The end to a beautiful fall day on the Dry River.
fly fishing, conservation and politics.
By Tom Sadler
The end to a beautiful fall day on the Dry River.
By Tom Sadler
Many years ago when I was contemplating my own view of religion, divine beings and spirituality my father gave me a poem, When you walk through the woods. The poem speaks of the things you see, hear and feel as you walk through the woods and realize those things are not of the hand of man.
The poem as it was know in my family, became a touchstone for me as it helped define my love for the wild places. Even today when I take my fly rod and venture up some remote blue line stream I recall portions of that poem.
The poem got new life for me yesterday.
My friend Chris Hunt who pens the excellent Eat More Brook Trout blog has posted a truly delightful story, God and Fly Fishing, about his recent appointment to oversee Christian education in his parish.
But after a bit of reflection, I agreed to do the job, largely because I think there a lot of people like me out there who don’t necessarily buy into the Biblical aspect of religion, but who value the overarching message of the faith that asks for good deeds, a life well-lived and a charitable heart.
And we get a sip of wine on Sunday mornings to take the edge off.
He goes on to make the connection to fly-fishing that speaks to many of us.
I’m not sure how much credence my priest put in my carefully crafted answers about how my faith and my fly fishing are often one in the same. I think it’s kitschy and probably a bit disingenuous to say that I’m closest to God when I’m fishing, but it’s not far from the truth, either. A lot of anglers—especially backcountry anglers who loathe the idea of fishing along the road when other options are available, or who don’t care for the idea of elbow-to-elbow fishing along some crowded stretch of river—know exactly what I mean.
Do your self a favor and give it a read…
By Tom Sadler
John Juracek’s excellent post “Heads or Tails?” includes a stunning picture of rising trout on the Blue Ribbon Flies Blog.
He gives a great explanation of the rise forms associated with the pictured trout.
Really excellent it, check it out.
By Tom Sadler
Dispatches is going mobile to Denver bright and early tomorrow. First the AFFTA board meeting on Wednesday, then the IFTD Show Thurs thru Saturday.
If you want to stay up to date on the show, “like” the IFTD Facebook page and follow IFTD on Twitter.
I will also try and log in a few posts from the show as well.
Stay tuned!
By Tom Sadler
If you are a fly-fisher and golfer and interested in tenkara this post from the Adiopose Fin blog is a must read!!!
It is a tribute to adaptation and innovation and adds fly-golf to the fishing lexicon. I won’t spoil it for you, make the jump and enjoy.
A hat tip to The Trout Underground‘s twitter feed for for pointing it out: @tcunderground: Finally, a use for golf courses
By Tom Sadler
AFFTA strives to be sure all segments of the fly-fishing industry are represented on the board. Our by-laws require two members from each industry category must be appointed to the board prior to filling at-large seats.
For this election, in order to maintain industry diversity, four of the nine available board positions needed to be filled first. Then the the five remaining seats could be filled.
Here is the breakdown of the election results:
Representatives (1 required)
Scott Harkins – San Miguel Mountain & River Products
Media/PR&MKT/Associations/Government/Educational (1 required)
Kate Fox – Casting for Recovery
Retailer (2 required)
Pat Pendergast – The Fly Shop, Inc.
Dustin Carlson – Fishwest
At Large Seats (5 required)
Jeff Wieringa – Scientific Anglers
David Heller – Ross Reels USA / Ross Worldwide Outdoors
Larry Barrett – Far Bank Enterprises
Riley Cotter – Umpqua Feather Merchants
Mike Gawtry – LL Bean
As the AFFTA announcement noted, “It is worth mentioning that more than 50% of AFFTA members participated in this year’s election. This is an incredible turnout for any election and a clear demonstration that the association is more active than ever as we reinvent the fly fishing trade during these challenging economic times.
We are excited about the future and look forward to kicking off the year with everyone at the new International Fly Tackle Dealer Show this coming month!”
To become an AFFTA member of you can download an application HERE or get more info HERE.