"Larger than memories is my anticipation of rivers and streams not yet fished." - Charles Kuralt.

Monday, January 8, 2007

A new years resolution...

Here it is another new year. A resolution I have made besides the obligatory get-in-shape or contribute to world peace, is to keep a better record my fly fishing pursuits. I wish I had kept a better detailed log of my past 9 years of fly fishing various east Tennessee waters and other states (not too exotic of locales mind you). From my very first little rainbow caught above Tremont (Great Smokey Mountains) on my hand tied flies to seeing monster browns rising to a blanket sulphur hatch from a Clacka on a one generation flow on the South Holston tail water. The back country camping trips in search of specs with a buddy into the Smokies and the visits to my folks in NW Montana and catching westslope cutts and greyling in Glacier Nat'l Park and "guiding" my dad to his first fly rod trout...time flies (no pun intended) and everything seems to blend together. Every now and again , I wish I could reference or even relive a particular moment from a past outing. Not just the critical info of weather,water temps, flies and tactics used, nor just a brag board of fish I've caught - but mostly reliving a good time with the people I've been fortunate to catch fish with or the various introspective observations of life and fishing and everything in between (epiphanies if you will) that I swore to remember but have all but forgotten...
And so, this is my grand attempt to start a new journal. After seeing a few blogs, I've decided to try my own. Maybe seeing it "published" can spur me to keep up with it. Though the sad part is as the saying goes: no man ever fishes as much as he wants too - I really don't have the time like I used to to get out and explore a stream. Which is another reason why I wished I kept better track of my past endeavors. My life (as I'm sure I'm not the only one) is infinitely complicated. I have a wife who has just started grad school, a 5 year old son learning and participating in seasonal sports , a 4 year old daughter starting in cheer leading, a job of raising 40 teenage boys that litterally has be busy 60 - 80 hrs a week all the while being a Mr. Mom to my own kids and 3 days a week teaching a basic black and white photography class... the combined chaos kinda keeps me off the water. I'm lucky to get out once or twice a month. In addition, the next two years , 2/3 of our income will be gone and that really hurts the water seeking budget. Can't help but long for "the good ol' days" of which now I have trouble remembering, hence all of this...
Documenting those glorious fleeting moments of freedom when I actually do get out to wet a line, surrounding myself with like minded friends and maybe even catch fish or two might help me back row a little against the swift currents of life, casting to the past a little bit more before drifting downstream into the final take out.