The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere - 10.16.2026
Ramblings & Readings, Creativity & Conservation, Happenings & Hope
My Fishy Friends,
While they may pale in comparison to the deciduous forests of the northeast, our Willamette Valley groves are looking pretty colorful these days, and that just feels good. An old friend from Wisconsin said the to me this week, in regards to some Columbia Gorge forests and in doing so, put into words what I’d been thinking. These seasonal changes seem to strike me overnight or all of a sudden in recent years; anyone else feel the same?
Cheers,
Jesse
Banner photo: What’s reflecting what?
For Patagonia:
Most anglers drive right past them. Blue lines—small, often unnamed creeks—feel too small, too choked, too uncertain to bother with when there’s bigger, more proven water just up the road. But blue lines are special. They’re places where everything’s close and intimate, where a 6-inch fish can matter and you can start to love a piece of water…
I had the honor of penning the NORTH-WEST segment in this collection, and you can read them all online!
Joan at 100
On Sunday, living legend Joan Wulff will turn 100 years old! Courtesy of Fly Fisherman Magazine, here’s a great, short video filled with old footage and highlights from Joan’s decades of fly casting and fly fishing around the world. The clips of her casting are especially interesting for technique study, and her casting distances reached are staggering! Cheers, Joan!
Traver Awards
The 2026 Robert Traver Awards were recently announced, and the full essays of the winner, Andrei Romanov, and two honorable mentions, Steve Duda and Tim Schulz are posted online here. The Robert Traver Fly-Fishing Writing Award was created in 1994 to encourage and recognize “distinguished original stories or essays that embody the implicit love of fly fishing, respect for the sport, and the natural world in which it takes place.” The award is named after Robert Traver, pen name of the late John Voelker, author of Trout Madness, Trout Magic, Anatomy of a Fisherman, and others.
On Dam Removals
In this recent article, “Death by a Thousand Dams,” environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb and author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, tells us about the ongoing dam removal revolution — especially the work being done on small rivers and dams in New England. Case in point, the pending removal of dams from the Royal River in Yarmouth, Maine. And, as has happened every few years, another version of ‘the biggest dam removal project in history’ is underway again in Washington State, with Enloe Dam — which would unlock ~1,500 miles of river habitat to salmon and steelhead.
Linville Casting Academy
Co-owner of Key West’s The Angling Company, Nathaniel Linville is one of the world’s most accomplished flats fly fishing anglers, with a staggering list of accomplishments including world records and tournament victories, not to mention several hundred fly-caught permit; I had the fortune of personally witnessing a couple of the latter over a few days in the Keys a while back. Nat recently launched a new venture to share his wealth of fly fishing and casting knowledge called Linville Casting Academy. I know there’s unique wisdom within, and it’s worth a look.
DJD, Again
A new essay from David James Duncan, “How the Pacific Makes Love to the Rockies,” rocked my socks, unsurprisingly. I struggle to begin to share what’s within this one, but instead only wish that you find the time to read it through — perhaps section by section. Two tidbits from the piece to consider:
After one such nap I woke in the shade of the towering canyon walls and noticed my back felt oddly cool. Sitting up, I removed my shirt—and burst out laughing. Field mice had tiptoed onto my back and eaten a 12-by-18-inch hole in the flannel!
And:
I once fished the headwaters of a coastal salmon and steelhead stream so fog-bound and so seldom visited by humans that a blacktail doe stepped out of the gray a few feet from me, stepped even closer to sniff the tip of my fly rod as if to ascertain whether I was real, strolled fifty feet upstream, gave the same sniff to my fishing partner’s rod, then melted back into the gray.
Photo by Ron Jude.
J. Peterman Goes Fishing
This may be a bit obscure, but I trust there are some fly fishing and Seinfeld fanatics within this newsletter list, so bear with me. A fishy friend shared this clip with me, and it made me laugh and reflect both. In the specific clip (which begins at 43:50), Seinfeld’s J. Peterman, perhaps the original Most Interesting Man in the World and played by actor John O’Hurley, shares “the greatest advice that I have ever been given.” It’s worth the listen, trust me.
LA’s Book Festival in PDX
Hosted by Literary Arts in early-November is the annual Portland Book Festival, and it looks to be a great one! In LA’s words: “From November 2 to 8, the Rose City welcomes readers, writers, artists, musicians, chefs, and storytellers to the heart of Portland for a week of conversations, performances, workshops, dinners, and unexpected experiences inspired by books and storytelling. The festival’s largest gathering takes place on Nov. 7 with more than 100 local, regional, and nationally acclaimed authors gathering for Portland Book Festival in the South Park Blocks.” More info here.
Fin & Fire Podcast
Last month, I joined fly fishing industry veteran, writer, and filmmaker, and host of the Fin & Fire Podcast Jeff Mishler for a conversation on topics ranging from the writing and storytelling process, to our favorite fly fishing writers, to tarpon, steelhead, and trout, and much more. Jeff’s a great conversationalist and I recommend giving the entire Fin & Fire Podcast archive a good look! Links to listen to our conversation: online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts.
Sense
"You know what I can't figure?" Lomax says after a while. "You did everything you could to try to rid yourself of her. And then you did everything you could to keep her. It doesn't make sense."
"People never make sense." Everett says. "You just learned that?"
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, please send it to a friend.
If this email sent to you by a friend, click here to subscribe.
