In Episode 173 we WadeOutThere with Chris Coole from Toronto, Ontario. Chris grew up fishing with his uncle for walleye, bass, and musky as a child until the mystique of fly fishing captured his imagination. About the same time Chris got his hands on a fly rod, he picked up a banjo. That was over thirty years ago, and they’ve been part of his life ever since.
Chris’s love of fly fishing makes its way into many of the songs and tunes he writes in the forms of places and feelings. His work has given him the opportunity to travel the world as a professional musician, who always seems to find a way to wet a line on the road. Chris is both a solo artist and a member of “The Lonesome Ace Stringband.”
We discuss the value of keeping things simple in music and fly fishing in pursuit of falling into the flow, and the traditions and variations that have been passed down in both fiddle tunes and fly fishing.
In Episode 172 we WadeOutThere with Jeff Feczko from Baja, Mexico. Jeff grew up in Ithaca, New York where his grandfather was his earliest teacher and supporter in fishing. He picked up a fly rod at an early age and had a knack for casting and tying, with a love for the functionality of the new art he was creating on the vise.
As he got older Jeff went to Alaska to fish and eventually ended up guiding there, spending his time during the off season in exotic locations chasing fish. He fell in love with Baja and decided to make a go of guiding there full time, where he still is today. Jeff is also a signature tyer for Rio.
We discuss fly fishing for Roosterfish in Baja and the importance of teamwork.
In this episode we WadeOutThere with Ashley Weber from Florida’s East Coast. Ashley grew up fishing in the Indian River Lagoon system along the “space coast” of Florida where she developed a deep connection with the ocean and salt water fish.
Keep on moving. Because the good things out there don’t always come to us. Alejandro Feliciano knows this from his time walking the beaches of Puerto Rico, where the fish are always there, you just have to go find them. Whether we’re searching for a fish to tighten our line or a new river to explore, it seems nature provides, so long as we go searching.
In this episode we Wadeoutthere with Marcos Mazzola from South Florida. Marcos began his fly fishing journey wading and fishing from a skiff in the saltwater flats with his close friend from school who also became his fly fishing mentor. As he progressed as a fly fisher, his photography passion began to become more and more intertwined with his love of the outdoors.
Beyond. How do we end up beyond that place in our fly fishing journey where most would consider reasonable. Fly fishing takes all of us on different adventures and after different fish, but sometimes we hang up on something like Mike Ward did with Permit. Sometimes, something keeps our attention and we keep digging.
There is something about the doing of it that makes fly fishing special. About going deeper into a world and connecting with something special at a basic, visceral level. When I look at the mountain, I see it from a distance. I know the river flows below beneath it, and that trout sway in its currents and seams. I know it, just as I know that fish swim in the sea. When I gaze at the beauty in the waves and colors and sounds of the ocean I see it as I see the mountains and rivers and forests. Out there.