Spring is here! Spring is here! Spring is here!!!
All winter I have been tying flies and pouring over maps for places to hit once spring and summer hit. Once the waters looked good I had to get out.  We had some false starts which is about right for Colorado and the front range. Mother nature has a way of playing an evil game of "psyche".  I was able to get in a few days between snow storms.
Those early spring snow falls are welcome as water for the streams up to the point that I start swearing about all the mucky slushy snow. My patience is moderate at best when it comes to season changes and weather.

Through the winter I did quite a bit of daydreaming of fishing in the warmer season. Of those places there was one place specifically that I was looking forward to hitting.  Now we all have those places that we fish that are absolutely sworn secret places.  This place I am about to tell you about is not so much a secret as it is a place you could easily find yourself going to if you made a little effort and made the trip a destination.  In addition to the great fishing, there is also beautiful scenery and amazing amounts of wildlife. No, not Wyoming, or Montana, I'm talking about South Dakota.

Specifically I'm talking about Custer State Park. We went this year just before Memorial day and it was absolutely a dream get away. The trip for us was a little more than a 6 hour drive to get there. Our first trip there was two years ago in mid June. Both times that we have been there were just great.  There are plenty of accommodations in the park for whatever floats your boat. Tent or RV Camping, Cabins and even a lodge. We did the cabin for this trip and it was perfect. The Blue Bell Campground had RVs, Tents sites and wonderfully clean and cozy cabins.  There is a small store near by where you can get what you need and even buy your fishing license. There's beer and some essentials as well as a modest amount of tourist souvenirs.  The cabins are pretty much, low-end "Glamping". Bunk beds and a table but power to charge your phone or to run your portable dvd player if you are 7 year old and can't live without an episode of Scooby Doo. So you are a long way from roughing it and having to hike into a back woods. It's nice to have a shower and for a family trip it is perfect.

There are only a couple of streams in Custer State Park to fish. The one that stands out the most and that I spent my days on this trip was French Creek. I got the 3 day fishing license and could have probably added an additional day or six. There is a lot of stream to cover. This stream seems to be everywhere in the park. I winds around in so many different directions and covers so much of the park. I got disoriented trying to figure it out. It was almost spooky that every time I saw a stream it was this same one in a place you didn't expect it. But how? I think this is the most winding stream I have ever fished.

Day one I didn't wander far - Getting Started
Blue Bell Picnic Area
Just on the main road before the turn off to the Blue Bell Camp ground is a public picnic area that I probably would have normally avoided assuming it was probably over pressured. But I hadn't seen anyone on the water at all and it was as good a place as any to start. I worked my way down stream and then back up again. That day I caught several really nice brownies while my wife and son went driving around the park. The fish were not over abundant but were exactly where you thought they would be and occasionally you found more than one hanging out in the same neighborhood.

Day two - Deeper Into the Park.
After a morning of touring about we headed a little deeper into the park. I brought my rod along as we drove through the park and saw the herds of bison, white tailed deer, wild turkeys, coyotes. prairie dogs  and marmots. ON day one my wife and son had found the "Horse campground" while I was fishing. She wanted to take me there to see that part of the park again. Horse Campground is basically a very nice, special campground for equestrians.

Horse Campground
It was just early afternoon when we rolled up.  I noted a few spin casters in the creek  here and there. It had the atmosphere of a typical municipal campground only with lots of RVs and horse trailers. If you ever wanted to watch a horse get "shoed" this would be where I would send you. French Creek drives right through the middle of the campground. But don't let that stop you from fishing it.  I walked a small portion of the creek here and caught a few more browns including a fish that was easily 14-15".  From there we moved on to another place that I had been told by a local would be a great place to drop into. He was right as rain.  

Fisherman's Flats
This portion of French Creek is called "Fisherman's Flats". The Flats is actually the only "open area camping" in the park. It is designed to be a 2 to 3 day pack trip that you can take and hike from one end to the other.  Fortunately for us there is also a way to drive up to a trail head and hike down to the creek. It is a nice little hike (I'm guessing about a mile) that drops you down into a valley. I hiked down into this area at roughly 2:30pm and when I got close to the water I could see fish rising and jumping at bugs. I only fished about 100 yards of water on this jaunt but what great water it was. Lots of really good sized browns and few brook trout too. I ended up catching at least 13 fish in the short time I had. Good quantity but also great sizes all the way up to 13- 14". The local who keyed me onto the spot said he was always surprised that he hardly ever sees anyone else fishing it very much. This was hands down the best day of fishing on the trip. One warning though...the hike out is all up hill and seems longer than the hike down.
Also be on the lookout for rattlesnakes and poison ivy. I saw no snakes but there was plenty of the latter.

