The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. - Proverbs 22:4 If I could spend a day fishing with my younger self, there would be so much I’d have to say about life, about perspective, about priorities, about faith, and about fishing. But to get to the brass …
Tag: Public Lands
Full Circle
Tennessee Wild Rainbow When I started this blog five years ago, my desire for fly fishing far outweighed my ability to catch trout on a fly rod. Anyone who fished with me knew this, and some who fish with me today still agree with those sentiments. This early spring in the southern Appalachians found me …
After September
In the silence of 11,000 feet,thunder rumbles a mountain away.The wind talks softly through the spruce.The aspens, now green with yellow highlights, flutter gently.Cold downdrafts pull down the mountain.The smell of rain mixes with scents of autumn.Far down below, clear waters roll over rocks and cascade their way to the valley floor.In the midst of …
February Top 10
February…I am officially convinced it is the worst month of the year. At best…It is a tease, with its scattering of sunshine and warm days. But mostly it is just a torment of perpetual gloom punctuated by nasty storms. We get lost in the long dark of winter, only to be lured yonder by one …
The Traditional Thread that Binds
The Traditional Way… It’s been a long off-season, but it has not been a season off. I stopped trout fishing back when the temps were in the 90’s and the rain had ceased falling, so I guess that was around the Dog Days of Summer. Fishing conditions were restored by early October, but I was …
Between the Moments….
We live between the moments. They surround us. Each day we are presented with the simple, yet emphatic question: what will I do today? The day passes slowly; The years pass quickly. One day we awake… and we are older. What did we do with the moments that we had? ….yet you do not know …
Fatherhood and Brook Trout
… the visions that we leave The fog clung tight to the water, as the run poured over moss-covered rock. The hemlock and birch along the banks crowded over us, making it hard for the sunlight to stream through. To look up or downstream you found yourself leaning forward, head up, eyes squinting, straining… trying …
The Seamless Drift
“I’ve seen good drifts; I’ve seen not so good drifts; and I’ve seen great drifts.” - my good friend John S. on the art of presentation. Seamless - smooth and continuous, with no apparent gaps or spaces between one part and the next. Ask a great fly fisherman what makes the difference between catching some …
Red-Letter Days…
Moments of perfection The practice of designating days, words, or letters of great significance as red-letter days goes back to early 500’s AD. I never really looked into this before, thought about it, or even noticed it - even though it was always there... my red-letter Bible with the words of Jesus in red, a …
Ends of the Earth
“...Oh, theres a river that winds on forever; I’m gonna see where it leads...” the opening lyrics to Lord Huron’s Ends of the Earth. This river is the Crooked River, Oregon. I have a problem. Admittedly, it is a problem. I say this as I rest my feet after walking nearly five miles out of …
Ageless, Lonely, and Beautiful
In Appalachia, sometimes lines on a map are nothing more than that, and the personality of the region spills-over.
…beside the still waters
Sometimes it is only when we look back that we fully understand. It is only the perspective of “the rest of the story...” that allows us to fully appreciate the Hand of God in our lives. And so it was for me this summer. I spent the better part of June and half of July …
Blue Line Sanctuary
The more I seek out new brook trout streams, the more I am amazed at the beauty of these places. The best places are often not ones you find on state game and fish websites or that you hear people talk about. They certainly are not the ones where you see half a dozen cars …
Appalachian Mountain Brookies 