Photo: Charlie King

When the Fly-Fishing Film Tour (F3T) rolled into Boulder last Thursday, about 40 sportsmen were preparing to head to Washington D.C. to speak with the White House, Senators, and other agency officials on the possible threats associated with creating one of the largest gold/copper mines above the most prolific salmons runs in the world. As they gathered, I was asked to head-up the show in Boulder and inform everyone of the possible significance of the year ahead.

Thanks to the fine folks from F3T, I spoke in front of a packed house of eager fish-porn enthusiasts. Most applauded the efforts, and even more had questions. “Are we going to win this?” or “People in Alaska are worried – should they be?”. While I could answer these as best as possible, my expression said, “Absolutely – we’re going to pull through this.” After all, if we lose this battle, anything is on the table.

It was a great night, but more news is coming out of D.C. today, including a new article by former Republican Representative Robin Hayes of North Carolina. He’s quoted as saying:

“We live in a time where jobs don’t exactly grow on trees, but in Alaska, it is fair to say that jobs grow on rivers.”

Please visit his article posted here, and please leave a comment with your support. This is a critical time on a critical issue. We can’t leave it alone now.

Photo: Ben Knight

Photo: Corey Kruitbosch

The Greenbacks of Trout Unlimited are excited to announce the 2nd Surface Film event showcasing top professional fly-fishing photography across the country at the Anthology Fine Art gallery (635 Santa Fe Drive Denver, CO 80204) on Thursday February 2nd, 2012. Similar to last year’s event, framed prints will be available through a silent auction to benefit Trout Unlimited.

This will be an exclusive preview event, and the gallery will be open to the public February 3rd and through the month of February.

New this year, the show attendees will vote for ‘best-in-show’ honors. The winning photographer will receive the National Trout Unlimited Professional Photo of the Year, a cash prize, and will be prominently featured in a future issue of Trout Magazine. In addition, a second place finisher will also receive a cash prize.

Please join us on February 2nd, 2012 from 7pm to 11pm to enjoy our industry’s best photography work, as well as live music and drinks. All ages welcome.

For more information, please visit http://thegreenbacks.org or http://anthologyfineart.com

The Greenbacks seek to promote native fish and their habitat through the engagement and recruitment of the next generation of Trout Unlimited members.

Photos from last year’s Surface Film event:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

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I’ve come to know Brandon Robinson (aka One Bug Is Fake) over the past year or so. While I’ve never actually shook the guy’s hand, I do feel like I know him, as we started off talking through social mediums, and now regularly share fly patterns and talk over email and on the phone. The guy has a dedication that’s not seen in too many others. A veteran, Brandon has a desire to create and donate different attributes to the blogosphere and fly-fishing in general. While talking with him about posting on Compleat Thought, he revealed something that I really didn’t know.

The following is from Brandon – visit him at One Bug Is Fake.

Almost a year ago, when I bought the domain to One Bug Is Fake, I envisioned a video-blog. My idea was
a sponsored (hopefully) web-tv type monster that would showcase a slightly less “high-minded” way of
living life on the fly. Measure in some funny, baste with an instruction blend, and sprinkle some music
to taste; nothing too fancy, but something that could be enjoyed. I knew I didn’t want to start another
blog, not when there are so many excellent blogs out there. I wanted to do video.

Problem is, when researching video editing, it was coming across as an expensive start-up. Then,
the videos I found out there were either: a stale collections of money shots, or just video versions of
the same stuff I scoured through when I was learning how to fly. The only ones that fell outside of
that Venn diagram were professionally done by people with financial backers. It short, it was kind of
discouraging. The one shining light in all of this was a website I found and subsequently began drooling
over. This website showcased beautiful locations, awesome editing, and really great music. Then I found
out it was done by essentially, a broke college kid… This can be done on the cheap! If you are reading
this, and you are wondering, “Who is this guy?” let me show you. This is a link to my favorite video so
far…

I focused on guest blogging however, and I built my homepage to warehouse all the posts the good
people of the internet have graciously offered to host; while still giving them the page views. The
video bug stayed percolating, until recently. Two things have happened that might change the course
of history! First, TexasRiverBum.com’s HCIC (Head cracker in charge) made a video of me fishing, then
completed all of the grunt work and released it. You can check it out here. Secondly, one of my go-to
fishing buddies admitted he is a carrier of the video bug as well. We are both prior service, so while
shooting the proverbial breeze, we hammered out an interesting hypothetical plan for doing just that.
Problem was, neither of us really had any equipment to pull this off with, but we had a name, “Infidel
Fly” (because “Pork-eating, Free American, Patriotic, Crusader, Fly Fishing Vets” wouldn’t fit on the
stationary, naturally). The two events did serve to convince me that like fly fishing, sometimes you just
have to trust your gut. With patience and determination, you don’t have to do things the way anybody
tells you. “This is what you need!” generally means, “This is why I don’t want YOU to do it!”

I kept an eye out and finally found a potential camera with a low price point, and an awesome return
policy. The purchase was bitter sweet. On one hand, it was everything I wanted to get started, but on
the other hand it had zero mounting points. None. The next model up was close enough to a higher-end
camera for it to make staying cheap, pointless. I went with my cheap option, because the return policy
covered dissatisfaction, and activation from the AllSpark, oddly enough. Maybe I’ve said this before, but
a little known secret about me is, I have NEVER been a fan of delayed gratification. I walked out of the
store basically itching to shoot.

