Our theme for the month of June is “Celebrities and Me.” Writers were asked to select and write about a celebrity with whom they feel some connection.
As a kid, I always looked forward to the annual May fishing trip with my dad, my grandpa, and my uncles. On the drive up north, my brother and I read books and took in the I-75 roadside scenery as it changed from hardwood forest to ferns and white pines. During the day, we took the boat to the far side of the lake and watched the fish finder reveal an underwater world pinging with pixelated fish icons. Worm slime stuck to my fingers as I scrupulously watched my bobber float red on the water’s surface, waiting for a nibble. At night we played Texas hold ‘em, sat by the campfire, and told stories. It all smelled like cedar, wood smoke, and grilled walleye.
It’s been years since I’ve thought about fishing again, but earlier this summer I bought a fly rod and figured I would give fishing a try again. There was a snag in my plan, though. I figured fly fishing was supposed to be simple, that it was all about simplicity; however, it turns out it’s the most jargon-filled, technique-dependent, frustration-inducing hobby I could have haphazardly chosen to pick up. On top of that, it involves flinging metal hooks around in the air. Approachable sport? No. Slightly terrifying? Yes.
So where did I turn to break through the mess? That’s right, the almighty source of DIY knowledge: YouTube. Brian from YouTube taught me to tie clinch knots. Brian taught me to roll cast. Brian taught me to read a river and find fish. After a few weeks of studiously watching his how-to videos, I feel like I know Brian Flechsig from Mad River Outfitters personally. It feels like he’s one of my uncles. Like he beat me in poker the other night. Like he’s the uncle that snores so I don’t like him, but he’s also the uncle that catches all the fish so I gotta be on his good side. The internet is strange that way, how it can make you feel connected to someone you’ve never met.
Over the past week, I’ve been putting Brian’s tips and tricks to practice. In Western North Carolina, the high-elevation streams are chock-full of trout. For five days I fished; for five days I came up short with no trout. Even with no fish, it’s been addicting to the point that I woke up at 5:30 in the morning without an alarm the other day to go fishing before work (I didn’t catch anything).
But then it happened. I felt calm as I approached the stream, carefully stepping down the rocky bank. I approached the deep pool at the base of an absolutely perfect waterfall bound to hold some fish. I felt certain that if I was going to catch my first trout, it was then. I heard Brian’s advice in the back of my head. Don’t try too hard. Relax. I loosened my grip on the cork rod handle and sent a few casts into the pool. No bites at first, but I knew if there were fish in the pool they’d be right next to the oxygen-rich bubbling current, not in the stiller waters on the sides. I needed to get my cast further out into the seam of bubbles. The cast had to be soft enough that it wouldn’t scare the fish but with enough force to actually get the lure out past the pool’s shallower edges.
My fly bobbed in the undulating current from the waterfall, then went under with a plop. I jerked on the rod and felt resistance—I had a fish! It flashed a white belly under the water and curled back and forth across the pool. As I pulled it to shore, I saw its red lower fins and the maze-like pattern of dark markings across its top—this was a native brook trout. With a quick removal of the hook, I took in the beauty of the fish. It’s scales gleamed a bluish purple iridescence in the light, splotched with yellow and pink spots. I placed the fish back in the water and it torpedoed back to the deep reaches of the pool.
Brian, thank you for making fly fishing more accessible. I’d be lost without your videos. For a follow-up series, do you think you could go over repayment strategies for tackling student debt?
Jon Gorter (‘17) graduated from Calvin with degrees in English and environmental studies and holds an MS in natural resources from the University of Michigan. He enjoys fly fishing, mushroom foraging, and waterfall scrambling near his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
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Ah, I was tricked. I was slightly hoping someone would write about a family member. Ah well. Still a fun read. The internet is a strange place indeed where it can make people feel closer, make information closer, but yet it’s still only as accessible as we let it.
(I also appreciate how this was more of an “adventure” piece than a “biography” piece, if that makes sense at all). A nice diversion.