Issuu

Embrace the Suck Basque In Glory Just Like Dad Diane Pallot

What lasts a lifetime?

Foot Tractor Wading Boots To build the highest-performing and most durable wading boots possible, we paired our expertise in fly fishing and product innovation with Danner’s proud tradition of quality and craftsmanship. Engineered for the most demanding wading and built by hand in Portland, Oregon, our new boots are resoleable and can also be completely recrafted as they wear over time. They’re the best boots we’ve ever made— and we believe they’re the last ones you’ll ever need to buy.

Spring 2019

Features ON THE COVER

60 Embrace The Suck A gamble with the weather leads Captain Sarah Gardner and crew into a once in a lifetime billfish experience in Costa Rica.

46 I Packed Lingerie

for my Trip to the Amazon Every year Kristi and her son embark on an adventure to the Brazilian Amazon to join her husband on a liveaboard for fishing and family fun.

78 Basque In Glory Basque Country is known for their Michelin Star restaurants and wine, but Miren shows us that fly fishing is also a way of life.

Splendor of the West Exploring the west in one of Montana's most beautiful lodges brings Rachael back to her roots to ponder what if she had bought that driftboat many eons ago.

photo Brian Horsley

departments

From Every Angle MEMORIES

Just Like Dad To spend time with Dad, a young angler falls in love with a sport that quickly becomes her life.

Kit and Kaboodle

GEAR

Jen's Spring Must-Haves Hats and Skirts, and bags, oh my!

100

LUXURY

COMMUNITY

Why It's Worth It

Reminder

It may cost more than your budget allows, but here's why.

Remembering why we return to the river is many times more important than catching fish.

108

EQUIPMENT

ADVENTURE

Getting You Out There

Breathe In

Introducing you to what you need to get to your destinatnion.

Trout Adventure Camp and a fashion statement leads to life skills and a future lifetime love of the outdoors.

118

Tuck In

GENEROSITY

HOMEMADE

Chica de Mayo

A women’s annual fly fishing event in Bozeman has become the place to be for 11 years and counting

Pizza Crust

Making your own pizza crust doesn’t have to be difficult. Try our gluten-free recipe.

121

CONQUER

The Farm Pizza This quick and easy pizza is not only healthy, it’s amazingly delicious.

Fish Camp

Three different women’s communities come together to become one big tribe.

122

Mushroom Madness Pizza Mycophagists near and far will love this tasty pizza.

FAMILY

124

Where the World Ends A trip to Patagonia brings a brother and sister together in a way dad would have loved.

Travel Bars

Raw is all the rage. Bring these bars with you on the river to stave off any cravings.

126

Discover

REFRESHMENT Pisco Sour

PERSON

112

Diane Pallot They say behind every successful man is a great woman. Diane proves this to be true.

102

124

Conservation ALASKA

Bristol Bay All it takes is a trip to Bristol Bay to realize why this wild place needs all the help it can get.

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7 Letter From The Editor 8 DUNmagazine.com 11 We Hear You

12 Contributors

13 Janell's Five Tips

112

In Every Edition

130 At The End of The Day

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Spring 2019

This fresh cocktail takes a front seat after a day on the water or a rough day at the office.

128

Foundation BASICS

Hook Anatomy Firming your foundation one hook at a time.

14 An Introduction to Fly Tying Hooks Helping you understand the difference behind the hooks our flies are tied on.

106

MOTIVATION

NEW W A D I N G

B O O T S

When the ﬁsh of a lifetime presents herself, the diﬀerence in success or failure is measured in inches. To the angler faced with a cast that will forever inspire or haunt them, it’s the eye of a needle. At that moment, only one thing matters.

HELIOS 3—ERASE THE DOUBT

43% Better Wet Rubber Traction

Orvis Innovation with the Sole of a Michelin

INSPIRED BY MICHELIN® WET RUBBER TRACTION TECHNOLOGY

The future of the wading boot is now.

AHEAD OF OUR TIME SINCE THE BEGINNING

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M A G A Z I N E

JEN RIPPLE Founder & Editor-In-Chief Jen@DUNmagazine.com Janell Fannin Managing Editor Grace Erin Associate Editor Hope Halla Copy Editor

ADVERTISING ads@DUNmagazine.com 224.532.9160

T. Daniel Frost Associate Editor Becca K. Powell Associate Editor

Meg Humphries Editorial Assistant

Mēgan Berns Editor at Large

Brandon Miller Staff Photographer

Rachael McClendon Special Assignment Editor

SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES editor@DUNmagazine.com 224.532.9160

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CONTRIBUTORS Ugaitz Aguilar Phyllis Bairrington Brandon Miller Photography Sarah Clark Miren Elosegui Paige Fletcher Iñaki Garabieta Jagoba Garabieta Captain Sarah Gardner Brian Grossenbacher Captain Brian Horsley Paul Jablon Laurie Lane George Lewis Rachael McClendon Ben Mellon Judy Muller Paul Nicoletti

Nissan USA Nomadic Waters Oliver Rogers Photography Diane Pallot Flip Pallot Becca K. Powell Jordyn Powell Justin Powell Captain Chris Sheeder Chris Sheridan Bryson Stalnaker Three Forks Ranch Trout Adventure Camp Umpqua Feather Merchants Charles Warren Jenny Weis Kristi Williams

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On The Cover Captain Sarah Gardner tries to 'Embrace the Suck' while she fights a beautiful pacific sailfish — photographed by Captain Brian Horsley

EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICE

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DUN Magazine 316 Hidden Valley Road Dover, TN 37058 DUNmagazine.com editor@DUNmagazine.com

Letter from the Editor Jen Ripple fishing the glacial waters of Patagonia as guide Horacio Maida looks on with trepidation — photographed by Paul Jablon

i Green-Zine

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PUBLISHER Fly Squared Media 316 Hidden Valley Road Dover, TN 37058 p.224.532.9160

DUN Magazine ISSN #2573-3184 is published by Fly Squared Media, LLC, 316 Hidden Valley Road, Dover, TN 37058. The cover and contents of DUN Magazine are fully protected by copyright and cannot be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission. All rights reserved in all countries. DUN Magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited photographs and manuscripts. Submissions cannot be returned without a self-addressed envelope. ©2019 Fly Squared Media. Printed in the United States of America.

MOTIVATION

Letter from the

Every spring

EDITOR

I find myself both exhausted and renewed. Exhausted because show season has finally ended; that grueling period from the first week of January to March, when I traipse from one fishing show to the next, put thousands of miles on my car, and earn Premier Platinum status on United Airlines. Renewed because I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many wonderful anglers, and it is finally time to fish instead of just talk about fishing. Every spring as the earth gives birth to new life, I find myself giving birth to the next edition. As the land here in Middle Tennessee comes alive again, I am excited to celebrate with you the stories that our talented authors have gifted to us. In this edition, you will find a budding love for our sport through the eyes of a young girl who wants to spend time with her father. You will be awakened by the beauty of Basque Country, where wine and Michelin star restaurants aren’t the only way of life. You will discover why lingerie absolutely belongs in the Brazilian Amazon. You will Breathe In along with an asthmatic camper at a TU Adventure Camp. And, you will emerge as a better angler if you learn to Embrace the Suck along with our featured author while she fishes for pacific billfish in Costa Rica. It is my hope that this edition reenergizes you for the season ahead. This is your year. This is your year to dust off the gear that never gets used. This is your year to fish the water you’ve driven by 100 times. This is your year to reinvent yourself as an angler. This is your year to thrive. This is your year to get healthy, get in shape, and get yourself outdoors. So, open the windows of your adventurous spirit. Find a friend and bring them along with us as we embark on our spring journey. This spring, we want you to fly.