I placated my desire to shoot by coming up with a logo. I varied between texting and calling Dylan
to make a plan for the first video. I dug in the back-forty for old videos from Yukon. I might have
developed a ‘man crush’ here; it’s hard to tell from this close. The plans were made, the location was
picked (this place that link also details a little bit of my history with this creek) and we set out.

I am not going to ruin the video with details from the trip, but I will say this…: We finally have had
continued rain, so the river is a lot murkier than normal. Second, read up on Guadalupe Bass (or read
my post in that last link). Third, Dylan is hooked on fiberglass now, so he fished the old Eagle Claw for
the video. (Did you hear that Cam? I converted a non-believer!) Finally, this video was shot on a cheap
camera, using $50 and below rods, and edited with free software. The music however, was custom and
played on the spot by Dylan. I hope you don’t hate it, the video, that is. The music is good, like left-over
spaghetti.

While fishing back-country streams in southwest Colorado last week, I got the opportunity to test the 2011 Fishpond Piney Creek Tech Pack. Like most Fishpond products, I didn’t expect this pack to let me down. However, for years I’ve been stuffing waders, rods, and other gear into an old day pack, so I wanted to see if it was really worth it to own a fly-fishing specific pack.

As I came to find out, this pack not only catered to my fishing exploration, but also could be used as a single day pack if you were only hiking and not fishing (like that ever happens). The straps and connectors are top quality, and the pack can also hold a 100 oz bladder for easy access to water.

For a day of fishing in the high-country, this pack has it all. The side bottle holders have a zip-out section on the bottom that helps secure rod tubes, and the side zip-out sections can accommodate additional water, fly-boxes, or any other items you want to keep separate from the larger pockets.

Take a look at the video below, and don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. I can’t wait to use this pack again, and I would highly recommend it for single day trips where rigging your rod at the truck and hiking miles up river just isn’t the best option.

Continuing with the guest post week, I’d like to share something from Matt Smythe – aka Fishing Poet. Matt is another story-teller I read all the time, but this has a different twist. With previous military service, Matt returned to to the northeast and began a masters degree in poetry. His fishing experiences come out in his writing, and while some of them are stories, and some are poetry, they seem to mesh just perfectly. Thanks Matt!

CIRCLING BACK

I learned how to fly fish while I was in grad school for poetry. A lot of heavy shit happened
during those four years we lived in Falls Church. Sniper shootings, West Nile virus
discovered in dead blackbirds, anthrax discovered in the mail, 9/11. Fly fishing gave me
a chance to distance myself from the craziness. It helped me re-group and find my own
context again—something I’d been struggling with since I had finished my time in the
military five years earlier.

My thesis wound up being a book-length poem about our constantly shifting American
landscape through the eyes of a fly fisherman, husband, dad, son and veteran. Reading back
through the manuscript recently, I came to this section:

[21]

My dad is a fisherman.
My uncles (Pete, Monte, Tom & Ed) are fishermen.
Campbell Witherspoon (my great-granddad) was a fisherman.
Steven Guy is a fisherman.
So is his dad.
Mike Hallett is a fisherman.
So is his dad.
Matt DaRin is a fisherman.
Jeff Kelble is a fisherman.
So was his granddad.
Dave West was a fisherman.
Lee Wulff was a fisherman.
Joan Wulff still is.
Aldo Leopold was a fisherman.
Hemingway was a fisherman.
Nick Adams was a fisherman.
Jesus & his disciples were all fishermen.
Nick Lyons is a fisherman.
Norman Maclean is a fisherman.
Ray Carver was a fisherman.
Roy Scheider was a fisherman.
Jonah was a fisherman.
Walt was a fisherman.
Lefty is a fisherman.
Harry Buikstra is a fisherman.
Gordon MacQuarrie was a fisherman.
Dusty Wissmath, Charlie Most, Tom Sadler are fisherman.
The Seneca, Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga & Tuscarora were all fishermen.

My dad is a fisherman.
I am a fisherman.
My children…
***

During grad school, I discovered an affinity for list-poems. The meditative quality of their
repetition. Zen-like mantras that both quiet and move the mind. Looking back, I think
it’s safe to say that fly fishing might have had as significant an influence on my work as
any of the poets I was studying. So it’s interesting that this particular section is essentially
the “short-list” of those who influenced/fed my desire to fly fish. A parallel that I’m certain
I did not consciously draw at the time. These were the angler/authors that broadened my
perspective and motivation through well-spun stories; the Sunday School lessons I found
new meaning in as an adult; the fly fishermen that introduced me to line, leader and fly and
the brilliant flight of the three over water; the man that taught me how to fish some 30+
years ago.

There’s more at play than just a list of one man’s influences and heroes though. There’s
a statement about conservation as well—the importance of handing down a tradition of
appreciation, understanding and respect for our natural resources. Taking responsibility for
fostering a culture of conservation that will outlive us and help slow that shifting landscape.

My dad still tells me stories about all the woods and wild places our hometown and region
used to have when he was growing up. And he’s always warned that what we’ve got left won’t
be here for your kids if you don’t help protect it—if you don’t show them how valuable it is. This was the
context that fly fishing circled me back to. Finally.

I wrote my thesis in 2004. My daughter, our oldest, was 2. Seven years and two boys later,
I’m proud to say that my children are fishermen. And the beat goes on.