The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

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Why I guide

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Inevitably, it comes up in conversation at some point. “How long have you been guiding?” Quickly followed by something related to “do you enjoy it?” or “is it hard?”

My pat answer is related to having been a guide and instructor for more than 20 years and fly fisherman for more than 50. Here is the thing, that answer is really not a very good one. It is time answer as opposed to an experience answer.

People, when they ask that question are not really asking about the length of time. They are asking about what they experience has been like. That got me thinking.

Guiding and being a fly-fishing instructor is an essential part of my life. In a lot of ways, it helps me manage the other parts of my life, like my job at the Marine Fish Conservation Network, or being a grandfather or a husband.

Here are some things about guiding that people deserve to hear when I answer that question.

• It’s fun, it really is. Sure, guiding is work and the pre- and post-trip stuff is a pain but when someone catches a fish or makes a good cast the smile on their face makes me smile. When we start laughing together because of pure pleasure the sport provides that is fun. Smiles equal fun.

• Working outside is a extraordinary opportunity. During most days, I sit in my office, looking at my computer. Working outside, especially in and around moving water is a much more enjoyable experience. There is much more sensory involvement, sights, sounds, smells and direct human and animal interactions. Doctors even prescribe it as “ecotherapy.”

• It is a teaching experience. Every guide trip and every class, I learn something. The guests and students expect me to help them the whether it is catching fish or learning to fish. But that is only half the equation, they have to be able to learn from me, and that is my responsibility. Teaching is tough but learning is harder. Being able to communicate in a way that allows people to succeed is my goal every time I offer instructions. But as fulfilling as it is to see someone succeed, the knowledge that I am learning at the same time is the big reward. And, more often than not, I learn something about myself.

• Practicing what I preach. Conservation of our natural resources is essential. It is what I do at the Network and what I believe to the deepest reaches of my soul. Having a chance to share that conservation ethic is a rewarding part of my guiding gigs. Talking about clean water and showing best fish handling practices like “Keep ‘em Wet” directly engages my guests and shows them why conservation is essential to a good fishing experience.

• Guiding has made me a better person, more patient, more understanding and more tuned into my surroundings. Truth be told those attributes have not always transferred to the rest of my life. There is some comfort in knowing that and realizing I have to do better. Perhaps that is the thing I like the most.

Happy Thanksgiving 2017

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For the last few years I have been posting this Thanksgiving day quote from Theodore Roosevelt. I have yet to find one better on this day.

“Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.”

Theodore Roosevelt, Thanksgiving, 1903

And never forget on this day and every day, paraphrasing Winston Churchill, we enjoy Thanksgiving because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

For them I am eternally thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Food for thought

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Truth be told, we enjoy playing with our food…

“If you want to feed your family healthy food, you have to ask a lot of questions.” -Yvon Chouinard

Hang around our home long enough and you find that MRS and I really enjoy cooking, eating and drinking. If we have a common love of literature it would be cook books, cooking magazines and bartending books. We care a lot about where our food comes from, especially when we are cooking for the “wee ones.” Where we can we support local, sustainable producers.

The more we learn about food the more interested we get in the sources and sustainability.

It will come as no surprise that I am a big fan of Patagonia. When I heard about Chouinard’s latest experiment with sustainability and food I was excited to see where it went. He has shared many of the products from Patagonia Provisions with me,  the salmon and buffalo jerky being my favorites.

Last year, Patagonia Provisions released a film directed by Chris Malloy, that explores the connection between food and the environmental challenges we face. Two of my favorite foods make appearances.

Revolutions start at the bottom

At the bottom are these little small farmers and fisherman and they are committed to the same things we are which is doing something different. People who are willing to break the paradigm.

Agriculture revolution is not going to come through technology. It is going to come through, in a lot of cases, the old ways of doing things. -Yvon Chouinard

Sound familiar tenkara fans?

I was especially delighted to see Dan and Jill OBrien included in the film. I have been a fan of Wild Idea Buffalo ever since I read Dan’s terrific book, Buffalo for the Broken Heart. It is a fabulous true story about their struggles with ranching and the notion of returning buffalo to the native prairie.