Jen@DUNmagazine.com @Jen_Ripple

Spring 2019

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Finland

Gender

Get The Net

Finland is a small country of 5.2 million residents and thousands of lakes, located next to Sweden in Scandinavia. Our beautiful country has a lot of potential for fly fishing across the country, since the waters are easily reached. No matter where you live, there is always a lake or two next to you. Even though we have four amazing seasons for fly fishing, Finland still isn’t as familiar a fishing ...

Actual Survey Question: Why aren’t there more women in fly-fishing? Actual Answers to this Question: Because they are home making sandwiches. Cause men drool at them. No mirrors to check their make-up. Because there are no toilets. ...

A cloud of fine dust billowed up behind my Subie, leaving a hazy trail behind me as I bounced down the dirt road leading to Tom’s house. From his neighbor’s yard, a longhorn steer threw me a half-interested glance as I pulled up the drive. It was a bright morning in May, and I was on my way to build a landing net with the Shasta Trinity Fly Fishers. ...

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By - Hanna Huhtala, Noora Lindholm, Pieta Piiroinen, Veera Viitanen

photo by Pieta Piiroinen

By - Kaitlin Glines-Barnhart

photo by Kyla Kulp

By - Jami Witherspoon

photo by Tom Taylor

Bissell Insurance Agency

Contact Art Hoffart, CIC 800.815.6230 Ahoffart@BissellAgency.com Insurance specific to guides, outfitters and lodges. In most cases we can save you money on your state-required insurance.

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Spring 2019

Outfitter/Guide Insurance

$400 per year

$1,000,000 / $2,000,000 General Liability *Some restrictions apply

Learn more at bissellinsuranceagency.com

MOTIVATION

Foundation

Ho o k An a t o my by The DUN Team

The hook is an integral part of fly fishing. It is what makes us anglers instead of fishermen, keeps us attached to the fish, and provides a pallet to tie our flies.

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Spring 2019

photo by Brandon Miller Photography

MOTIVATION

Eye: The eye of the hook is where the tippet is tied. The eye can be upturned, down-turned, or straight. In general, Spey style and salmon hooks have up-turned eyes, dry fly and wet fly hooks have down-turned eyes, and streamer, bass and saltwater hooks have straight eyes. The orientation of the hook eye is largely aesthetic and only comes into play when a knot used to attach the fly to the tippet is affixed to the shank and not the hook eye. Shank: The shank is where the fly is tied and can be thought of as the backbone of the hook. The shank of the hook is usually straight, but can also be curved for Spey and Salmon style hooks, as well as living nymph hooks. The shank length is measured in hook eyes. If a hook is 1XL, that means the hook’s shank is one hook eye longer than the standard hook shank. In like, 1XS means the hook’s shank is one hook eye shorter than the standard size. Shank

Eye

Bend Barb Point

Bend: The bend is the most important part of the hook. This is the part of the hook that helps keep the fish attached to the hook after it has eaten the fly. There are many different types of bends. Some of the more common bends include: Model Perfect bend, Scud/Shrimp bend, and the Stinger bend. The bend style is based on the style of fly you want to tie. If you want to tie a streamer pattern, for instance, you would want to choose a stinger bend over a scud bend. Point and Barb: The point is obviously the pointy part of the hook. Most modern hooks are chemically sharpened making them exceptionally sharp. For larger sized hooks, it is always good practice to sharpen the hooks with a file on a regular basis. The barb, traditionally used to keep bait on the hook, can also help keep the fish on the hook during the fight. One thing to remember about barbs is that many watersheds require barbless hooks. It is up to you to educate yourself on the rules where you fish. Size: Hooks are generally sized in even numbers. The larger the number, the smaller the hook. That all changes once you get into large hook sizes. They are sized in “aught notation” starting at 1/0 (one-aught) and going up from there. There is no uniform standard for hook sizing. It is set by each manufacturer and can vary based on the hook style. As an example, a #2 dry fly hook and a #2 scud hook may not be remotely close to the same size.

BASICS

from every

angle

Stories from extraordinary anglers like you

Just Like

Dad

I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t know how to throw a fly line. Fly fishing isn’t in my blood, but my father is. And as a young child I quickly learned that if I wanted to spend time with Dad, getting out with him on the water was the answer to my wish.

story by Jordyn Powell written by Becca K. Powell

photo Bryson Stalnaker

Spring 2019

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photo Chris Sheridan

from every angle

rowing up in a separated family wasn’t always the easiest. Dad left mom and our hometown of Destin when I was two to pursue his music career in Atlanta. I caught my first trout on the Chattahoochee River when I was three. Mom, my brother, and I had gone up to Georgia to visit Dad. I don’t remember that day, but the photo of me lying next to that rainbow trout is proof. And the stories he loves to tell about teaching me to cast a fly rod at two years old in the driveway back that up.

so I went. It made him happy. And because we didn’t see each other all the time, I wanted to soak up every moment with Dad that I could.

The years I do remember visiting Dad, he had moved to North Carolina. If we weren’t playing music with his bandmates and friends, we were doing something outdoors. Camping was a favorite, but then there was the fly fishing.

I caught my first double on a trip to N.C. when I was seven. We were fishing one of the beautiful blue lines of the Pisgah National Forest near Asheville. Dad had parked the car and we were working sections of the stream—fishing our way up the watershed. We had come to this gorgeous little rock where you could hunker down and the fish couldn’t see you. Dad had rigged up a dry dropper for me and told me to creep down to hide behind the rock and let out the perfect little close cast. I followed his direction and felt the first fish take the nymph.

The best part of my fly fishing adventures with Dad were all of the firsts I got to experience with him as I learned the sport. He would be so proud of me, and that kept me coming back for more. I wanted to be just like him. I guess you could say I was a Daddy’s girl.

I guess you could say I was a daddy’s girl.

photo Bryson Stalnaker

I didn’t really like fishing at first. It required so much patience! Instead, I would swim in the rivers and play in waterfalls. I fondly remember the giant rocks that we would slide down. It was so much fun! But still, I knew I would be able to spend more time with Dad if I joined him on his fishing trips—and

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MOTIVATION

As I set the hook, I felt the second fish take the dry fly—and off they went. As the two little wild rainbow trout took my line, I remember the mixed emotions. I was scared that I wasn’t going to land them, but so excited at the same time. It takes many fly anglers years to land their first double, and, in Dad’s words, here I was “pro-ing it up at seven years old.” When he scooped them up in the landing net, I was thrilled. They still had the parr marks on them and were absolutely beautiful. We snapped some pictures and then I released them back into the wild. Dad made sure to teach me the importance of catch and release, and being a good steward of the environment early in life. We fished barbless hooks for the most part, and always made sure we handled the fish we caught with care. “Keep them wet” was etched into my brain. I remember the first time Dad told me we were going to take the speckled trout home that had been gill hooked during one of his visits to Destin. I was horrified! But he taught me to only harvest the fish that I would eat that night. I would not be a “stack them and stock them in the freezer” fly angler! Dad taught me right, and it was a lesson I would continue to carry with me into my teen years.