Day three - That Creek is Everywhere
We took a quick day trip into the town of Hot Springs, SD. If you go there the only saving grace of the town is the Mammoth dig site that we did go and see. It is a pretty lame little town. Struggling and trying too hard to be charming but missing the mark.  We were less than impressed with the town. After a bad lunch we returned to the state park and I decided to take a hike and fish French Creek where it passed near the campground. A few days prior my son and I had taken a short walk and found that our cabin was really close to the creek. I walked the short trail and in a very short time I was on the water and had my first 9" brown in hand. The view in this back area was just beautiful. Cliffs that loom up and the creek just winds around. I only caught 2 or 3 more fish in this section. It didn't seem to have the population. This seemed odd to me as it was actually quite off the beaten path. Oh well not every day on the water is hand over fist catching.

Some Closing thoughts
While I was there I saw very few fly fishermen and I was the only tenkara guy.  We had been here before and I had an even better trip than last time. It was the week before Memorial day but when we were there in June of 2014 it was only slightly busier. 

I think getting outside of your local area every chance you can is one of the best things you can do for your fishing. I do love my Colorado places to fish but getting into these new waters I saw that not all fish are the same. A few times I found myself missing the strike but getting it with a patient presentation a second or third cast. Maybe I am imagining it but the fish just seemed to behave slightly different to what I had gotten used to in my home waters. The change of scenery is always nice and it gets you out of your old habits and makes you have to think a little. Getting to fish a new place is what keeps it all interesting.

The population of South Dakota is relatively small with very few large cities. There is a lot of tourist traffic of course to Mt. Rushmore and the surrounding area. Finding Custer State Park was a real score for us as a family. It has a lot to offer and is very much overlooked. I don't expect this to change. You have to look for these places though. You have to get out of the mind set that everyone else is following. I share this location with you in the hopes that you might actually make the trip yourself, enjoy the great fishing and give the local economy a little of your support. As a family we are considering making Custer an annual trip. Maybe next year I'll see you on the banks of French Creek.

The reasons we collect so much.
As with any process of simplifying we do need to look at the root of the problem which is our mindset about the stuff we buy, own and keep. We have an uncanny knack for hoarding our materials and supplies in quantities that go beyond our needs. Perhaps the thought is that we don’t want to be without something.  Perhaps the thinking attached to the items is that we really want to have a variety of colors and sizes.  Perhaps the quantities that materials are sold is too much too. I think it is a combination of all of these things. Add to that our culture of consumption, our challenge of passing up a good deal and for me the discovery of a new material that I just "have" to try and tie a fly with. 

Being honest with ourselves.
Downsizing requires us to take a moment to understand and evaluate the importance of each item to us and have a moment of honest questioning about why we are holding on to certain materials. Sometimes the reasons are logical and other times they are illogical. We all have probably collected more than we will ever use.  I know for a while I was collecting materials out of curiosity.  At other times I did because of my desire to learn to use and tie different materials like elk and deer hair etc. Finally, I wanted to have a huge palette of materials for my fly tying creativity. If we want to be more creative and tie better flies though we really have to reduce our options. Much creativity comes from adaptation and not from having a large selection of options.

Some of the reasons we collect.
 I don’t know where fly tying materials fall on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but let’s look closer at the big picture of why we buy materials in the first place.

1.  We have got to start somewhere.  Yes, this is true. We have to have some of the basics when we start. Those basics usually include a vise, a bobbin, hackle pliers, scissors, some thread, hooks, tying materials and feathers.
Somehow we end up also deciding we need to add a second bobbin, or a whip finisher. That is fine. We just don't ever seem to know when enough is good enough.

2.  Emotional Collecting  You may have seen some of these reality "Hoarding" shows on television. The people on those shows have some pretty serious psychosis going on.  We all have it to a small degree. It is hardwired into us as humans to gather supplies for our security and survival.  We should be mindful of our purchases and decide if the thing we are buying is for actual use or if we are buying it for emotional reasons.

3.  A habit of Spending.  How often do you go into your local fly shop or on line to look at materials and end up buying materials?  Are you buying out of need or habit? The issue is that we don't establish limits to our needs. We can slowly build our supplies through one purchase here and one purchase there. We fail to appreciate what we already have and fool ourselves into believing that getting that new rooster hackle in purple is good idea. Watch your own habits. Decide if they are serving you or bogging you down with more stuff you will only use a little of once.