In the PNW salmon are their buffalo. The folks from Lummi Island Wild are harvesting based on an old method. They show and talk about reefnet fishing around Lummi Island.

If you care about your food you should take 30 minutes and watch Unbroken Ground.

Watch Unbroken Ground below

Wet Work

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Lily Wet long
wetter is better…

 

As a fishing guide and a journalist the chance to chronicle the outdoor experience is a side benefit of being on the water. Many times that means getting a photo of a happy fly-fisher with a fish.

Here’s the rub. The grip and grin, hero shot is great for the angler, but even when it is done right is not great for the fish and when done wrong can be deadly. My friend Dr. Andy Danlychuck has been beating the drum about this for a while and the idea has been stuck in my head.

I’ve done it, at lot and it bothers me. Sure, I am careful when I set up those shots but I’ve always worried about it. Of course I want the client to have a memento but not at the sacrifice of my business partner the fish.

Not surprisingly others have similar concerns.

Kirk Deeter has posted before on the subject and recently posted New Year’s Resolution Number One: Goodbye Grip-n-Grins in Field & Stream’s Fly Talk. “Fact is, a lot of fish get killed to make photographs, and we need to do more to improve that one way or another.”

Cameron Mortenson of Fiberglass Manifesto posted Keep ‘Em Wet. “The more that I think and talk about it, the better idea this becomes.”

Native Fish Society is running a photo contest to help drive the Keep ‘Em Wet message. “So, let’s get creative with the way we photograph our wild fish by keeping them wet and in the water.”

You only need to look at some of Brian OKeefe’s photos to see how to do it right.

The time has come for better, wetter photos.

The Duty to Act

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Below is a trailer to the film CO2LD WATERS.

You need to watch it.

As Thomas McGuane wrote in The Longest Silence, “if the trout are lost, smash the state.”

Fortunately, Todd Tanner of Conservation Hawks has started the process. In this new project he joins fly fishing notables Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies, Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia, Steve Hemkens of Orvis and Tim Romano of Angling Trade in pointing out the consequences of ignoring global climate change.

If you don’t think climate change is problem, then you are just not paying attention.

Not sure what you can do about it? Share this video, add your voice and stay informed.

 

 

The Philosophy of Brook Trout

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If you have even a passing interest in brook trout then you will want to pick up a copy of Downstream by David L. O’Hara and Matthew T. Dickerson.

If we could explain why grown men are so fascinated with brook trout, or why we spend so much of our time waist-deep in their waters, soaked to the bone, shivering, and delighting in every encounter with a specked trout, we wouldn’t need to write stories. This book is the best answer we can give.”

So begins this excellent book that explores the nexus between brook trout, fly fishing and some of the more interesting locations these very special fish call home.

The authors switch off with narratives that reflect both their personalities and points of view. The joy in the book comes in how they share their experience of fishing for brookies and the insights they give to the importance of the habitat the brook trout occupy.

The only complaint I would lodge is that they did not include Virginia in their travels. It would have been wonderful to see my home waters through their eyes.

The authors explore not only the impacts wrought upon the brook trout’s habitat, they also share their experience as fisherman; the teaching, manners, politics and connections to home. Dickerson is quite adept and entertaining at sharing the conundrums many fly fisherman face.

At the beginning of the conclusion, O’Hara quotes Kathleen Dean Moore from Pine Island Paradox.

I believe that the most loving thing you can say to a person is “Look.” And the most loving stance is not a close embrace, but two people standing side by side, looking out together on the world. When people learn to look, they begin to see, really see. When they begin to see, they begin to care. And caring is the portal to the into the moral world.”

Then, in my favorite part of the book he delves into the question of why he fishes. No doubt the answer to why is going to be different for everyone; but he does a fine job of putting on paper something that I and many others can relate to, to know the world we live in and our own lives better.

Downstream delivers an excellent “look” that Moore describes and the reader will come away with a sense of having stood side by side with the authors as they share their sense of caring for these special fish and the places they live.