MEMORIES

photo Bryson Stalnaker

Dad taught me right

Spring 2019

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from every angle

photo Ben Mellon

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Spring 2019

MOTIVATION

Breathe in by Willow Rutter

breathes

My family lives and fly fishing. When it comes to breathing fly fishing, you might say I have asthma.

hen my parents mentioned going to Trout Adventure Camp in Tremont’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I was not convinced it was what I wanted to do for a week over my precious summer break. Here’s the kicker though—I went and I had a blast! Trout Adventure Camp is a five-day summer camp where you spend the week learning all about fly fishing and everything that comes with it. The camp is run by Trout Unlimited, an organization that focuses on trout, nature, and keeping it protected and just as beautiful as it is now for generations to come. During the camp you learn everything you could ever need to know about the water you’re fishing and everything around it. There are multiple camps around the country, but the one I stayed at was in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We stayed in a “tent village” with a small group of kids our age. Obviously, the same gender kids stayed in each tent. There were between 5 and 10 tents that each had four sets of bunk beds in them, and our camp only took up three of them. There were 14 campers between the ages of 12 and 15. There were 10 boys and, well, you can do the math, four girls including me. It was a great

ADVENTURE

group, and the other girls and I became like one single unit. The only bad thing about it was that us girls had cameras in our faces all week because we were the largest group of girls ever to be at our local trout camp. So, if you’re a teenage girl and you are interested in this camp, you need to look up Trout Adventure Camp and see if there is one near you, or you can come to mine! If you’re a teenage girl and you’re a little hesitant about camp, you should keep reading. Maybe you’ll change your mind. I mean, come on, we can’t let the boys completely take over the river! The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont was where the camp took place, and I’m not sure there could be a better spot for Trout Adventure Camp. The food was great, the people were great, and the location couldn’t be better. Everything there taught us about what our awesome National Park holds. There was a classroom we used to compare our flies with the bugs we were mimicking. There were a few streams out behind the main building where we caught fish, bugs, crawdads, and salamanders. You name it! The staff was also really cool! After the first night of camp, the overnight counselor for the girls got sick and had to leave. Fortunately, one of the Tremont Staff girls stayed with us instead.

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from every angle

by Sarah Clark

Chica de Mayo An annual event celebrating women in fly fishing for 11 years photos Laurie Lane

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ach year in early May, The River’s Edge and SIMMS Fishing Products host a women’s fly-fishing event in Bozeman – Chica de Mayo, an annual gathering that has evolved into the largest women’s fly-fishing event in Montana, the United States, and well, probably in the world! This event celebrates women in fly-fishing and offers educational clinics, phenomenal speakers, prizes, a cocktail party and networking, and much more. The upcoming 2019 event will mark the 11th Annual Chica de Mayo – a labor of love and cause to celebrate.

Above: Networking, socializing, and silent auctions in the lobby of SIMMS Fishing Products world headquarters in Bozeman, MT

When we first held this event in 2009, we hoped for maybe 20 to 30 women to attend … 60 women showed up! In the early years, Chica de Mayo was held on a Thursday night for a two-hour timeframe at the fly shop. However, as more and more women continued to show up and bring their friends, we realized we needed to change the event format. In 2016, we shifted Chica de Mayo to a

MOTIVATION

Above left: Participants engaged in program portion of event. Keynote speakers include women anglers with vast knowledge and experience in fishing and conservation Above right: The 2018 marketing and signature cocktails created by Bozeman Spirits Distillery

Saturday afternoon four-hour format, and moved it out to the larger River’s Edge – West location. This format has accommodated our participants and allowed us to amp up our education component. I honestly think we could turn Chica de Mayo into a weekend event - with a lot more space and funding of course (insert hinting laugh). Speaking of funding, 2018 was the first year we were able to secure outside sponsorships from two amazing Bozeman organizations - Madison-Gallatin Trout Unlimited and Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Foundation. Their generous support, along with our 50+ industry and community donors, helped offset event expenses, which allowed us to make the 10th Annual Chica de Mayo the best one yet. I am hopeful for continued support this year to allow us to keep improving the overall experience for ladies. Survey feedback from last year’s event revealed that most participants are interested in Friday night pre-events and more education on conservation and casting. Oh, and they would also like to see more beverages! In summary, they’re educationally and literally thirsty for more (#beer). From this information received, we are currently planning a Friday night pre-event and making plans for special, early sign-up morning clinics for our 11th annual event. Wait, what? Is that nearly a full weekend event I smell? The number and diversity of women that want to connect with other female anglers, and learn about this lifetime

GENEROSITY

sport is simply astounding. We’ve reached maximum capacity at around 200+ women who have consistently showed up the past several years. How cool is it that there are even a handful of ladies that have attended every Chica de Mayo event? The expansion of Chica de Mayo has led to more discussion and action around conservation. It’s only natural that an event that seeks to educate women about fly fishing also includes this crucial piece. Guest speakers have presented on Kick Plastic, Aquatic Invasive Species, and other topics, and have shared their personal work journey in conservation. Several local conservation organizations have recently joined in to educate and invite women to their boots-on-the-ground projects. It’s exciting to grow this passion in women anglers towards preserving the health of our fish, rivers, and habitat. Throughout the day, merchandise sales, and pink bucket raffles also raise funds for Casting for Recovery — a non-profit organization offering breast cancer survivors a unique retreat program that combines breast cancer education and peer support with the therapeutic sport of fly fishing. “From the 2018 event fundraising, a check for $10,000 was presented to Casting for Recovery — double the amount raised in 2017,” said Diane Bristol, SIMMS Sr. Director, Employee & Community Engagement. “Between this and

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MOTIVATION

Above: Drift boat and bowing techniques Opposite top: Entomology for fly fishing Opposite bottom: Bidding on silent auction items

the continued growth in participation, it indicates that women are not only excited to potentially win an amazing prize, but also really want to support other women and get out fly fishing.” "We're so pumped to be the charity partner of Chica de Mayo," said Whitney Milhoan, Executive Director of Casting for Recovery. "The outpouring of love and support from SIMMS, The River's Edge, and the women's' fly fishing community at this event is so incredible. All of the money raised will be applied directly toward providing healing fly fishing experiences for women with breast cancer. We're so grateful!" Last year’s dollar amount raised at Chica de Mayo provided the River’s Edge the opportunity to join SIMMS as a Casting for Recovery National Sponsor. This kind of support from participants is incredible, especially when I

GENEROSITY

look back on our early years of fundraising to give back to our community. We have come a long way! Chica de Mayo is pulled off on a small budget, a testimony to what creative planning, industry support, and generous community donors can build. Call it fortuitous or call it random, but the 11th Annual Chica de Mayo falls on May 11th this year! The River’s Edge and SIMMS Fishing Products would like to invite all women anglers, near and far, to attend this year’s Chica de Mayo. As the date draws closer, a team of incredible lady anglers are highly motivated to make this year an epic celebration of women who fly fish. Watch The River’s Edge and SIMMS Fishing Products Instagram and Facebook feeds for updates and to plan your trip to Bozeman to help us celebrate 11 years! 