4. The great deal. Who doesn't love a great deal on materials? (or anything for that matter?) When we see a great deal we have to do everything in our power not to purchase or we will "lose out". We should maybe decide if we are sold on the great deal or if we really need the item. If we do find a great deal and we do need the item maybe we should consider if we know someone who could also use the materials. Take advantage of the deal but also don't feel you need to go for quantity. Share what you don't need or even split the deal with someone.

5.  Bragging rights. Do you ever socially brag about your quantities or variety of materials to others? Do you feel a certain amount of status or see yourself at a level of expertise in owning so many materials? We fool ourselves sometimes with these small insecurities. We want others to see us as equals or even experts. This status cannot be obtained by quantity but rather should be measured by quality.

6.  Experimental materials.  I am guilty of this more than any other reason.  I love visiting the fabric stores, garden centers, craft stores and bead shops. I find stuff in the park and in my wife's sewing supplies. I don't even have to spend money.  I've caught myself looking at a carpet end thread thinking about how it will look on a fly. There is nothing wrong with this kind of experimentation to a point. I know I have gone too far though when I start looking for more loose carpet threads to pull.

What happens when we let go?
Removing the excess in our lives actually frees us up. Having smaller quantities makes things more manageable. Having fewer choices also helps us to focus and appreciate quality over quantity.  I work now to tie great looking flies.  I watch and learn how the materials adhere to each other; connect together and actually work together to create a thing that fish will find interesting enough to bite.

I have discovered an appreciation for the materials I do have.  I am less overwhelmed by the choices and feel less regret over materials sitting around collecting dust.  I can still explore new ideas and new materials when I want to.  I do it now with smaller quantities when I can. 

I like having a bench and tying area that is easy to clean up, maintain and that I can pack up easily and take with me when I travel.   Finally,  having a clutter free space to work and limited supplies helps me to sit down to tie more often. When I tie with limited choices for materials I am forced to look at the different techniques and approaches to tying a fly pattern. My tying style becomes focused, intentional and very much an art.

So how much should we downsize?
Simple answer... “Downsize as much as you feel comfortable.” You have to find that happy zone for yourself. Downsizing takes place over months or sometimes even years. It is a practice in an of itself. I’ve been doing it for years not only with my fly tying materials but with the rest of my possessions as well.  It feels good to get rid of excess and it can make others happy too when you pass on your excess stuff to them. I’ve already given away two old vises and lots of feathers and dubbing. Start with smaller containers to restrict the quantities you feel comfortable keeping. I use mint tins from Trader Joe's for a lot of my materials.

Here we are in the final post of the Three Part series on minimizing our basic gear and tackle.  I do hope that you can see now that the commercial answers are not always the best. There is a lot of benefit to be found in dropping the load stone that gear can be when we fish.  When I started backpacking I remember learning that if I didn't use something it probably wasn't needed. If I needed something I tried to remember to plan ahead or at least be able to improvise. I think these same thoughts apply to tenkara gear too.

FLY BOXES
Let's face it... your field fly box does NOT have to carry ALL of the flies you own.  I know that people have boxes with rows and rows of flies that look like soldiers in formation waiting to go to battle.  Sure this is fine for storing them at home or perhaps bringing along a good selection in your car. But why carry that big old honking box with you on the trail? Have the fancy big box for keeping your library of flies in but leave it behind. Carry a smaller box and be surprised by how little you really needed.

What I realized was that in any given day of fly fishing I never need more than a dozen flies at the very most. I can take couple varieties of flies along with me in a smaller box.  All I have to do is have a few dark patterns, a few light patterns and a few that I just want to try out for the first time.  The most I have with me at any given time is about 16- 24 flies and that too is overkill. 

Of course one of the basic tenants of traditional tenkara is to use presentation over the “match the hatch” approach.  We don’t need a dozen different flies to do this. I am of the school of make flies that you think will catch fish. If they catch fish then keep using them. I'm pretty sure at this point that there isn't a fly that can't catch a fish.

I love boxes of all kinds and am a self-proclaimed “box freak” who never met a box I didn’t like.  I collect boxes of all kinds because you never know when you will need a good box to put something in. You may notice with the ideas below that some of the boxes I have collected here can also be used as line holders. That dual purpose makes them a great way to manage your line and keep everything together in just your shirt pocket.

I've had a great time exploring these ideas. I hope that you are inspired to keep your eye out for solutions and other ideas as well. More importantly I hope that you will share those ideas. Until my next post...Have fun being creative!

