Who would you want to fish with?

Al Nixon · Post by **Al Nixon** » 05/15/11 17:54

Of course, I would like another day with my late father. Some day I might get alot of those days.

And my sons, well some day will be my last with them. But there will be many more.

Dave Decker, an old friend, gone now...what great fun we had on the Beaverkill and the Willowemoc back in the day. Another day would be so great. I made a 7 ft rod that he was to christen on the Mountain Pool, but he fishes that place now with the great ones. Shortly before he died, Dave promised that he would see me and that I would not see him on the streams I fish, and I know his kind spirit follows me when I fish that special rod.

Ted Williams: I have the Payne 208 that you fished so many times for Atlantic salmon. I am sure that it was a great joy and I would love to see you re-live that joy for a day.

Herman Christian: a depth of understanding that few anglers I have ever known could reach. I would love a day to follow you on the Neversink or the Beaverkill. I should have made that happen when it was possible.

But the final answer: The angler who I admire like no other. We shared a unique thing in that we both traded our dry flies for a rod at the Payne shop; yours a 9-1/2 ft. rod, mine a 7 ft. #98. Theodore Gordon. In our similar ways, we are loners. A day fishing with Theodore Gordon would be my choice, and I would report back to all of you how great it was.

Hardyon · Post by **Hardyon** » 05/16/11 02:54

I did get to fish with Curt Gowdy shortly before he died. We were on Monster lake in Cody when he was being honored at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. He could still cast well but I had to be his eyes. It was a true pleasure. He was full of stories about the Red Sox, Ted Williams, and just about anyone else you could think of. He was totally unassuming and just a real nice guy. The fish were really up on hoppers so all you had to do was get it out there. He caught a lot of fish. He was the voice of the Red Sox and the American Sportsman. Charles Ritz would be another guy to fish with.

Eric Peper · Post by **Eric Peper** » 05/16/11 03:43

Shakes wrote:I did get to fish with Curt Gowdy shortly before he died. We were on Monster lake in Cody when he was being honored at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. He could still cast well but I had to be his eyes. It was a true pleasure. He was full of stories about the Red Sox, Ted Williams, and just about anyone else you could think of. He was totally unassuming and just a real nice guy. The fish were really up on hoppers so all you had to do was get it out there. He caught a lot of fish. He was the voice of the Red Sox and the American Sportsman. Charles Ritz would be another guy to fish with.

I had the good fortune to be at an 80th birthday celebration for Charles Ritz organized by Arnold Gingrich in conjunction with one of the regular weekly luncheons of Theodore Gordon Flyfishers in New York. Charles was at his very entertaining finest, and numerous adult beverages were consumed by both the honoree and those doing the honoring. At the conclusion of the lunch, Charles hopped atop one of the tables (Yes, he could still "hop" at 80!) and began demonstrating HS/HL ( high speed/high line) with the tip section of a Fario Club and a 5-weight someone had supplied.
Yes, he would have been a grand and entertaining fishing companion.
Eric

thomas · Post by **thomas** » 05/16/11 11:45

I'd love to fish again with Arthur Taylor and Stan Bogdan. Someday I'm sure we will again.

Of those that I haven't fished with, I'd say Fred Thomas, Leon Thomas and Ted Williams.

PaducahMichael · Post by **PaducahMichael** » 05/16/11 13:25

No doubt in my mind:
Fred Divine, Goodwin Granger and Bill Phillipson.
I have a few thousand questions for them.

Alaric11 · Post by **Alaric11** » 05/16/11 15:35

Yet, I will continue to flee from Proust

.

Reminds me of Sartre who said that Husserl's concept of intentionality (consciousness thrown into the world, "a man among men, a thing among things") had "delivered us from Proust" (consciousness as recollection in a cork lined room). I think Proust is getting a bad rap here; he is well worth reading and funny to boot. See Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life, some chapter headings show the obvious link to fly fishing: "How to take Your Time," "How to Love Life Today," "How to Suffer Successfully." Roger Shattuck's Proust's Way also highlights the concrete value of the work. George Painter's two volume biography is the best work of biography I've ever read (edging Monk's Wittgenstein) and it should shed light on the value of his work. Remembrance of Things Past is a Roman-fleuve and that should be inviting to any angler.
Hmm, maybe an outing at the Fario Club with Proust, Ritz, Creusevaut, and the fictional Robert de Saint-Loup followed by truite meuniere at the Pre- Catalan and a nightcap at Closerie des Lilas.

pittendrigh · Post by **pittendrigh** » 05/17/11 03:32

flyflkr wrote:If we wind up in heaven, or some spiritual place, after leaving this earth and there are trout streams there who of the legendary fly anglers, fly tyers, rod builders from the past would you most want to spend a day fishing with?

Frederick Halford--so I could teach him how fish with diving-lip flyrod wigglers.

seattlesetters · Post by **seattlesetters** » 05/17/11 13:48

I find fly fishing one of my most spirtual endeavors. Therefore, I hope to live long and enjoy enough health through those years to devote plenty of time on the stream to my family.....a wife and two daughters who both dearly love to fish.

When the time comes, God willing I'll leave those three behind happy and healthy, and fish once again with my father. He introduced me to fly fishing, and there isn't a fishing trip that goes into my history or a trout that goes into my memory that doesn't include thoughts and reflection on that fine man.

I'd also like to meet up for a few days on the river with Mariel Hemingway. I once had a very powerful dream about that woman, one where we were either married or an item (precisely which is unclear) and we spent all our time together hunting birds and fly fishing. I've no idea what the dream meant, if anything. But I've always wondered and thought and contemplated such, and I figure I owe it to myself to find out.