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MOTIVATION

Fish Camp My Tribe, My Invisible Net

Running. That was the original connection. I am a fortunate woman to have lived in two, now three, different communities and developed an amazing tribe of women in both. by Paige Fletcher photos by Phyllis Bairrington

The

cherry on top is that they are now integrated into one big tribe supporting each other across three states. We all met pursuing a common interest, running. From there, coffee, and our affinity for donuts, grew into running and breakfast, which soon turned into happy hours and shenanigans. It did not take long to form bonds with these women that have withstood time and distance. We are stronger because of each other, and imagining life without them brings me to my knees. Of course, it was inevitable that we would extend our adventures to fishing. We had already taken on knitting (friends, if you like to fish you will like to knit; very similar zen moments and ridiculous results). My eastern tribe and I developed the Greater Chattanooga Area Co-Ed Knitting Tequila Club

CONQUER

(GCCKTC). Because what isn’t more fun with a little tequila thrown in there? And some of our men were actually interested in learning to knit. Turns out, it was a scam to drink tequila, so we dropped them and kept the tequila. My husband and I moved to Colorado last year. The first few months after moving were consumed with all the things a new location brings. Nesting, learning your community, and because it's Colorado, camping, hiking, biking, running, snowshoeing, and skiing took up a good bit of summer, fall, and early winter. I missed my tribal connections and began to look for ways to meet new people to weave into my tapestry of friends. Like most grand fishing adventures, mine was hatched on a snowy winter day. I was reading DUN Magazine and dreaming of warmer fishing days when I discovered women-only fishing trips/classes. I know, I’m late to the game here, but I’m catching on quickly. The thought of women buddies heading out to the water to do what we do best, have fun, support each other, and love each other, filled me with excitement. One more venue to share life, test our limits, and restore our balance. I found women’s fishing clinics and trips in various states that all sounded like the dream vacation. My challenge was geography, time, and accessibility. My two tribes are in Austin, TX and Chattanooga, TN. I live in Woodland Park, CO. Getting people from Texas and Tennessee to places like Montana, Idaho, or Alaska was asking a bit much for the first adventure. Woodland Park is in the Pikes Peak region with the South Platte and Arkansas waters closely accessible. I’m a big proponent of shopping local, so my next call was to our local fly shop.

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Where the World Ends by Judy Muller photos by George Lewis

ome time ago, when I first started toying with the idea of a trip to Patagonia to fish for trout, a good non-angling friend asked me an interesting question. “Why,” she wondered, “would someone spend thousands of dollars to travel thousands of miles to catch the same kind of fish that could be caught in rivers much closer to home, and then, after all that effort and expense, release those fish back into the water?” What seemed absurd to her seemed entirely sensible to me. “Because,” I replied, “that ‘someone’ is about to turn 70, because life is short and knees are weak, and the chance to wade in beautiful rivers in faraway places and connect even briefly with wild creatures is finite.” Actually, my answer was not nearly as polished as that, but one of the benefits of writing a fish story is the right to take some editorial liberties.

read about in a fly-fishing catalogue, the lodge at "El Saltamontes," which means “the grasshopper.” It promised miles and miles of private water, from rivers to spring creeks to lakes, where huge trout were waiting for the grasshoppers that regularly blow into the water, providing a feast that is easily replicated by an artificial dry fly. The lodge only takes 10 guests at a time, providing fishing guides, fine cuisine, and spectacular scenery. I booked it for two, figuring I had a whole year to find someone who might like to go with me, or, as my brother John put it, “to get lucky.” I didn’t, so my brother volunteered to go with me, which turned out to be a perfect choice. We grew up in a family of anglers, and have shared many fish stories over the years. “Dad would have loved this!” became our mantra on this trip, uttered at least once a day, accompanied by the kind of reminiscing that could only have been appreciated by someone who shares your life history. At this age, in fact, we are the only ones left who share that common history, a point that was not lost on either of us. Fly fishing for trout is a pleasure that stretches back to my childhood, which is probably why it has the power to make me feel like a child. When I wade into a river, peer below the surface of the clear mountain water, see the quick glint of sun reflecting off the back of a rainbow trout or the gold streak of a brown trout darting out from behind a rock or from under the riverbank, my heart quickens just a bit, and in a good way. I become absorbed in that place and that moment. And just for that moment, I forget about all the grown-up stuff I’ve left behind — demands and deadlines, taxes, and teaching. And if I’m lucky enough to fool that fish with an artificial grasshopper tied to the end of my line, I will have the thrill of seeing it charge up from a pool or riffle. And if, in that moment, I can summon the requisite skill, I will set the hook and keep the line tight enough to bring him to the net, where a quick meet-and-greet ends with slipping the hook out and releasing him unharmed back to the river. None of those steps — the cast, the strike, the landing, the release — is guaranteed, no matter how many fish have connected with my line over the years. Each encounter is brand new, an adrenaline rush that never grows old, even as I do.

As for the part about putting the fish back in the river, I realize that catch and release fishing is a mystery to non-anglers, and I have given up trying to explain why conserving a fishery is so important, and why, as a famous angler once said, a trout is too beautiful to be caught just once. For the sake of the larger point here, let’s just move along.

Starting with my family, then with various friends and lovers, I have fished in some magical places, from Yellowstone to New Zealand, from the Catskills to Canada, from the Sierras to the Rockies, and in places with exotic names like the River of No Return Wilderness. Patagonia was the Shangri-La of them all, and while expectations are often “disappointments under construction,” as they say, my expectations in this case were not just realized, but surpassed.

The larger point has to do with time’s winged chariot hurrying near, as the poem goes, “hurrying” being the operative term. About a year before I was to turn 70, it occurred to me that I probably had about 15 good years left, if the family’s average life expectancy means anything, and that I should do those things that might not be doable for too much longer. Fishing in the Patagonia region of Chile was one of those things. Chile, in the language of the indigenous peoples, means “where the world ends,” which has a nice ring to it, bucket-list-wise. So I impulsively booked a trip to a place I had

Getting there involved a 12-hour flight from Los Angeles to Santiago, a three-day layover in that capital city, and a 3-hour flight to southern Chile’s Aisen region, to a little airport in Balmaceda, followed by a 2-hour drive to the ranch. Our host, Jose Gorrono, met us at the airport. In the fly fishing catalogue that first drew my attention to El Saltamontes Lodge, Gorrono is described as a “modern Renaissance man,” the real-life version of the “most interesting man in the world” from the Dos Equis ad. The skeptic in my journalist brain scoffed, chalking it up to typical tourist brochure hyperbole.

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Then I met the guy.

During our week with Jose on his massive estancia, we learned that Jose had designed and built his own electrical generator back in the 80’s, and shared the excess electricity with the local community. He designed and built the beautiful lodge and cabins out of local river stone and rough-hewn logs from the ranch property, where he raises prize horses and alpacas. He had sailed the Pacific Ocean by himself from Chile to Australia many times, and once had to repair his own boat at sea to survive. He had searched for, and succeeded in finding, sunken treasure. And, he had pulled off a self-rescue after a skiing fall during an avalanche, managing to do so with a compound fracture of his arm. What Jose does not do, apparently, is fly fish. It took a visiting angler (an American) to clue him in to the spectacular fishing conditions on his estancia, which prompted him to set up the fishing lodge some years ago. Also, it should be noted, he is a quite dashing 60-something, with a head of dazzling white hair and a smile to match. So when Jose flashed those pearly-whites my way, it took me a moment to digest his first words to us. “I do have some news,” he said, adding, “You two are the only guests at the lodge this week.” For some couples this might have been received as a great windfall: the whole place to ourselves, complete with a master fishing guide and a chef, not to mention a genial host with amazing stories to tell, and miles and miles of great trout-fishing water. My sister-in-law, Susie, would no doubt have been delighted at the prospect of a week to explore a strange land, with exotic birds and plants (she doesn’t really like to fish). But as brother and sister, the prospect of having to spend the next six days talking mostly to each other was something of a daunting prospect. To file under “watch out what you ask for,” we had been dreading the prospect of sharing our vacation time with, say, Americans who wanted to bring up politics at the dinner table. In fact, we were sure that the six very loud Americans aboard our flight from Santiago might be headed for the same lodge, and we were preparing ourselves for a lot of “letting it go” moments. When those guys headed off with another fishing outfit, and Jose told us the news that we would be alone at the estancia, we had to shift our expectations dramatically. This was not one of those moments where we thought, “Dad would have loved this!” Our parents were extremely gregarious people, collecting other people’s life stories like so many souvenirs of each trip. Could we really go a whole week without devolving into sibling rivalry, snarky remarks, and suggestions for self-improvement aimed, of course, at the other person?

