last cast
fishing moving water For me, fishing is kind of like playing the guitar.
into the snowmelt. This is an art form at which, after
After 30 years of picking and grinning, I’ve finally
years of practice, you can become average. It’s the
achieved mediocrity. I’m a better fisherman, thank
difference between playing Sweet Home Alabama on a
goodness; and as much as I fish, you’d think I’d be an
beat up six-string and sliding a bow across a cello in
expert. But in fishing, as with musical instruments,
the Boston Philharmonic.
there’s always room to learn—another song to
Nevertheless, I met up with my buddy Chris, who
attempt or another species to pursue. Even the
chucked his life in Houston for the fresh, mountain
pros are on a constant vision quest to absorb more
air. He informed me that the Rockies have two
wisdom.
seasons—winter and July. That was particularly true
My wife used to wonder about the humongous,
this past winter, because it snowed like Christmas
gravitational pull fishing seems to have on me. One
almost every day in May. The snowpack was at
day, I explained to her that fishing is about being one
record highs (despite global warming) and the melt
with nature. It’s about the primal hunt for food, the
was long overdue. When the sun finally heated up,
Fred Garth
camaraderie of old friends, and the triumph of man
the rivers quickly swelled to scary levels.
For the past 25 years, Fred D.
over beast. And, of course, the really, really cold beer.
Garth’s articles have appeared in
She finally got it.
numerous books, magazines, and
In my own fishing journey, I’ve wetted a line in
Case in point, there’s a river called Oh Be Joyful near Crested Butte, Colorado, where families go to picnic and let their dogs run wild. In June, four dogs
newspapers around the world.
oceans all over the world. This summer, I found
were washed down the ripping rapids and never
His most recent novel, A Good
myself upstream in the Colorado Rockies learning
recovered.
Day to Live, is available online
about water that runs. And here I must digress. I’m a
and in select bookstores.
saltwater guy. I once had a 50-pound amberjack pull
has turned into a real mountain man. He’s acquired
(www.agooddaytolive.com)
me over the side of a boat. I’ve battled jack crevalle
so many toys—mountain bikes, dirt bikes, snowshoes,
on light tackle until the tendons in my arm felt like
snow skis, river kayaks—that he had to build an extra
week-old spaghetti. Simply put, I love the epic battle
garage to keep it all. Our plan was to float the East
with monster fish. So the prospect of fishing for
River in his new, blue, double-man, inflatable kayak.
brook trout, brown trout, and rainbows was more
It’s more of a boat than a kayak, but I could tell that
about the nuances of nicely presenting a fly on
we’d stay plenty wet. We put in on some calm water,
moving water rather than having a knock-out fight.
but the river had an angry flow. I wondered how
While there’s certainly artistry in saltwater fishing, it’s nothing like dropping a fly on a roiling river. There are bushes hanging along the banks that
www. GuyHarveyMagazine. com
experienced Chris was in running pissed-off rivers. “So how many times have your floated the East River?” I asked as I shimmied out to the bow.
will snag fly lures like Velcro. You have to contend
He stepped in and pushed away from the bank.
with rocks, strainers, rapids, eddies, holes, log jams,
“This is it,” Chris said casually. “This is the first time.”
and beaver dams, and try to catch fish without falling 78
In just two years since his move from Texas, Chris
I quickly considered throwing myself overboard