I'd then like to take in some aprés-fishing with her grand pappy, in the hope he'd regale us with stories from his expatriot days while teaching us a thing or two about having a proper sundowner.

Oxbow · Post by **Oxbow** » 05/18/11 05:43

Not in particular order: Robert Traver, Marty Keane, Charlie Fox

wb4tjh · Post by **wb4tjh** » 05/19/11 06:29

I wish I could fish with my father, who suffered a fatal heart attack in August, 1968. Dad always wanted to take a float trip down the White River in Arkansas, but we never got around to it. Since then, I have made many, many floats down the White, and each time I'm there I think, "This is for you, dad".

Serendipity · Post by **Serendipity** » 05/19/11 11:28

Marilyn Monroe. A float trip on the River of No Return.

richard

PaducahMichael · Post by **PaducahMichael** » 05/23/11 12:38

seattlesetters wrote:I find fly fishing one of my most spirtual endeavors. Therefore, I hope to live long and enjoy enough health through those years to devote plenty of time on the stream to my family.....a wife and two daughters who both dearly love to fish.

When the time comes, God willing I'll leave those three behind happy and healthy, and fish once again with my father. He introduced me to fly fishing, and there isn't a fishing trip that goes into my history or a trout that goes into my memory that doesn't include thoughts and reflection on that fine man.

I'd also like to meet up for a few days on the river with Mariel Hemingway. I once had a very powerful dream about that woman, one where we were either married or an item (precisely which is unclear) and we spent all our time together hunting birds and fly fishing. I've no idea what the dream meant, if anything. But I've always wondered and thought and contemplated such, and I figure I owe it to myself to find out.

I'd then like to take in some aprés-fishing with her grand pappy, in the hope he'd regale us with stories from his expatriot days while teaching us a thing or two about having a proper sundowner.

Might as well have been Eleanor Roosevelt if that's the case. I admire Ms. Hemingway, too, but....

Cane Head · Post by **Cane Head** » 05/23/11 13:01

My Grandmother Mamie, who was so named by me because at as a toddler I couldn't pronounce "Mariam." She was born Mariam, but died Mamie to all that knew her. She used a Zebco spin cast, minnows or worms, and a bobber. She had a blast. And so did I in the presence of her simple ways. She taught me about catch and release - "that one's not big enough or that one's too big." And when she had her full - she called it a day. Some days she just caught and shook them off the hook, back into the water. My step-grandfather and her often ended the day on a pond or a lake some where, in lawn chairs, under the shade of East Texas pines, playing with bass, crappie, shellcrackers, and goggle-eyed perch. She taught me the fun and the love of such simple pursuits. When I wanted to learn to use a fly rod, she drove me around to the hardware stores till we found one. While she considered it "Yankee Fish'n", she encouraged me to keep trying. In a time and place where such things were passed on by men, she made the biggest impact on my life. Fishing, a love of books, a good crossword puzzle, and making a mean fried apple pie were her legacies left to me.

Cane

seattlesetters · Post by **seattlesetters** » 05/23/11 13:26

PaducahMichael wrote:
seattlesetters wrote:I find fly fishing one of my most spirtual endeavors. Therefore, I hope to live long and enjoy enough health through those years to devote plenty of time on the stream to my family.....a wife and two daughters who both dearly love to fish.

When the time comes, God willing I'll leave those three behind happy and healthy, and fish once again with my father. He introduced me to fly fishing, and there isn't a fishing trip that goes into my history or a trout that goes into my memory that doesn't include thoughts and reflection on that fine man.

I'd also like to meet up for a few days on the river with Mariel Hemingway. I once had a very powerful dream about that woman, one where we were either married or an item (precisely which is unclear) and we spent all our time together hunting birds and fly fishing. I've no idea what the dream meant, if anything. But I've always wondered and thought and contemplated such, and I figure I owe it to myself to find out.

I'd then like to take in some aprés-fishing with her grand pappy, in the hope he'd regale us with stories from his expatriot days while teaching us a thing or two about having a proper sundowner.
Might as well have been Eleanor Roosevelt if that's the case. I admire Ms. Hemingway, too, but....

Ummmm....I kinda kept it G-rated since this is a family site and all ..... grin

HERMES2069 · Post by **HERMES2069** » 05/23/11 16:58

Freddy Prinz Jr.

B52 bugger · Post by **B52 bugger** » 05/26/11 08:02

1. My Dad, 2. Joe Brooks, 3. Charles Ritz, 4 Lefty Kreh add another Ted Trueblood

TXTrout · Post by **TXTrout** » 05/26/11 09:11

My Grandfather, W.P. who taught me to fish, and my uncle John who taught me to hunt and that I never was able to take that trip to BC with, for his life ended much too early. I dearly miss them both.

sbratt · Post by **sbratt** » 05/26/11 09:51

Ernst Hemingway
Surprised he really wasn't mentioned in the thread.

Ponsonby Britt · Post by **Ponsonby Britt** » 05/26/11 10:56

Jack Hemingway. A gillie that had guided him on the River Test held him in awe. I was told a story of Jack making twenty-four casts and landing twenty-two trout. The stories in between casts would be a hoot.

SecondHandWolf · Post by **SecondHandWolf** » 05/27/11 08:31

Andre Puyans or Gary Howells on Silver Creek . . . or Glen Bracket on Rock Creek .

Secondhandwolf