http://trueslant.com/scottbowen/2009/10/14/being-fashionably-fly-at-christmas-time/

Wonder if my wife wants one of these?

Back in high school, a friend of mine was an avid fly fisher. When we wanted to go out, he would sometimes stay home and tie flies. I made fun of him endlessly for this. He also would go about a block away from his house and fly fish in a little stream called Barton Creek. At the time, fishing for me was about getting huge bass or catfish on bait. Again, I would kid him for messing with the little “minnows” in his nearby stream.

Now that I’m older and moved back to the area that I grew up in, I thought I would try out the little minnow stream in Lost Creek. I’m very happy I did. It’s an easy access, beautiful little stream. I posted some pics below of a couple of my recent trips. My son went with me on the first visit. Although he didn’t catch anything (and he’s getting to be a pretty good caster for a 7 yr old), he thoroughly enjoyed wading in the stream.

I went back after work on Friday as it’s on my way home. As long as the water stays in the creek, I think I may spend a lot more time there. And sorry Scot for being such an ass as a kid. You had the right idea.

Yes, in the back of my mind, I thought just maybe…. I’ll run off to Alaska and ditch all my responsibilities to spend every waking hour on the water either catching monster fish or helping others land the fish of their lifetime. Little did I know about the non-stop non-fishing work, the poop, and the unappreciative whiners.

The Alaska Chronicles by Miles Nolte is a candid look at the joy of guiding in one of the worlds most beautiful places and all the mundane and sometimes disgusting tasks that go with the job. The book was assembled from semi-daily journal posts that he did for the awesome Drake magazine. Some days postings are very short and just an expansion on something he was thinking about that day. Other chapters are detailed, often hilarious descriptions of a day or trip assignment.

I found the book to be interesting all the way through. Unfortunately, I wish Miles spent more time in Alaska as I read it in a couple of days. Here’s hoping Miles will go back next season.