WRITING ON THE FLY
By GEORGE LISET, Writing on the Fly
Looking back on this past year I wonder where it went?
It seems like I just finished doing my taxes and now they are due again. The year just flew by, but fortunately I crammed a lot of fishing and traveling in.
The year before last one of my New Year’s resolutions was to fish at least once a week all year. The reason I did that was to make up for all the times I didn’t get to fish when I was working.
I only missed a couple of weeks because there were a few weeks where the temperatures were below freezing and probably closer to zero, and that’s no fun. Your line freezes not to mention everything else on your body.
This year I just wanted to fish as much as possible and to fish some new waters which I was able to do. I define new waters as a place I’ve never fished before. So that meant a new river, pond or lake that I had never been to before or a new section of river that I hadn’t fished before. I spent much of the summer and fall fly fishing the Mount Washington Valley.
My first stop is always the North Country Angler fly shop to see my friend Steve Anger for all the inside info on what rivers are fishing well and what flies seem to be hot. Steve has free maps for customers of the valley that show what areas to fish. The shop is always busy but Steve always makes time for everyone, especially those who are just starting out. It is hard to learn something new like fly fishing without a little guidance and without feeling like an idiot. I’ve been there. I still have days on the river where I can’t get out of my own way and hope no one is watching.
Mount Washington Valley is a beautiful place to fish and I had some good luck. I caught some nice Brown Trout in the Saco River with my six weight and some beautiful little Brook Trout in the Ellis and the Peabody Rivers with my three weight. I love using my three weights on the smaller rivers with a small wet fly or sometimes a dry fly. The scenery never gets old and I usually never bump into other fly fishers.
Fly fishing is about places and people, and this year I lost three good friends. Two I knew well and another I didn’t know but felt like I did. John Swider Jr. (Swides) was a college friend that I played football with. John was really smart and had the knack of finding adventure. Needless to say, my time in college was not boring. We spent one summer in the North woods of Wisconsin taking classes and working at Honey Rock Camp. The Greatest Swedish gift to me, other than getting me out of my shell, was to share his wonderful family with me.
Francis “Frank” Gray lived in Columbia/ Colebrook, New Hampshire. We taught together before he retired and headed north. Frank and his wife Olive lived right next to the Columbia covered bridge. Frank would always have home-made donuts ready when my son Reed and I fished Pittsburg. We would visit on the way up and back. The Columbia bridge was the first covered bridge that I fished. Our trip will be a little sadder next year when we make our trek to Pittsburg.
My third friend that I never knew but felt like I did was North Country publisher and writer John Harrigan. I became familiar with John when he was writing an outdoor column for the New Hampshire Sunday News. John was quintessential New Hampshire. He wrote in a way that made one want to get off their duff and explore New Hampshire. His column Woods, Water and Wildlife was a reading staple. John’s writing inspired myself and countless others.
I hope this New Year will be a great and healthy year for you. That you have success and fun on the water, and as I sit down to do my taxes, I hope that one of those new IRS guys don’t come knocking on your door.
George Liset of Dover is an award-winning outdoor writer and avid fly fisherman who shares insights of his time on the water exploring New Hampshire streams and rivers as well of those around New England. George is a graduate of Wheaton College, Illinois, and the University of New Hampshire. His column Writing on the Fly has been honored by the New England Press Association and the New Hampshire Press Association.
