In the world of professional fly fishing and guiding there is no more anticipated time of the year than the Spring. The busiest season of the year. The Spring trips on my calendar are the  benchmark that can determine my success for the entire year. The loss of the 2020 Spring season will be difficult to survive for my modest guide service. But it is a nothing when considering the gravity and scale of what New York and the country is going through right now.

Most frustrating is not all the cancelled fishing trips. It is being stuck here at home. The degree of suffering and hardship felt by so many fellow New Yorkers weighs heavy on my mind. And there is little I can do to help.

My blog could serve as some sort of entertainment for a few people. Perhaps take your mind off the place you find yourself confined within. Or provide a mental vacation from your current situation. Over the course of the next few weeks I will write about fishing and hunting topics that are of interest to me and maybe to you.

Opinion is always involved and while I may not be the best at crafting paragraphs, I do enjoy blogging. It is cathartic? Not the right word. It is a great avenue to share my often ridiculous way of looking at the world and the “business” of hunting and fishing.

This past March I had two speaking engagements scheduled with local Trout Unlimited Chapters. The topic I was to discuss was Stillwater Fly Fishing Techniques. As I prepared the presentation a friend gave me his advice. He said “Talk a little more about yourself. People find it entertaining to gain some insight into the person standing in front of them pretending to be an expert”.

Talking about myself, or writing about myself, is something I have never been ambitious to do. The bio page on my web site makes me squirm and is a piece of writing I did not enjoy creating. But people want to know I suppose. They want to know who you are and what is your story. Or maybe they don’t. I don’t know. But every guide who has a website has a biography page of some sort.

So I took my friends advice and I sat down and wrote a couple short essays. Due to Covid-19, the TU banquets never happened. The personal essays were never read. Perhaps I was spared the embarrassment of reciting what could have been interpreted as sappy and self-promoting. I figured I would never know.

A small handful of people who have followed my blogs have by now gleaned that I don’t care too much what people think. And blogging is as much for me as it is for anyone else. I hope you enjoy my ramblings and I hope you and your family stay safe and healthy and strong together in the weeks ahead.

Peace

Mike