2012 Christmas Newsletter Essays

Some good reads from some of our PNW friends and neighbors courtesy of Doug Rose's Christmas newsletter.

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A Salmon Guide to Catch That Fly Fishing Hottie

Ladies, it's spawning season again - for our anadromous friends. Yes, the salmon and steelhead have eaten all summer, I know, I know, while we've all been starving ourselves to paint on bikinis, to make their final labors of love on the inland rivers. It's constant sex, pregnancy, then death - doesn't it just feel that way for all of us?

Every girl knows that the fly fisherman is the ultimate catch -overweight, rich, and obsessed with tying knots. What's not to love? On your next date with the man with the rod, you will reel him in with your understanding of his favorite prey. If you see one of these little numbers, on your dinner plate or in the river, a few tidbits from this guide will impress your man with your knowledge of Genus Oncorhynchus.

LINK (via: Happy Woman Magazine)

Montana Authors Project - A River Runs Through It

The Montana Authors Project brings "A River Runs Through It" to digital life.The Project provides a sense of  place through the use of text, context, interpretation, graphic design, topography,and hyperlinks.The page can be used as a virtual tour of an author's imagination, as well as an actual road map of a literary setting.

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Learning to Fly Fish — And Fend Off Grizzlies

Comedian Lizz Winstead on celebrating her 50th birthday in Alaska.

"Do we have a gun?" I asked.

"Nah, we just shoo them away with our paddles," one guide said. I was starting to feel that I'd been talked into less of a fishing trip, and more of an ill-matched contest against wild bears for food. Our side was armed with inflatable raft paddles. The bears were armed with, well, being bears.

LINK (via: The Wall St Journal)

Miscast: With Practice, I Can Only Get Better at Flyfishing... Right?

Illustration by Jack Unruh

Bill Heavey wrote this very funny little ditty in the September issue of Field and Stream.

Flyfishing is like the knowledge that you’re going to die. No matter how good the party gets, it’s always there in the background to remind you what awaits: tangled line, wind knots, snagged vegetation, broken leaders, and the very real possibility that by the time you do make a decent cast, your own eyeball will be attached to the hook. I have been flyfishing on and off for 35 years, during which period I have progressed from beginner to advanced beginner. With continued practice, I fully expect to be an intermediate just three or four years following my death.

Read the Rest

LINK (via: Field and Stream)

Where Water Comes Together With Other Water

The latest issue of The Flyfish Journal features a stellar piece of writing by Steve Duda on the life and times of Raymond Carver, fisherman.