From tiny brook trout in the Blue Ridge to giant lake trout to more cutthroat than we could stand; adventures around the corner to road trips across the country; the ability to create custom rods and a whole rod bag business.
Read moreHow Much is Too Much?
If you're a fly fisherman, you love to share! We pull out our phones to show off our latest brown trout or the permit we managed to catch on a recent trip; we bring out rods we've put together or fly patterns we've just discovered. The closer you are to your fellow angler, the more information you'll divulge, fly tying nights at breweries also seem to get the information flowing. We follow a similar pattern with social media, sharing photos of our daily fishy lives; but when is it too much? What is an appropriate amount of information about your fishing trip?
We live in a world where fly fishing is becoming more and more accessible to people, you run into more people on the water than you used to, and at times you can see how that budding population has taken its toll. So, where is the line between sharing what you love and exploitation for "likes?"
Read moreThose Moments
Fly fishing is not an industry in which you'll get rich or famous (not counting "internet famous"), but a thing from which you just can't back away. It consumes you, at every possible level, even during the most hectic of guiding season, when you feel like you're on the verge of burning out, you don't.
Read moreWanderlust
When you hurry through you aren't enjoying it, not really. The adventure turns into a "to-do," the experience is lost. You're trying to accomplish something, mark it off a list, feel successful. Living life this way is not beneficial, and fishing should take place slowly and thoughtfully.
Life isn't always about grand adventures, sometimes it's about enjoying the little things, taking your time, and being happy with where you are.
Read moreRole Reversal
The other day Jacob and I took an adventure to a stretch of water we hadn't fished before. It was a long drive up and around the mountain, ending in a small town; not even big enough for one stop light.
Somehow Jacob wound up with the camera this trip and we ended up reversing our normal roles.
Being the one who's typically behind the camera this was more than a little strange for me, being the "subject" is strange and uncomfortable for me. Probably as awkward as it is for Jacob using a bulky DSLR. Overall, I think he did pretty well, and adjusted better than I.
I'm looking forward to our next trip, back behind the camera, where all is well with the world.
Surviving on Hot Coffee and Tiny Trout
The morning light is filtered and grey and ominous. The kind that reaches out and covers everything, from the tops of the mountains to the bottom of the valleys.
The air is heavy and wet, not quite raining, but nowhere near dry either. It's not that cold out, but the dampness makes it almost unbearable. Layers upon layers are applied. You fill up your travel mug with the hottest coffee you can stand.
You question your sanity.
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