Last week in part ONE we covered a scope of line management and spool options This week we look primarily at just a couple of ways of attaching your line directly onto your rod.
       
Its about being able to move quickly from one place to another.
One thing that I found troublesome on the stream is managing line while moving from one place to the next.  You know, when you have to break your rod down so that you can get past a bunch of brush and move to the next hole? I've wrapped the line in my hand and around the handle of the rod too. For these short cuts I've been rewarded with nice knots in my leader and frustrating time not fishing while I tried to undo my mess. 

Line tenders are not reels.
Just because Tenkara is without a reel doesn't mean we don't need to have a place to put line when we aren't using it.  Sure some of the spools I shared last week would work just fine.  They are reasonable solutions to the issue.  One thing to consider with some of those ideas is that they aren't always the fastest way to manage a line when you are just jumping up or down stream a short distance. You have to find the spool wrap the line and break down your rod. When you get to that next hole you end up going through the whole process again of unwinding from a spool and putting the spool back into your pocket. This is not a huge deal but... I don't  know how many times I've dropped that spool into the stream and had to chase madly after it. The obvious answer to this is a rod mounted line tender.

Rod mounted line tenders

My good friend Jason Klass wrote about creating these some time back on his blog TenkaraTalk. Someone else came up with the same idea and commercialized them.  (I believe personally that Jason was the historic inventor but I am a biased friend.) These clips attach to your rod and you wind your line around the two points. They are held on by elastic or silicon bands. These are probably the most practical item you can add to your tenkara rod. However the commercial ones in my opinion are overpriced for what they are. I have been experimenting with some variations on this idea.

There certainly are more ideas out there for mounting different kinds of line managers to your rod. Please share your ideas in the comment section below. 

In the next and final installment of this post I will talk about some fly box and fly management solutions. After that I hope to share some other topics. I am sure I will be back to more of these ideas too.

When I first started writing this blog post over a month ago it was still fair weather fishing.  I wanted to look at all the ways I could reduce my gear in hand. I wanted to make the management and handling of line, flies and leader efficient. Along the way I found a lot of great options. So many as a matter of fact that I have had to break this topic down over three blog posts to make it more manageable.

At the core of my efforts is the pursuit of the simplest set up. I wanted a way to carry just the gear needed and have a reasonable sling bag to carry my day’s food and a few survival and minor comfort essentials.  Overall it was a very enjoyable process. I tried to remain honest with myself about my actual needs. Of course these needs can change over time and with each specific trip. It is better to plan ahead.

In researching hacks I found some to be less than ideal and actually causing more issues than they solve.  Some things pretend to be hacks and fall short of being a solution at all. By loose definition a hack should be practical, solve a problem, be fairly easy to make and accomplish the job intend as well (if not better) than the thing it is replacing.  Hacks are great because they let us look at things and use them in unconventional ways. . 

Some of the ideas I came up with did cross over onto each other and some were stand-alone ideas.  I have always enjoyed life hacks and small D.I.Y. projects and these ideas fall somewhere in those categories. I am sure that you too will find your own ideas and I hope that you will share them with all of the other readers either in the comment section of this blog or on the Tenkara Path Facebook page.

I continue to look at approaching tenkara fly fishing with the idea that getting in to the areas and fishing with least amount of gear in tow is the ideal approach. I can move quicker and cover more fishing area and holes which of course leads arguably to more chances to catch fish.

The Power of Reduction and Combination
One thing that tenkara has taught me is to keep reducing things to a simpler and simpler form.  Understanding that utility and necessity trump gimmick, newest model and hype.  Reductions should be a benefit that removes the use of bulkier solutions and yet still obtain the same effect.  Finding items that can serve two or more solutions as one item are almost always better than carrying individual items that have only one function. .

Keep the Essentials
I’ve continued to use a small nipper and carry a hemostat clipped to my shirt. My fly box and lines now fit nicely into a shirt pocket or two at the most. When I take a net with me I just tuck it into my belt at the small of my back. Net options will have to wait for another day.  I’ve been working on finding the best way to manage my leader, flies and tippet. I want to keep everything easy to access and easy to put away.  I have found that there is very little reason to have a fishing bag other than to carry my lunch, a rain jacket, maybe an extra rod, a phone and/or a camera.

I’ve probably gone overboard in my search and found a variety of items that work well as solutions.
I hope that at least one of the ideas that follow seem like something useful to you. You may not know until you try it out yourself and give it a field test.  Each hack has some advantages and disadvantages. I try to cover these with each description. 

