Montana, Wyoming

Photos of some of the places and the fish from our trip to Montana and Wyoming this summer. The best thing about the fishing…dry flies, and of course watching the fish swim away after "letting go."  I found myself thinking about some of my favorite writers in the quiet times….  Harry Middleton, and David James Duncan. Both writers have nurtured my desire to listen for the voices of those I have loved and who are no longer here. There were many times when I could not distinguish between the sounds of the water over rocks or the breeze in stream side bushes and sounds of their laughter and voices.

I'm hoping that some new rod crossman paintings will emerge out of the memories of this trip.  It was the first time Jimbo and I had returned to Montana in 20 years.  

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Carp Anglers… yes!!!!

Carp Anglers Group :: Home

Carp Anglers Group :: Home

 

                        Two new articles on my work 

                                              

  The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service recently published an article on my work.  If you are interested in reading some thoughts on fisheries conservation, go to the flipbook version here,  Eddies.  You can find the PDF version here.   PDF 

 



    The  Wildlife Art and Nature Journal also published an article/interview with me.  The extraordinary writer Todd Wilkinson put it all together. He did an amazing job! You can read more of his good stuff in many places, here is a link to his blog at The Huffington Post.
 
    My story in Eddies starts on page 16. The cover of the magazine is a painting I created to accompany a beautiful essay written by author Jim Day on Ernest Hemingway's "The Big Two Hearted River," called "Heminways Meadow. " The piece was published in Fly Rod and Reel magazine.  I love those Nick Adams stories. Jim's story won a Robert Traver fiction award.
     Writer Lee Allen interviewed me and wrote the article. He did a remarkable job! Thanks to all the great folks at "Eddies" for putting this together.

Fishing Totems

  These are edited photos, part of a series I'm working on of favorite fishing spots near my home.  The definition of a Totem:  some thing that wants to be our friend, guide or companion.  If that is  true?... then this stream is a totem for me... something I desperately need...  and lately,  need even more.  

     The stones in this totem I found in this section of the river. Turning them into these huge boulders is a way of rendering them in a visibly obtrusive,  yet sublime way. It is also a reference to what is possible, impossible, or improbable. The scale deception changes the viewers perception of these stones in unexpected ways. Rendering these small stones in this gigantic scale and placing them back where they came from or “giving them back” opens up the possibility of new questions. Just how important are these stones along the rivers edge?  Are these pieces of what were larger stones?  Where did they come from?      These balanced stones are a enigma... simultaneous precarious  permanence.... the question, “How long can this last” always remains.

  Photos from a day on the stream this past July... it is -10 degrees here today.... right after I took this photo the fish did a tail flip off the rocks into water... I watched it swim away hoping the guys that keep every smallmouth they catch would not find her hideaway.  

These stick ups weren't far away from the place I caught the fish... They reminded me of my days tight lining bait on the stream banks of my youth.... My dad would get home from work and off we'd go to the river. I'll never forget the wiggle in the tip of the rod when a fish would start to bite... I never got over it and it's part of the reason I still fish.... but this day the sticks were  more ominous... a reminder of silent intentions....we always kept what we caught back then.... and I knew the fisherman who put these fishing sticks here did as well.

A big carp on a fly.... just pure fun...
 The circle of life.....  

design a fly, a cast, a stalk, fly line , a reel

 Words fall from the page ... midges fall to the surface and a trout rises above my heart. 

I need to know more.... about everything.... 

John Voelker

   

 This is the invitation to the 50 th anniversary  of the publication  of John Voekers  " Anatomy of a Murder.  It features the portrait of John  I was commissioned to paint for the State of Michigan by the Voelker Foundation.  

I want this guy to design flyfishing stuff

  I wonder what Da Vinci would have come up with if he had been a fly fisherman?....  Theo might know.....  

Theo Jansen.... can you imagine?   I'd love to fish with a fly rod and reel designed by this guy.  His website has even more information on his creations.

Handmade books and" Listening to the River"

 

   Stone Street Press is where Malachi  McCormick crafts handmade books.   I just ordered " Listening to the River"  from him , sounds like a book I needed. A family memoir about a young boy and a Father with a passion for dry fly fishing and for words. 

Skipping Stones

   I take a break to skip stones every now and then while I'm fishing.... it's a way to connect all the days, months and years of my life together.  My all time record number of skips?.... I think it's somewhere around 19.  It was my dad who taught me how to skip a rock.  I remember the awe and the magic I felt when he danced that rock on the waters surface. It was another of those gifts he left with me that only after all these years I'm beginning to understand. Skipping stones has helped me find a collection of unique rocks or fossils that I store on shelves along side my favorite books.  Each one attached to a memory of  the river.  

      

Classic Angling Magazine with my painting on the cover.

 

 Classic Angling Magazine featured my painting " Wish upon a Star"  on the cover of the most recent issue. Published in the U.K and a great read...  it also has an article on fishing in Mongolia which has always been a dream of mine. 

The Art of Fly Reel Design

Fly Reels that are innovative, beautiful, and functional with an emphasis on new ideas and technology.  

Dormisch - Absi R2

Astrid   

   Ari T Hart design , I keep bidding for his reels on ebay .... never won an auction yet. 

 

Swiss Tackle....   

  Aesthetics and Function....    

   Psaros Reel..

   Technology meets Art and Design.....

     

Marco Reel.... form and function create fly reel design that is beautiful....