FAMILY

The fact that we did so says a lot about a) the power of meditation, and b) the power of nostalgia and shared stories, the kind of stories that would bore other people, but not us, because we were the stars of these stories. There was the time, for example, on a family fishing trip to Yellowstone, when my brother abruptly interrupted his evening bath, stopping his ablutions midstream, because he suddenly saw trout rising to a hatch of insects. I have a lovely rear-view photo of him, wearing nothing but his boots and a hat, hooking a very nice fish. For his part, he regrets that someone (can’t imagine who) lost the video he once took of me false-casting a very, very small trout on my line, back and forth, back and forth, totally unaware that I had caught a fish. In my defense, and because I am the one writing this story, I want to point out that it was a very, very, very small fish. Anyone could have missed it. And then there was the time we had just come back from a week long trip in Montana, when my father almost died from the rupture of an aortic aneurysm. When he was later recovering from emergency open-heart surgery in Billings, I asked him, “Dad, what would we have done if your aneurysm had ruptured just days earlier, when we were still in the back country?” And he responded, without even a pause, “I would hope you would have had the good sense to prop me up against a tree and keep on fishing. The trip was paid for, after all.” With a lifetime of such memories to sustain us, and a full week of fishing to create even more of them, we soon settled into a daily rhythm on the estancia. Our cabin had two enormous bedrooms, each with a private bath, and a magnificent view of the river valley. Huge trout in the pond below our porch provided a spectacular air show every morning and evening, leaping for insects and plunging back down with a satisfying splash, producing overlapping rings backlit by some of the most astonishing sunrises, and lovely sunsets, I have ever seen. Each morning at 7:30 am, one of the ranch hands would show up to build a fire in our wood stove, and bring us coffee. By 9:00 am, we had walked to the lodge to have breakfast with Jose and Brett Just, the chief fishing guide for the ranch who would be heading home for Alaska after we departed. We were there in March, which is late summer/early fall in Chile, and we learned that not only were we the only two guests that week, but we would be the last guests of their season. Over breakfast each day, Brett would help us choose that day’s fishing location from the many miles of private water on the ranch, which amounted to pretty much anywhere we wanted to go, given that we didn’t have to share the water with others.

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I Packed Lingerie for My Trip to the Amazon

Each autumn I lose my husband to an overseas work assignment, fishing in the Brazilian Amazon as owner and fishing manager for a mothership-based operation. It’s probably natural for people to raise an eyebrow at this. If given the choice, I might not have chosen a work assignment that took him away from family for so long. However, we’ve set our minds and hearts toward his success. I look forward each year to joining him on my week in the jungle, with our son in tow. The stories along the way fuel us both, and I only wish I was there to share all of them with him. by Kristi Williams photos by Nomadic Waters & Oliver Rogers Photography

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Ethe Suck mbrace by Captain Sarah Gardner photos by Captain Brian Horsley

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Basque in Glory

I was born in 1984 in Bilbao, a city that belongs to Basque Country, which is a small region in Northern Spain, west of the Pyrenees Mountains, and made up of three provinces: Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, and Araba. It is a region with its own language called Euskera, where talking about food, wine, and fly fishing is almost a religion. by Miren Elosegui

photo by Jagoba Garabieta

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Splendor of

the WEST

My flight had been delayed, so I was hurried as I drove down the winding, two-lane Highway 191. I wasn’t able to fully take in the freestone river interlacing its waters through the forest and the perfume of the fresh air. Yet, my shoulders began to relax with the lack of massive billboards with mile markers alerting me to the next hotel with free continental breakfast. I suddenly had a sense of the days of Pete Karst, bringing “dudes” to Yellowstone by stagecoach from Bozeman in the early 1900s. by Rachael McClendon photos by Brian Grossenbacher Spring 2019

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Kit and Kaboodle

Jen's

Spring Must-Haves There are so many great products out this spring. Here are some that I absolutely love, and you will too. — Jen

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1 RIVER WARM UP

The Hydro Flask 12 oz Coffee Mug makes the perfect travel mug for those cool spring days boatside. Hot water, tea, sweetened dried lemons, and splash of Basil Hayden's Bourbon Whiskey makes our driftboat toddy.

$29.95 - HydroFlask.com

2 HATS OFF Deso Supply Co designed this hat specifically for fly fishing and rafting. The Jono waxed canvas hat is waterproof and packable. $36.00 - DesoSupply.com

3 MINI MARKET IT I am kind of a pack rat. The Mountain Khakis Mini Market Tote has an interior panel that helps me keep things organized, and a built-in key lanyard so I don't have to search for my keys. $79.95 - MountainKhakis.com

4 BASE PLAYER Patagonia continues to reinvent the baselayer with the Air Hoody. This is the warmest and most comfortable Capiline shirt I've ever worn. $149.00 - Patagonia.com

5 PACK IT IN

The Matador Freerain24 2.0 is so small and lightweight that I no longer have to worry about whether I have room for a waterproof bag when I travel. $64.99 - MatadorUp.com

6 SKIRT THE ISSUE The Voormi Solstice Skirt is the perfect addition to slip over your leggings after a day in waders. $1oo.00 - voormi.com

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The life and Times of

Diane Pallot Where do you call home?

What is it like being Diane Pallot?

Right here in Mims, Florida. No restaurants, no main street, no quaint shopping stores. Boring beyond belief however no traffic, no over population, every pit bull dog is friendly, and so are their owners.

Diane who? I don’t really know. She changes everyday. I’m that lady my friends and family tease goes to Publix everyday to shop for groceries instead of weekly. I’m an Aries (where did that come from?). I’m also the person who traveled the world working for a major airline and made it a career for 35 years as a flight attendant. I even traveled on my days off. I lived out of a suitcase for most of those years. I’m Flip's sidekick when he gives me the opportunity to take trips or do a fishing show with him. I learn so much about fishing and casting whenever I go with him to one of his fly fishing clinics. It’s incredible how much knowledge he has. I’m still impressed after all these years. And, of course, I’m a grandmother to an exceptional 11 year-old girl who is bright and beautiful beyond anything I could even imagine.

How did you get into fly fishing? I think I sort of morphed into it. Flip never forced the idea nor did he pressure me. After fishing with him for a few years with spin tackle, I decided one afternoon to ask him for a casting lesson. He was more than accommodating and spent a few hours with me showing me the basics. That was the beginning of many hours of practice, frustration, and tears, fun fishing adventures and a lifetime of acquiring new skill levels and improving on them everyday that I fish. I’m still learning.

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You met Flip when you hired him as a guide. Did you go knowing who he was? The only thing I knew about Flip was he had a funny first name, and that he had the reputation for being an outstanding angler. He had just started guiding after shutting down his retail outfitter and clothing store in a nearby shopping mall. I had no expectations, well that’s not exactly true. I really did hope he would help me catch a tarpon.

What is your favorite fish to catch? Hands down largemouth bass. There is nothing so provocative than to cast a popper to a nearby grassy pad, and watch one of those colorful, iridescent fish explode out of his world and into a foreign environment for a nanosecond with one goal in mind. FOOD!

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Is there a bucket list fish you have yet to catch?

What is your most prized possessions tangible or intangible?

You have inspired so many. Who inspires you?

