout are of the husky variety, and I know my heart is relatively healthy because I survived slamming takes and heartbreaking losses of a few of those salmonid slabs.

On this trip I caught fish on nymphs--scuds were particularly effective, and that big red midge would give me more than one good day--but I also hooked some nice fish on a little mayfly dry. These fish were looking for something to bite down on, and muddlers and stimulators fished dry were also go to flies. There's nothing like big trout on a dry in the dead of winter.

Much could be said about those trips to Rocky Ford, and I may succumb to more reminiscing in the future. I miss them, particularly because I don't have a similar outlet here yet. But a whole season of exploring local waters is just ahead, and I will be looking for places that might fish well in January when the temp rises to 64 like it did today.

So I have to wonder. What will I be doing one year from now?

"Sturgeon Season" by Floyd Skloot

They have been there since dawn,

their boats side-by-side midriver,

lines cast downstream into the edge

of deep water, sipping coffee as light

seeps through naked branches of ash

and cottonwood. Now from shadows

of limbs and swirling current a sea lion

slithers among their orange anchor

buoys and dives. The water,

already roiled brown and swollen

by rain, is so cold it seems to crack

when a cormorant skims the surface

before rising toward its island nest.

"Sturgeon Season" by Floyd Skloot from Approaching Winter. © Louisiana State University Press, 2015.

Your Land

This film by outdoor journalist Kris Millgate is posted on the Hatch Magazine site. Click on the link for the accompanying story. Money quote:

The National Wildlife Federation, national membership 6 million, sent me around the country to ask members what public lands mean to them. The film Your Land was the result. Trout Unlimited, national membership 154,500, launched 30 Days of Public Lands in September. Stories of public lands and the people who use them. And Backcountry Hunters and Anglers sold t-shirts. A plain black t-shirt with three words in block letters across the chest: Public Land Owner. They’ve sold 1,000. On a national scale, that’s barely a bleep, but the ball just started rolling. BHA is small and young compared to NWF and TU, but its national membership doubled to 7,500 in 2016. And it reaches 1 million people weekly on Facebook. They’re on to something and now the rest of the nation is too. Power to the public.

On a personal note, tell me why you would want to give up your hunting and fishing lands--and a whole way of life, and the legacy of your children and grandchildren--so a few rich bastards can get even richer and grind you down even further.

Eat Sleep Fish

More good winter reading. Get it HERE.

New Year's Resolution

One thing to look forward to in 2017.

LEGACY from American Rivers

Hope you've had a wonderful holiday season. We've been having a very busy but rewarding time with family, both local and extended. When I have managed to get on the computer there has usually been only enough time to check my favorite blogs and watch some videos.

Here's another good one that, unfortunately, may stand as a stark contrast to what we're in for in the next four years. Let it be a wake up call, and a call to action.

Sebastian goes back to school tomorrow, so things will be getting back to "normal," and I'll be able to catch up on some posting.

LEGACY from American Rivers on Vimeo.

“My job was to enjoy this beautiful country, and give back for what it had given to me. And doing the Wild & Scenic bill and being involved in all the things here, I felt like I accomplished that.” – Jack Dennis
We would certainly agree, which is why we made this short film featuring a thoughtful conversation with legendary fly fishing guide Jack Dennis about his involvement, and the efforts of late Senator Craig Thomas, American Rivers, and its partners, in designating the Upper Snake River Headwaters in Wyoming as one of the nation’s most comprehensive Wild & Scenic Rivers.
Through this film, you can experience a small taste of the beauty of the Snake near Jackson, as well as feel the joy between Jack and his grandson as they ply the currents of this beautiful stretch of water. And as he says about the experience of working on more than 400 miles of Wild & Scenic protections for the river, “It was the most satisfying thing, outside of family, that I have ever done.” Thanks, Jack.
Our goal with this film is to celebrate this important success and inspire people to protect more Wild and Scenic rivers, with an eye toward the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 2018. I hope you enjoy the film, and if you would like to promote it through your networks or publications, we would greatly appreciate it.

DUN Magazine, December - January

Celebrating the fastest growing demographic in fly fishing. Find it HERE.