Northwest Fishing Magazine July 2025 Volume 4 Issue 9 - Flipbook - Page 17
gear
I’d never given it much
thought until recently, a
thought drifted up from
my subconscious. This
epiphany revealed to my
satisfaction a reason for
my deep peace and joy
I experienced floating
rivers on my pontoon.
“Huckleberry Finn”. The
childhood memory
engulfed me, and I realized,
all these years later, what
a profound influence Mark
Twain had on my life, all
from a book I read many
years ago in my childhood.
I would be lying if I told you
I remembered any specific
details that I read, rather, it
was a realization that the
journey of Huck Fin and
Tom Sawyer, floating down
the Mississippi, had etched
into my spirit a longing
for adventures, pondering
what lies around the next
bend, floating effortlessly
on a liquid highway, seeing
new sights and connecting
with nature, and my
essence, in a way that
gave me a level of serenity
essential to my very being,
Now, so many years later, I
see that it was natural for
me to combine fishing with
adventures. Indeed, from
childhood on, I’ve found
my true moments of peace
outdoors. Adding fishing
to the equation gave me
a purpose, an excuse,
and as I travelled through
the decades of my life, I
instinctively gravitated to
the combination of fishing
with outdoor adventures.
Canoes and overnight
trips were the stuff of
my early travels, whether
a five-day float down
Wisconsin’s Kickapoo River,
or paddling and portaging
the Boundary Waters of
Minnesota, I saw the beauty
of the outdoors, catching
fish along the way. Casting
a small Mepps up against a
sandstone wall and feeling
a beautiful brown trout
bend my budget friendly
spinning rod, pulling line
off the reel, or tossing a
topwater spinner into a
weedy