I don’t have any expectations. I like surprises. However, it would be nice to catch a permit on fly. I’ve come close while fishing in the Bahamas, but for me it just hasn’t happened yet. That gives me something to look forward to.

Tangible: My Nautor coffee milk frother, and my 7 weight Mangrove with my Cortland High Vis Flip fly line. I love that combo. Intangible: “Home Sweet Home” where on any given day we have wild turkeys, deer, bobcats, hawks, and an assortment of wild birds come and visit our property. It's my base camp where I reenergize entertain, and create.

I have to emphatically say, hands down, Joan Wulff. She is the first lady of fly fishing and she set the bar very high. She is very humble about herself and her achievements, is a pioneer in the world of fly fishing just like Amelia Earhart was to flying. She is classy and has her own fashion style. Her accomplishments include her books, her fly fishing school, countless awards, and being inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame. I have had the honor of meeting and talking with her a number of times, and have a framed photo of us that I cherish. Then, the love of my life, Lefty Kreh. Friend, confidante, partner in crime, and all things bright and funny. He is still with me always.

Tell me about your favorite fishing memory. There are so many, including the first time I wrangled Flip into taking me fishing on one of those sterling days on the St. John's River. We watched in awe as thousands of Swallow-tailed Kites made their migratory journey. Never had I seen so many at one time. It was breathtaking and it added so much to an already special day with Flip out on our airboat.

We all remember the fish that got away. What fish haunts your dreams? None, I truly mean that. If a fish blows me off, spits a fly, flips me off, I laugh. I commend any fish that outsmarts and instinctively uses his primal skills to get free and get back to his normal routine. What I’m haunted by is when he breaks off with a hook and fly still in his mouth. I worry if he will shake it loose, if it hurts the fish. I’m haunted by the release. Did I fight him too long? Did the fish build up too much lactic acid to be able to survive? Most times when I’ve caught tarpon Flip and I purposely use lighter line so that when we hook them, they do break off. We got the strike, a quick fight, and bam, they're gone leaving us laughing on the bow of the boat.

You’re standing on the front of a flats boat scanning the water, fly in hand. What do you think about:? I’m looking out at some beautiful water and willing the fish to my fly. I’m always ready for that adrenaline rush to kick in and test my skill and ability to land a fish. I never take for granted the surrounding beauty, and I’m constantly concerned about protecting our fresh and saltwater environments. I’m always anxious to do what I can to help be a part of the reshaping. It’s a big problem, especially here in Florida. We have so many lakes, rivers, and are surrounded by two coastal bodies of water. We have a big fight ahead of us.

DIANE PALLOT

Cats or Dogs? Cats, two of them. We love dogs, but cats are easier when we leave town. My 8 year-old cat, Flounder, just used up another one of his 9 lives when he went into respiratory arrest in our home the other day. Four days later with five doctors working on him, including a heart doctor, he is still alive and the entire experience left me a wreck.

What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you on a fishing trip? I was driving to South Florida to meet Flip and fish on the east coast. I was on the cell phone talking with a friend, stressed out about my father’s recent diagnosis with Alzheimer disease. I got distracted and took the wrong exit. Flip called me and asked where I was. I looked at a road sign. “I’m just now coming into Bonita Springs." Flip laughed! I asked why he was laughing and where Bonita Springs was. "It's on the west coast" he said. Needless to say I didn't go fishing with Flip that day, and he had to navigate me back east. I might add this was way before GPS and Mapquest. Crazy, sad, stupid, funny!

What is your superpower? I am able to at all times, during a fishing trip and especially walking down a mountain stream in Idaho, have the superpower to be able to resurrect the most horrific cast, winding up in some bloody shrub that I have no botanical name for except to call it “Son of a Bitch Evil Bush.” This superpower enables me to work it out and still have the fly intact at the end of my tippet. And, my back up power gives me the ability to untangle the worst, fouled up, schizoid leader line or fly line. I have been known to stay as long as it takes, with unyielding determination to undo or die. I will not let anyone, ever, do it for me, no matter how heartbreaking it looks. Is there a piece of advice you can give to new anglers? Absolutely. When it comes to learning how to fly fish, don’t even bother booking a trip or buying the latest costly equipment without first perfecting your casting skills. Otherwise, you’ll look quite good out there while you throw a lousy loop, and frustrate your guide or fishing companions. I might add, having a good fly rod, fly line, and a decent reel definitely helps improve your ability to learn. Just don’t convince yourself that more expensive is better. It doesn’t work that way ... but you knew that, right?

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discover Many people grew up watching the Walker’s Cay Chronicles. What is it like knowing that you’ve influenced so many in our sport? My, you have really pushed my emotional button on this question. I hold this part of my journey with Flip near and dear to my heart. This show was a dream come true. We always talked about a show that would give us free reign, creativity, and allow us to do what had never been done before — expose the audience, not only to men that fish, but to their families. There was something for everyone including the music, the narrative, the destinations, and the good fishing etiquette. We wanted to influence our audience by allowing them to experience different natural surroundings and teaching them to be part of the solution rather than the problem. I believe we succeeded. Young people come up to us all the time and tell us how they looked forward to watching the show and loved it. These same kids, now all grown up, tell us it changed their life and direction. They now have kids of their own, and the cycle is now repeating itself. That is a wonderful thing.

I’m sure you’ve seen our sport change tremendously in the years you’ve been involved. What would you say is the biggest change? The most obvious is the equipment, especially fly rods. They’re lighter, stronger, and much more portable. Fly rods are like good dance partners, they can make you look good. A good fly rod, after you have learned the basics of casting, will enhance your skills. It does wonders for your confidence. The industry is a small one compared to other sports, but I have witnessed an explosion of by-products that are related to fly fishing. Yeti, which started with fly fishing, has proven you can start small and spread big. And women! Thirty years ago when I started going to the Fly Tackle Dealer Show it was overwhelming, and exciting. The convention centers were big and included wall-to-wall vendors from all over the country. For years I could go into any of the restrooms and I would be the only woman using the facility. I didn’t think much of it at first. There just was not that much

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interest regarding women and this sport. Fast forward to now, and that has changed to such a degree that sometimes I even have to wait to get into a stall to pee. And at my age that is not fun. All kidding aside, I’m glad to see my little sisters with their fishing garb and fish jewelry at these expositions doing their best to be a part of our sport. I do have to add that I have a deep respect for the pioneering matriarchs of our sport. Women like Joan Wulf, Cathy Beck, Jackie Robinson, Sarah Gardiner, and others who devoted their lives to fishing. I applaud them.

What is the one thing you never leave home without when you leave for a fishing trip? FLIP! I don’t go on fishing trips with anyone else but him. Now that might sound very insipid of me, and narrow-minded, but you have to understand Flip is my fishing muse. He is still my teacher, and my best friend. You would think that I would get to fish with him all the time, but time gets away from us. He gets more excited than me when I do everything right, when it all comes together, and the outcome is just so magical. These times are my moments, my history in the making. A good sunscreen tinted lip gloss is very important as well.

What do you do when not on the water? I play a game called “Catch Up”. Every woman knows this game. You pay bills, fill up the refrigerator, go through paper work, and make appointments. Perhaps a dinner engagement or two with good friends. We also enjoy sitting around the fireside sipping our favorite brand of rum “Frigate Reserve”. We have learned to appreciate a stand alone straight-up glass of high end rum that adds to the ambiance of a cool breeze and warm ring fire.

