Old Friends and Familiar Places

I dined last evening with an old friend and we turned back the pages of our friendship while we nibbled on Mexican food. We’ve known each other for over 30 years, but came to find out that there was plenty about each of our histories not known by the other. Even old friends can have chapters and pages unread and unknown. It was fun to share and discover things that filled in the gaps of time before we met so long ago. It gave a better picture of why we have remained close all these years.

This year I have made an effort to rediscover some of the places here in Oregon that connect me to my history and shaped who I am as an angler and a person. I have traveled to familiar places and found secrets undiscovered in previous visits. I have follow trails unknown to me that added to my story. While I have put plenty of miles behind me, there is still far to go.

The one thing that has been brought to light in my travels this summer is the reason these places are special to me and why they continue to be a part of who I am. Has time changed how or what I see? Is it just the memories created there or the places themselves? I like to think it is all of those things, but more importantly it’s the journey. Enjoy it.

Nothing New Under the Stars

More than once it has been said that there is nothing new under the sun or stars. Most of what is pranced out before us as something unseen by humankind is in fact not really new at all. These amazing discoveries promise to change the way we think, live, eat, travel, play, sleep and well, you get the idea. When you boil down these advances to their fundamental roux and add them to the recipe of the day we find that all we have done is change the flavor slightly. The boiling pot before us is still gumbo.

The origins of fly fishing are said to date back to around 1425 when Dame Juliana Berner penned "The Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle" and her article was published in the "Book of St. Albans." I’m guessing that was like a very early edition of The Drake magazine. This is perhaps the first account written in a modern language, but it may not be a true timeline of the sport.

While in Paris many years ago I visited the Louvre museum and viewed an ancient Egyptian wall painting depicting the gathering of food for a grand feast. One of the figures pictured there looked to be angling with a rod and fly. The fly appeared to be a soft hackle, and it seemed to be working.