A River of Work Runs Through It

It’s difficult to drum up a lot of sympathy from my fly fishing friends when my “I’m overworked” complaints fall only weeks after a return from Montana.

But the truth remains: right now, I am working a lot of hours, and yes, that’s why I have friends — to remind me it wasn’t always that way.

Sure it’s messy. But I’m getting work done, damnit.

Saturday, the L&T and I pack our bags and head for Maine. My posts from Maine seem to consistently generate a great deal of interest, and why not?

It’s beautiful, it’s remote, it’s steeped in history, and the fishing’s not bad either.

My two year-old posts on the Grand Lake Canoe continue to draw comments, and my “caught in a storm” post — where my bad judgement subjected the L&T and I to a serious soaking and some way-bigger-than-they-look-on-film waves — had one of the highest readership rates of any post up to that point.

And hell, I just plain like it there. In short, it’s hard to go wrong in Maine, though with all that’s going on in my professional and Trout Underground lives, I’m glad it’s only for a week.

Coming Up: A Chat With John Gierach

Believe it or not, I’ve been sitting on a John Gierach interview - one I conducted shortly after returning from Montana, but haven’t written up because of my workload.

I hope to get that written before my scribbled notes lose all their meaning, but I will say this: Gierach’s as interesting to talk to as he is to read, and over the course of our conversation I found myself getting drawn into his words the same way I’m drawn into his books.

Stay tuned for that one.

The Klamath Mess Kontinues

There are lots of noises being around the four Klamath Dams, and I’ve got to finish and post what amounts to a “history” piece on the conflict up here, so the fireworks headed our way will make sense to the Undergrounders.

Given that this could easily become the largest dam removal project in history - and lead to the recovery of one historically great steelhead and salmon river - I’m surprised it’s seen so little coverage in the fly fishing media.

Then again, maybe I’m not.

Stories about people fighting over water aren’t as much fun as your average bikini post, but if it’s one thing I’ve learned on the river and writing the Trout Underground, it’s that you gotta pay those dues.

Plus, Many, Many Book Reviews

I hang my head in shame, Undergrounders; I’ve got a stack of review materials a couple inches high.

Standing in the way of getting them done is the fact I won’t do one of those two-paragraph reviews you see so often, reasoning that the author put more time into the book, so it deserves a little more time on my end.

Still, some good stuff coming.

Naturally, I’ll post the usual stunning Maine landscapes (it’s different back there), and while Grand Lake Stream water temperatures are hitting 75 degrees during the day (so the fly fishing isn’t great), the lakes are fishing pretty well.

See you in Maine, Tom Chandler.

Tagged as: fishing, Fly Fishing, grand lake stream, john gierach, Klamath River, maine