What is the best piece of advice you were ever given and by whom? It has to be the day Michael Maloney, a good friend from out west, who came to our house for a few days to visit. Early on when I was still struggling with my casting, Michael took me out in the front of our house telling Flip “you're not invited”. Michael watched me cast for a few minutes, and then he asked me something that really clicked. He asked “what are you doing?” Of course I was stumped. What did he mean? He told me "Diane the only way you are going to be a good fly caster is to know what you are doing every time you cast that line. Once you know what you are doing correctly, the outcome will always be the same. A good cast. If for any reason you fail, you’ll know why, and be able to correct it on your own." It was the best advice I had ever received. For some reason, hearing this advice set my compass straight. It was my light bulb moment.

What are you most grateful for? Everything, I don’t have to do a lot of stuff every day to prove that I exist and am worthy. I feel grateful when I finish that watercolor painting I have been working on for many weeks or months. I feel grateful for my long time friendships that I have cultivated over a lifetime. I don’t want to get too overwhelmed with this question, otherwise I’ll start looking like one of those Hollywood actors standing at the podium with their Oscar in hand going on and on until the music comes on to tell them to “shut the f*** up”. So, before that happens, I’m gonna say bye for now and leave you with this thought: Compassion — For me this is establishing a state of grace where nothing causes me to hate myself. 

What do you do to keep the fun in fly fishing? If you have to do something to keep the fun in fly fishing, then you're in the wrong sport and should, perhaps, pursue another personal obsession. The moment I pick up that rod, the fun begins. The moment I slip on those fishing pants, a smile appears. The moment I hear, smell, and see all that is involved with the anticipation of the day, the hunger starts.

MOTIVATION

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kit and kaboodle by DUN

Why It's Worth It Three Forks Ranch is a getaway that you have to see to believe. The lodge property straddles the Wyoming-Colorado border at the headwaters of the Little Snake River. The lodge boasts 200,000 acres of stunning natural beauty providing guests with unparalleled personal service to create a world-class vacation experience unlike any other. The fishing at Three Forks Ranch is some of the best in North America. One unique aspect of a fly fishing trip at Three Forks Ranch is that your fishing guide is also your dedicated Ranch Ambassador who is there to help you navigate the ranch and get the most out of your stay. Lunch can be a white tablecloth riverside affair or you can take a break from the water and enjoy a selection of sandwiches, entrees, and salads. Don't forget to grab one of the famous Lodge Cookies before heading back out for the afternoon bite. After fishing, belly up to the one-of-a-kind bar in the Middle Fork Lounge, and enjoy a private label wine or cocktail. After dinner, retire to your beyond luxurious and high end room to enjoy the Italian linen, marble bathroom, private hot tub, in room fireplace, and a bed so comfortable you won't want to leave it to fish. Starting at $1,695/night per person for the all-inclusive experience ThreeForksRanch.com

This once in a lifetime escape requires a special trout outfit that won't let you down when you see that monster rainbow rising. Rod

We don't know how Scott did it, but they took a cult classic fly rod and made it even better. Scott GS 885, 8'8" 5 weight - $845 ScottFlyRod.com

Fly Line

SA has some amazing tapers and coatings. Now they come in smooth models. Finally. SA Trout Amplitude Smooth - $99.95

Reel

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Light tippet and big fish? The drag on this reel is so smooth it's not a problem. Orvis Mirage LT II - $379.00 Orvis.com

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Three Forks Ranch The world's only 5 billion star resort

photo courtesy of Three Forks Ranch

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conservation

Bristol Bay by Jenny Weis photos by Paul Nicoletti

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Giddy. I don’t use the word often, but it’s the best way I can describe my demeanor as our flight touched down in King Salmon, Alaska late last August. My uncles, first time visitors to the Bristol Bay region, sat chatting a few rows ahead of me. When the plane came to a halt, I did my best “keep it cool” impression as I unbuckled, grabbed my carryon, and walked up the aisle to meet them. As we stepped off the plane, I smirked and thought, “Holy buckets, this place is about to blow your socks off.” As I’ve gotten to know Alaska, I’ve confirmed for myself a belief held by many that a love of wild places and conservation work go hand in hand, especially in places as special as Bristol Bay. In a time where being busy is equated with being successful; the quiet, vastness, simplicity, and beauty of the wild has never been more critical. That’s what we were there for that week. My uncle Scott and his husband Brian and I are close, and they hear about my work in Bristol Bay a lot. As communications director for Trout Unlimited’s Alaska program, I spend a lot of time talking to the public, my friends, and family about the region. With each year living in Alaska, I more deeply fall in love with the magnificent landscapes it offers. I was insanely excited to show it to my family, almost like

ALASKA

a justification for why I choose to live so far from them. When Scott told me last winter they decided the time had come for them to see what all the fuss was about, I agreed. I also insisted they should probably bring me along with them. You know, to make sure everything went smoothly. Following that decision, I connected Scott and Brian with my friend Nanci Morris Lyon, a 30+ year Bristol Bay guide, all-around badass, and the owner of Bear Trail Lodge in King Salmon. Soon, the trip was booked, and we were stoked. All we had to do was wait eight months. Scott and Brian had dabbled in fly fishing, but never in Alaska. There’s no reason they wouldn’t like Bristol Bay, but still, I felt a lot of pressure to make sure their trip was amazing. I’d been talking about this place with stars in my eyes for so long, they’d traveled so far, and fly-out lodges aren’t cheap. I wanted the magic of Bristol Bay to grab their souls like it had mine. Only then could they understand my dedication to its protection. They are familiar with Trout Unlimited’s conservation work in the region to advance long-term protections for this “fishing mecca” by fighting the disastrous, proposed Pebble mine. But to someone unfamiliar with the issue, a mine slated a hundred miles upstream of the actual bay in a remote area may not seem that terrible of an idea. Jobs and copper aren’t a bad thing, right? When you pull back the top layer, however, you learn that copper is particularly toxic for salmon. And pull back another layer: the landscape of the region is wet, and the ore is low-grade, meaning the mine would need to be massive to turn a profit, and the chance for spill or accident is extremely high. It’s a gigantic risk to a region that’s almost indescribably beautiful, unique, and dependent on wild salmon— with thriving Native subsistence cultures and rivers plugged with the tasty fish. I just really wanted my uncles to not only see it, but get it. But for them to get it, I knew I needed to take 25 steps backwards. They just needed to catch fish. After we were settled into the lodge that evening, full and relaxed after a hearty meal, our guide, Rylie, came to set up a game plan for fishing the next day. Meet at the bus at 6:50 a.m. to catch our plane, she told us. Be in waders. She’d pack lunches. Got it. Sleepy from their long day of travel and jet lag, the uncles went to bed. I couldn’t sleep. The excitement for a day of wilderness, guided fishing, hiking, float planes, and some of my favorite people made my too-excitedto-sleep-o-meter go haywire. The next morning, squished into a tiny plane flying low over the tundra, I watched small winding rivers, and the massive Naknek Lake pass beneath us out the windows. I quietly marveled at what makes Bristol Bay special: the maze of diverse, intact streams where salmon spawn and trophy rainbow trout, clowned up Dolly Varden, and alluring Arctic Grayling grow fat from a buffet of salmon eggs, flesh, and fry. A few dozen miles to the north, these are the types of waterways most imperiled by the mine. Our fishing destination that day was the Brooks River in Katmai National Park. Many recognize Brooks for its famous falls, the site of the live cam where you can watch fat grizzly bears feasting on salmon all summer. It’s an amazing display of nature unfolding in front of your eyes.

