Intuitive thoughts and tall tales from the field. Fishing, Hunting, and the Great Outdoors.
"Eventually the spring comes and, some time after the worst of the runoff, the elaborate and plague-like hatches of the West’s water bottoms become remarkably apparent. Incomplete and complete metamorphosis characterized insects live out their lifecycle before your eyes: from egg, to nymph or larva & pupa, to adulthood and, the ones that don’t get slurped up by the wild & spotted creatures of the riffle then fly off to spawn the next generation."
"I bet the wait staff and neighboring table of patrons would be as charismatic and conversational as always and, when the elation washes over our waiter at the sight of the unconventionally large tip I left him in the spirit of our tradition, I bet he'll express his gratitude by using a portion of it to bring us a couple of cold glasses from the freezer and a complimentary pitcher of Raspberry Wheat."
"I reached for my 85mm and began photographing Tristan as he leaned backwards against the fish’s resistance and demanded its submission. Eventually the lunk capitulated and I remember thinking “what a bucket” when I witnessed the net webbing stretch like the legs of an Armstrong figurine. Hud must have thought something similar because he returned the netted mass of aquatic critter to the water and, when he did, I noticed the net’s handle straighten in relief. We anchored the skiff and I hopped out to get a better shot. This was a memory I didn’t want to let slip by."
“One-by-one, as my loved ones arrive, I'll gift them this thing I've made and they'll smile at the sentiment. "You haven't changed a bit" they'll proclaim through tearful elation and an appreciation for the newly realized absence of pain. “Imagine that,” they’ll speak as their naked feet wade through ancient crystalline glacial waters and upon split granite, “no suffering.”
“We’re blue collar guides, my dude. We’re not operating out of a five million dollar lodge with loft railings so clean a surgeon would feel comfortable operating on top of them. We’re not backed by some hoity-toity, over priced fly store where rich dudes find excuses to burn their Silicon Valley cash. We have no... Continue Reading →
Authentically Wild Out West 