Field Notes - Dispatch 26 – Rose
Cottage, Idaho
Friday October 27, 2015
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
I am sure that you have been following
the pool hall rumors about the possibility of an award coming my way.
Well, it is time to remove the cat from the bag and officially
announce that it is true. I have been awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize
for Trout Fishing!
Of course I was informed of the
decision several weeks ago but was asked to keep it under my lucky
fishing hat until the political dust that always accompanies this
sort of thing had settled. It is a great honor and I am grateful to
my family, fellow fishing guides, and Trout Camp students for their
support over these long, and I must say, challenging decades.
The award was bestowed upon me for my
ground-breaking work in grafting multiple reels to a single fly rod.
Although the math and theory of the work remains beyond the
comprehension of most laymen, such as yourself, the gist of the
matter is that now several times as many trout can be landed using
multiple fly lines and trout flies on a single rod. Obviously, this
will have significant repercussions in third world countries like
Montana where people are desperate for additional protein in their
beer-based diets.
On the second of November, MR and I
will fly from Salt Lake City to a place called Prague which, as I
understand it, is somewhere east of Denver. We will also be doing a
float trip on the Danube River which is rumored to contain excellent
tail waters occupied by some very nice European trout. I will be
taking my favorite, and only, fly rod, “Old Trout Slayer,” and I
hope to have an enjoyable and rewarding trip. My only concern is
that we will be traveling on a Viking river boat rather than a
ClakaCraft drift boat and I understand the local guides are,
unfortunately, bait fishermen. Nevertheless, I will do my best to
uphold the reputation of the classic American Western dry fly
fisherman.
We will be gone a couple of weeks and
I hope to be in telegraphic communication with you all from those
rustic, castle encrusted, lands. One of the highlights of the trip
that I am particularly looking forward to will be a stop in Vienna
where I believe the little sausages, a mainstay of all fisherman, are
made. I will try to get a snapshot of the factory.
MR, of course, is breathless with
excitement over the impending journey. She is all in a flutter over
what to wear. I told her that I have found that a nice fly vest and
some new waders are appropriate in most social situations and have
served me well over the years, including at our wedding. Certainly
the Europeans could not expect more.
Apparently, I am expected to make an
acceptance speech at the awards ceremony. As you know, I am somewhat
reticent about putting myself forward and it is only under duress
that I have accepted this task. I prefer to let my casting speak for
me in most instances. Nevertheless, I have made a few notes that
should allow me to speak for about two hours. I will begin with my
formative years as a young fishing prodigy when I invented the wicker
fishing creel and move forward from that point. It should be quite a
scintillating speech and I anticipate great applause. I am thinking
that these lecture notes may form the basis of my upcoming
autobiography, Small Streams, Big Dreams: A Life of
Adventure. Penguin is already sniffing around for publishing
rights.
Well friends, that is my happy
announcement and travel plans. I look forward to my return when I
hope to regale you will many exciting tales from the old country.
Over and out. I hope you are all
adventuring.