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Conservation After rigging up and getting introduced to the park, Scott and Brian kept calling themselves “star struck” for the famous brown bears that surrounded us as we hiked a mile or so along the trail to the upper river to fish for rainbows. We noticed bright red sockeye pooling and immediately got our lines in the water. A hooked rainbow on the first cast set in motion an epic day. We caught plenty of rainbows and hooked into some bright red sockeye — it’s always a thrill to fight a fish that big on a 6wt. I caught a 22” rainbow thanks to some expert guiding from Rylie, Scott got chased by a brown bear, my whole party almost took an accidental swim while crossing the river to get away from the same brown bear, we got slightly lost in the woods, had to wait for another bear to snack down about three salmon to get back to our own lunch, and stood watching the falls in the rain — mesmerized — for longer than Rylie could probably stand. All told, a classic Brooks Camp day served up a once-in-a-lifetime kind of day for the rest of us. That night, our heads hit the pillows with equal parts amazement and exhaustion. Early the next morning, we hopped in a boat down at the Bear Trail Lodge dock and sped up the Naknek River amid a brilliant Alaska sunrise, which we only get to see late in the summer as the daylight hours level up with our normal waking schedule. The sky was painted in orange, pink, yellow, and purple. In that moment, we sat in silent awe of the sky, too content to care if we saw a single fish that day. As the brightness of daylight set in, our desire for fish predictably returned. We spent the morning chasing coho (silver salmon) for Scott and Brian’s freezer, the noon hour eating turkey sandwiches from the boat with the sun shining on our faces, and the late afternoon catching the largest freaking Naknek River rainbow of my life. As you’d guess, my fears about my uncles’ satisfaction were unfounded. They left with a freezer full of fresh coho to enjoy all winter and to share with friends, and I knew without a doubt that now, they got it. They understood how there’s an entire region of Alaska, a state known for developing its resources, that’s just meant to be wild. They got that places like Bristol Bay should be explored and experienced as they are, because they’re places that make us understand sometimes the best thing we can do as humans is to just leave something alone. They saw why so many regard Bristol Bay as a place meant simply for fish and for fishing. Staring again out the window at the streams I waded through the day before, reflecting on yet another incredible experience in the heart of salmon country as I flew away, my mind went back to the simple resolve of our trip and a key driver of the region. Though fly fishing is made complicated by a myriad of variations in flies, line, fancy rods, gear, regulations, you name it — the sport at its core is simple. It’s the joy of the pursuit. It’s marveling at the catch — the colors of wild trout, the shimmer of salmon. It’s the satisfaction of watching them swim away and return to where they belong. On our flight from King Salmon back to Anchorage, I thought about the ginclear waters and color of coho underneath my feet in the belly of a boat. I thought about my uncles’ gratitude for the river that filled their freezer

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and will provide healthy meals throughout the winter, and of my own freezer, which is similarly full. I thought about our shared gratitude for those who have taken care of the resource before us and who allow us on their land to experience the same stretches of water upon which their ancestors relied. I thought, again, about responsibility to take care of the place for the cultures and bellies these rivers and fish have left to nourish. Simpler yet, I thought about how fishing is about being outside. Being, for a moment, a part of the river. It’s spending time away from screens, being fully present, and building connection not only among the people with whom we fish, but the places we spend our time. There are tons of places to go fishing in this country. But anymore, there aren’t many places nicknamed “salmon country,” and if they are, the name hearkens back to some historic moment where fish used to fill the rivers now just memories. There aren’t places where you can fly low and quietly take in miles and miles of tundra and intricately winding rivers without seeing a road, building, or fence. There aren’t many places you can catch multiple rainbows over 20”, fill your freezer with wild salmon for the winter in a day, and be home by dinner. After only two days, my uncles understood that Bristol Bay revolves around fish, and that it must stay that way. Sometimes it takes standing in a freezing cold river to take you back to what matters. When you have a place that makes your too-excitedto-sleep-o-meter go haywire over this simple act, you know it’s something worth protecting. 

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BRISTOL BAY SUPPORTS A

$73 MILLION WORLD-CLASS SPORT FISHING ECONOMY.

STOP PEBBLE MINE. PROTECTBRISTOLBAY.US PHOTO: RYAN BECK

The Reel Sisters A fly fishing novel by Michelle Cummings

A story about the power of women friendships, and how we learn a little bit about ourselves each time we step into the river. Through the voice of each character, The Reel Sisters fosters the notion that fly fishing has the potential to transcend age, gender, culture, and even socioeconomic barriers, and can occasionally be the glue that binds us.

As lovely and ponderous as fly fishing

My dad, an avid fly fisherman, recently died. I grabbed this book to feel close to him an and it didn't disappoint. The descriptions of fishing and life outdoors with all its marvels and pains were perfect. The characters bloomed too life like flowers in spring ... By Becca April 10, 2018

TRAVEL

Purchase your copy on Amazon. To learn more, visit TheReelSisters.com

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tuck

Taking the time to enjoy the good things

Pizza We definitely love wheat-based doughs at DUN, but at times cutting out some gluten is a good thing. Try this grainfree, glutenfree, dairy-free Pizza Crust

Ingredients ½ cup blanched almond flour ¾ cup tapioca flour 6 tbsp coconut flour divided ½ tsp garlic powder 1 tsp Italian herb blend

¾ tsp sea salt 1/3 cup warm water 1/3 cup olive oil 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 egg, room temperature

Steps Insert a pizza stone into the oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a round pizza pan and set aside. Combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, 3 tbsp of coconut flour, garlic powder, Italian herb blend, and sea salt in a large bowl. Stir all ingredients to combine. Combine the water, oil, egg, and vinegar in a measuring cup and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until a dough is formed. photo by Brandon Miller Photography

Add 1 tbsp of coconut flour to bring the dough together into a dough that can be pressed into the pizza pan without sticking. Do not add more than 3 tbsp of coconut flour. Press the dough into an even layer in the pizza pan. Place in the oven and bake for 1012 minutes. Add your toppings and return back to the oven for 12-15 minutes, depending on toppings.

Use this dough to create two of our favorite pizzas, the farm and mushroom madness. Spring 2019

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Tuck In

P is co S o ur

Pisco is a light-colored spirit similar to grappa. It is produced by distilling the grape pomace and wine after fermentation has occurred. Pisco is usually not aged, and is the national spirit of both Chile and Peru. We tried this cocktail while hosting a trip to Rio Manso Lodge in Argentina's Patagonia region and fell in love.

Ingredients

2 oz Pisco 1 oz Fresh lime juice Â˝ oz Simple syrup 1 Pasteurized egg white Garnish

Lime wheel 1 dash cocktail bitters Instructions Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lime wheel on the edge and drop one dash of bitters in the center of the cocktail before serving.

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REFRESHMENT

photo by Brandon Miller Photography

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end of the day

At the end of the day, I believe that the world is a stunningly beautiful place that should be protected for future generations to enjoy. I believe that clean water should be a basic human right. I believe in kindness, in truth, and in forgiveness. I believe in moving forward, instead of living in the past. I believe the world is a troubled enough place, and the last place we should be fighting with each other is on a river, a lake, or a stream. I believe it is easy to surf the net and get caught up in the wave of negativity. I believe we have bigger and better fights to win in today’s world. I believe in authenticity, being real, and owning who you are. I believe our fights are much more important than what you wear on the water. At the end of the day, this is fishing. And fishing is supposed to be fun. Now, go say something nice.

photo by Brandon Miller Photography

Fish-inspired. Functional Fishing Fashion. Shop online, at select retailers and in Anchorage, Alaska at FisheWear’s Show Room 4011 Arctic Blvd, Suite C, Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 854 - 4775 @fishewear • #fishewear

DUN Spring 2019