The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 05.02.2025
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
It is never quite what we expect, is it? Surely, part of the reason that we go in the first place is to try to catch some fish, perhaps in some way, but maybe we just want to see what will happen out there. Just yesterday, I’d predicted slow fishing but it turned out to be the best of the year. Who knew?!
Cheers,
Jesse
Banner photo: Probably too many caddis. They wouldn’t eat until shade hit the water, then they wouldn’t stop.
A New Year, Johannes, and Me
Here’s a piece from way back in January, 2010, while on extended fishing holiday in New Zealand. I was introduced to another traveling angler from the Netherlands and we went fishing together. Not my typical style, but a fun exercise.
“Plans made prior, go to Blenheim. Meet Johannes there.
Pick him up. His things. His rods. His reels. His flies.
Look at a map over a beer, point fingers here. And there. Go there?
Go there…”
Mental Health Therapy
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and, as Minnesota-based angler and mentor Scot Simmons puts it, “There’s no better mental health therapy going on for me right than getting out on the water.” Check out this video of Scot and his son fishing together and hear from Scot about his own mental health journey and a Trout Unlimited program called Foster the Outdoors. Seeing his son’s face after catching his first trout on a fly is well worth the watch. Tragically, earlier this year, Scot was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. You can learn more about Scot’s fight and assist at this GoFundMe site.
BYG FLY
I met photographer and angler Ed Sozinho years ago through the vibrant Seattle-area fly fishing community. His now-infamous (former) Safeco Field 60’6” casting image is undoubtedly one of my all-time favorite fly fishing images. Recently, Ed’s embarked on a new fly fishing photography project called BYG FLY. In his words, BYG FLY “…showcases extraordinary detail through a series of large-scale photographs, captivating viewers with intricate textures, vibrant colors, and diverse materials that come together around a hook.” The latest round of images feature signature tyers’ patterns; below is a great one from my pal Brita Fordice. For the full effect, check out Ed’s video that illustrates the extensive process for making flies BYG.
Fiction from McGuane
It’s always interesting to me when a name or a place or a theme comes up multiple times, for different reasons, in a short time span. Is something at work? Perhaps. This week, legendary author and angler Thomas McGuane was mentioned to me by a couple friends, as was Bozeman, Montana. It reminded me of this New Yorker Fiction podcast in which novelist Téa Obreht reads and discusses McGuane’s “Gallatin Canyon” from his fiction collection Cloudbursts. Anyone who has made the drive down this canyon will picture themselves making the turns described in the story. You can also read the piece here.
With the Will of the Weather
Rather than waiting for the warmer days that eventually I, too, will want relief from, I find I have grown nonjudgmental of the weather and more interested in experiencing the days as they come, aligning myself with the will of the weather…
~ From CMarie Fuhrman’s “Letter Born of a Snowy Morning”
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© Jesse Lance Robbins, 2025