Lets Talk First About Spools.
A spool of course allows you to manage your line when you are not using it. There are certainly very nice wooden, foam or even plastic spools that have been created specifically for line management. But this article is about DIY and hacks… So I started looking at spools I could find that were being used for something other than tenkara lines.  I like a lot of the commercial spools but I really like how personalized that a hack or DIY can be.  One thing I have wanted is a spools that could double as a fly box. I have listed a few of those with the ideas below.

Ear bud cases
Early on I repurposed some ear bud cases as spools. These worked okay in that I could put the hook in a chamber and then using the winder feature of the case to wind the tippet and line onto the spool. There was even a little room in the case for a few more flies to be stored.  Downside was that these cases are each different. Sure you could find one that worked but I have a couple lines and don’t really need that many sets of ear buds.  Purchasing a product just for a component is again not a bad or good thing.

Handmade spools
Pieces of wood and chunks of bone have been fashioned into spools for fishing line long before there were fishing rods.  I have looked at cutting out a flat “H” shaped spool for keeping my line on.  I know that there have been traditional spools of this kind used by the Japanese forefathers of tenkara as well.  One ongoing issue in doing this with modern day lines is that your line can form a memory on the bends and will need to be stretched out each time it is unwound. If you like this more primitive design I am sure one could be whittled out of a nice piece of found wood or your next trip out.  There are a lot of beautiful wooden spools on the market too but making one yourself is rewarding and personalizes it.

Backpacking Salt and Pepper bottle
I found this salt and pepper bottle at a backpacking store and probably spent too much on it. It has two twist-off caps that open and can hold a few flies on each side. You can actually wind a couple of spools of line on this one. It is small and fits in a pocket easily. The container is clear as well so you can see how many flies you have or what style of fly is kept in what side of the container.  Keep and eye out for these at garage sales and thrift stores.

The irony is not lost on me that I have covered so many ways to minimize your spool here that it is far from minimalist to use all of these. I would suggest that you look at them and decide for yourself what works best for you and go with that.

  In Part TWO of this series I will talk about rod mounted line tenders. I have fallen in love with them and continually look for materials to make them for all of my rods. I will tell more about that later. Until then I hope that you will explore these spool options and share any others that you find in the comments below.

On the stream I am able to find that place of quiet and peace. I fall into my self. I am aware of my surroundings and every footstep I take. with return trips I see the water levels in many places dropping. The leaves changing and the air becoming more comfortable with a long sleeve shirt.

I revere these days that I have had this year and the joys I have felt stalking fish on new streams both alone and with friends. The streams are changing with the seasons. So must we. I see the winter coming  ahead and I want to prepare a place to find myself content. I want to have places that I can continue to slip into and find serenity even though it may not be on the streams. 

To begin the process I have started to play catch up on the work in my back yard. I am struck by the amount of things that autumn reveals that we have sidestepped maintenance. In other words "I let my yard go to hell this year."  I spent most of last week cutting down the remains of dried and dead sunflowers. They served a great purpose through the spring and summer, acting as a beautiful cover for the unfinished and untouched back 10' of our yard.  The time they saved me in doing anything about that area is now being taken back. This is life. The universe exists in a natural state of chaos. Decay and change are part of the process of life as we observe it. Impermanence is a reality we all must accept and hope that we have the yard tools and energy to do the work to set things "right".

This year feels different than years past. It seems to be moving in a more subtle and observable way. Our maple trees in the front yard have started to turn and a few leaves are dropping now. I can see into the future the large piles that I will rake and bag in just a few weeks. Maybe in years past I have been surprised by the change because it was not a priority.

During the winter I will take refuge as I always do at my fly tying bench and pouring over maps and trail books looking for streams to explore next spring. Those areas that I do this though have also collected clutter and will need to be organized again before I can start that process. My garage had become a catch all and I made a serious dent in organizing it already. For some reason in our house everyone's stuff kind of migrates there.

Not to anthropomorphize too much but I suppose fish go through a process each year too where they find their spaces where they can comfortably survive the winter. Deep pools with some food sources and little need to move about.  I am getting ready to let them be in peace as well.

I have observed that creating a place of serenity does take effort. it is that intention and planning that helps us see ourselves in a different place having different things to occupy ourselves with.  When we plan we can project ourselves into and create a new way of thinking and doing things for a little while.

