Mountain stream salvation

Time well spent

I meant to include a link and excerpt from this excellent article, Brook Trouting Through Armageddon, by Matt Labash sooner. Such are the vagaries of a meandering mind, lacking better personal organization skills.

Brook trout fishing in the local mountain streams has long been my pursuit of solace and a shield against the assaults of what passes for civilization these days. And while I can often find wisdom in the words of Al Swearengen against those assaults in episodes of Deadwood, he has yet to offer comments on virtues of brook trout fishing. Enter Labash.

Labash, in his inimitable style, tells how a day in pursuit of brook trout helps give him a chance to clear his mind. Many of you understand the value of such days well. Here’s some of what Labash had to say.

“So me and my youngest son, Dean, went there last week to get some (then let them go). Brook trout tend to only live in cool, clean, well-oxygenated water, and so, by way of fishing for them, you become cleaner by extension. When you’re crusted over by all the grime, sometimes it helps to rub up against real beauty for the contact high, just to remind yourself of the possibilities that our flawed world still holds.”

In praising brook trout Labash shares an anecdote from Nick Karas and quotes Lefty Kreh, reason enough to read the article. His description of fishing with his son stirred memories of days with my dad and taught me a similar lesson.

“Like I have something more important than a son. I have a fishing buddy for life, who will know when and how the world needs escaping, the same as I do.”

Ending where he starts, noting the need to get away, Labash quotes John Gierach,

“Still, there are days when fishing feels like a job because it’s hard and because it seems necessary, even if it’s not always clear why. And anyway, it’s good for a writer to have something physical to do that’s away from the desk and seems important.”

With too many days behind a desk between my fishing trips, I echo both Labash’s and Gierach’s sentiments.

Read the whole, wonderful article, you’ll be glad you did.

I also wrote a piece, Brook trout and clean water, about why these magnificent critters are worth fighting for.