I didn’t reconnect with fishing until I started going to Community College after High School.  It was around this time I started to get panic attacks too.  While I was on medical leave from work due to the frequency and severity of my panic attacks, I turned to a pastime I had almost forgotten…fishing.  I went through a progression which probably sounds vaguely familiar to other anglers which is wanting to catch lots of fish, then certain species of fish, then large fish, then fish in beautiful places, then beautiful fish in beautiful places.  Now here’s the twist…I started to notice the more I fished,  the less frequent my panic attacks got.  Now I’ve successfully weened myself off medication thanks to the proper dose of being in the great outdoors fishing.

Once Anthony helped the fly fishing bug bite me, my recently rejuvenated hobby evolved into a deeply rooted sense of joy that is too profound to describe, which brings me to the subject of this post…What if I already had this passion for fly fishing when I was younger?  When I was in grade and middle school, each Summer my parents would drop my brother and me off at my Dad’s parents estate which was in a town called McAllister located Northwest of Marinette, WI and Menominee, MI.  The population was around 100 and each homeowner had 100’s of acres of the Great North Woods.  The Menominee River, Pike, Oconto, Peshtigo, countless Menominee Tribs, and blue ribbon water in all directions, are all draws to this area including the odd black bear sighting to remind you just how wild and remote the North Woods are.  When I graduated from High School I took a month long RV trip to Glacier National Park, then went up into BC & Alberta to check out the surrounding Banff area…came down through Washington and stayed in and around Mt St Helen’s National Park, came back through the Tetons and Yellowstone, and finally back to good ol’ Northeast Illinois.  That month long trip with a fly rod would have been the trip of a lifetime.  I still consider it a trip of a lifetime.  My brother and I also did a 2 week camping trip to Yellowstone and Glacier Nat’l Park…and camped right on Slough Creek without even wetting a line!!!

I experimented with making my own painted eyes

Last year I felt a very strong primal impulse to retrace my younger self’s footsteps with a fly rod.  Not to see what the fishing was like, but to establish a deeper and more meaningful connection with places I loved as a kid with a fly rod…because they have history, great memories, and helped shape me into the person I am today.  Okay, okay…the fishing is awesome in all these areas I mentioned, and I do want to know what the fishing is like, BUT that truly takes a back seat to the connection I’m yearning to accomplish from these places.

I have big plans that revolve around all of these places in my future.  My girlfriend and I  are going to spend 2 weeks in the Yellowstone/Teton area next year and I can’t wait.  Maybe this weekend or the next I’ll be camping around my grandparents old house McAllister, WI.  I’ll be walking trails with my girlfriend and sneaking out to fish for Smallies when I can.  Maybe even get to float a small stretch.

Pike Fly

I love tying flies for bigger fishing outings.  To me, one of the most gratifying draws of fly fishing is creating as many significant connections as you can to increase your level of enjoyment on the water.  Whether it’s the solitude, wilderness, and scenery that are significantly connected or tying that special fly for your upcoming trip…that special beautiful fly you slaved over meticulously just to see the beautiful combination of materials hang out of the fish’s mouth.  With the Menominee in mind, I tied some new bass and pike flies for the trip.  I know the Menominee is famous for it’s crayfish population, an invasive species I think, so I’ll have to try bouncing a few patterns I tied last year off the bottom of rocky stretches after I’ve fished  the top.