A perfect reel for fishing the trico hatch 

A Smile

  What's in a smile? .... I love Tony Bennett's version of " Smile ."  I'm trying to smile more, even when I don't feel like it...   One thing about my friendship with Paul( photo below)... he could always make me smile... something only really good friends can do , what a gift ...  A smile, it's such a simple thing, yet simple things are not easy to understand. Mother Teresa put it this way, " Peace begins with a smile." 

    A Charlie Chaplin youtube video on the subject. 

   When I can , I still like to wet wade. It makes me smile. Paul  drove down from Michigan last week and we fished old school style, in shorts and sneakers. It was a perfect day for it. Warm and Sunny, cicada's singing,  the fish biting and smiles from old friends. 

A Reason to Wet Wade

   When I was younger I always waded streams wearing old cutoffs and tennis shoes, no fancy waders.  Wet wading a river helps create a reverence and understanding for the water and the creatures that live there. This is one of my flyfishing buddies Paul Steinway with a Kentucky smallmouth. Immersed in memories and water.....

In Search of the Perfect Moment

    I've been chasing the idea of " the perfect moment. "  Subtle and ephemeral, they are easy to miss.  Like so many other wonderful things, I  need to  remember again what I have forgotten. The battle between the eternal and temporal,  the corruptible and incorruptible clouds my vision and understanding. I'm afraid I'll miss it or not see it. So the search goes on....  

     Eugene O'Kelly  in "Chasing Daylight"  talks about the perfect moment being a moment with others when time stands still,  a time fully in the present, where the past and future are set aside.   

     All opposites help describe and explain each other in some way...  there is no darkness without light, red is most red placed next to it's compliment green... so is it possible to have perfection without the help of imperfection? Maybe it is the scar, impervious flaw, or broken heart that ushers in the possibility of a perfect moment. 

  

     

Fly Fishing Reel Addiction!!.. I don't want help

 My next reel?  Logan Reel

 My new Airflo Balance Reel posing with a trout.... the fly rod is a  TFO , these guys support Project Healing Waters   a  great idea!!  

This fly reel addiction has hit me hard...  Yeah, I'm obsessive compulsive about a few things.   I already have way to many fly reels ...  but this might be where my next one comes from , Logan Reel .....  I still don't have as many fly reels or rods as my buddy Jimbo...  

Artist Eric Reaves

Eric with the last fish of the day..... 

   I love Eric's art work.... you have got to check out his website...  Welcome to Eric’s easel 

Make sure you check out his fly fishing toons..... 

  Here is E ( Eric)  with an average sized carp from the river.... I think these are the toughest fish in the stream...  you have to put a serious sneak on to get within casting distance. Most of the time you have just one shot...  any wayward cast and they are gone...  A accurate double haul is almost a must...  

     But what I love more.... Eric has five kids and he's teaching them to flyfish ....  definition of a great dad..... 

Smallmouth daze .... and days ....

July 25, partly cloudy, air temp 85 degrees,  water temp 80 degrees, 2- 6 pm ,  water clarity/ medium ....  somewhere in Indiana   

   This little guy came from the same place as big one in the next photo ...  both were fooled by the same fly. 

                                  

                                   .... the hat is salmon colored, not pink.... 

 I caught this guy while fishing with Eric ,  it is even more special when a buddy is there to witness it. Something had taken a chunk out of it's tail, more proof of how tough it is to survive and how important it is to put these fish back.  I've seen some people who fish take stringers of these fish out of the river and it always disappoints me.  A fish this size is at least eight years old, and every one is a miracle of survival.  Why end it? 

                                                                             .......

      There has been a mist in the air above the stream lately , helping create a feeling of anticipation and mystery. I fish for these reasons more than any other. The awe, wonder and memories ....  

One Eyed Fish or Lack of Vision

I went fishing today.... these two photos show one of the smallmouth I caught.  It's right eye was completely blind and glazed over.... something had happened when it was younger, a hook in the eye, a heron attack , who knows...  whatever it was, this fish kept on living and thriving. 
  It was easily a  twenty inches , probably 8- 10 years old. An extraordinary feat in itself, but this survivor was blind in one eye. It's tough enough to make a living in this stream with two eyes.  I don't keep fish anymore.  If I did keep fish I still would have released this one. As it swam away it's colors gradually merged with the river colors until it disappeared from sight.... but not memory.  You know how there are some people you meet who affect you in such profound ways you are changed forever?.....  well this fish did that to me today.... persistent reflections.... 

    There is so much that conspires to defeat and destroy us physically, emotionally and spiritually. The stuff that keeps us from being what we could be or should be. Is there a way when there seems to be no way?   The now... the moment in front of us... can so easily disappear without our participation when we are stuck in the past or future.  It's one of the things I love about fly fishing, everything is reduced to the moment that exist only right now.   

Indiana Journey

...the  places I love to travel...
This is the mystery for me... how  catching fish  holds so tightly to my heart.... why?     Most of the time it doesn't make sense but every now it becomes clear for just a moment and then it disappears  beneath the surface of time. 

This is a typical Indiana smallmouth stream....  in the mist and sounds I rediscover the me I hope to be.... 
  Old barns stand sentinel over the land and streams,  landmarks that reveal recent history of  places I fish.

  These little rivulets are all over Northern Indiana,  draining farm fields,  forests. If they are clear the rivers are usually fishable.   I love the reflection of the sky they trace upon the land. 
.....a bridge to my past or my future...  what lies beneath?