The first step is to slow down and recognize our situation for what it is. We are as connected to the seasons as any other living creature. We are affected by weather, foods, seasonal rituals and holidays. Maybe you feel the way I do too and there is a slight anxiety that slowly builds up to winter.

Finding serenity is about giving those areas of chaos in our lives some order and in doing so have a visceral affect on our minds.  This reduces our stress and gives us a clear place to fall into for peace in our day to day lives. A place that we can escape to when we need to.   I can only suggest that by reducing these areas and spaces we escape to their primary parts and to only those things that are needed we will find our serenity easily.

We all know that moment when time stops on a stream and we are in tune with all that is around us. Our senses are heightened and our minds quiet down. everything is in it's place and there is a flow to it.
The same is true of the things in our lives that we shed. If they can be of use to someone else then they should. I take trips to the thrift store drop off about once a week. Each time with a new box of items that I can say I am done with.

I want to find that same kind of serenity in my home and in my yard. In thinking about how to do this I can only presume that the first step is to stop doing what I have been doing. The next step may be to make things as simple as possible. To have a yard and home that is as low maintenance as possible means having systems in place to keep clutter down and to add some order. It means making a concerted effort to find new attitudes about those spaces and reduce the need to abuse those spaces for frivolous means. 

If I had to name a theme for the last week, that theme would be “Alone”.  My wife, with our son, her sister and mother took a trip down to Santa Fe last week.  It had to be that week and with this I was left alone.  Well as alone as a guy with two dogs and a cat to take care of can be. It was a weird kind of alone though in that it was my 48th Birthday during that week.

This birthday was not a landmark one like 40 or 50 but I try to celebrate one way or another.  I of course decided to go fishing and check out how bad the water really was. Colorado is in major blow out.  The water levels are at record flows. Finding good water is like finding a “noodle in a haystack.” Yeah, you read that right...

I had to check out a creek I had fished before to see if it had any life in it worth casting to. Instead I found a pasture of winding creek with banks overflowing and running from one to another part of the same creek. The current was still there where the channels were but there was water across the banks connecting one part to another.  Bummer.

This creek flows into a reservoir that has a dam and tail water.  I decided to go check out the tail waters. I got there to find a fly fishermen and his pal who was holding a net.  Just as I walked up they brought one in.  I chatted with them at this point feigning admiration for the fish and waiting for him to release it. But, he grabbed up a strainer in the water by the bank to show me the others he had caught… sigh.

The further I went the more fish I saw and it was not long before I hit that point of losing count of fish I had caught.  All beautiful, happy and unscathed browns of 6-10 inches. The sun would be setting soon and fearing having too much of a good thing, I headed back to camp.

I made some backpack dinner of instant split pea soup and opened a packet of this awesome bison jerky.  I filtered and refilled my water supply from a nearby spring. Walked up a hill and put my food up in a tree like you are supposed to do in bear country. You won’t have issues with it until that one time you don’t. As the sun set I curled up in my bag and listened to the silence. I found myself in that deep place that I had probably been avoiding all day. You find yourself aware of being alone. Being alone in the wild is much different than being alone at home. Not a single dog to talk to.

It is just your own thoughts and the weird fears that creep up on you.  Being in the wild alone is an exercise in abandon and vulnerability.  There is nothing stopping the wilderness from finishing you off. Those patches on the nylon tent might keep the rain out but they won’t stand a second against a curious bear. Yeah, I have a healthy and unreasonable fear of bears. When you know that if something would happen to you that people you love would have to piece together the story and take solace that you went out doing what you love to do.

As I sat in the silence writing some notes for this article by flashlight, I thought about my family.  I appreciated how much I love them and remembered the last tight hug I got from my son. I had missed him that last week and now I missed him so much that it hurt. I have had some dark times and some crappy things happen in my life but my wife and my son are the two people who make all those darker times worth it. I made it though and I came out on the other side with them in my life.

I still appreciate being alone because it can really take you where you need it most. It can create an appreciation for what really matters.  While being alone is good for you in small doses, it eventually becomes unbearable. I had not been in this deep place of solitude in over a decade I am sure.  It was a good reminder of what I already knew, but now I knew it in a way that hit me to my core.

I decided to just put in a half day more of fishing “if I woke up alive” which I did. I continued to catch fish after fish and was lost in that other kind of being alone. Where you are content by yourself doing something that feels like being alive.  In addition to a bunch of good size browns I also landed a rare rainbow trout that day.  I ended in that blissful place, packed up my stuff and hiked out to surprise my wife and son by coming home early enough time to go out for a father’s day dinner.