Why Fish Wednesday: The Interview Edition

Thus far, my semi-regular posts of Why Fish Wednesday has featured quotes from historical figures in the sport, notes from books, musings on the majesty of the sport. However, today I am taking a different turn. This is the interview edition. Interviews on blogs and fly fishing interwebs seem to be cropping up with more frequency. I have it my own mind to do some interviews, but have not gotten around to it, and well now it seems that others are ahead of the game. So, I wanted to highlight a few. Of course there are podcasts such as the Itenerant Angler or The Fish Schtick, but the interviews I want to highlight are textual, and I think there is something refreshing about seeing and reading someone else's words. It takes a bit more to pen pithy responses to hard thought questions.

The first of note is a semi-regular series by the dudes over at Chi-Wulff: "People of Fly Fishing". From the moment I first stumbled upon the Chi Wulff Blog, I was impressed by the thoughtful nature of the commentary from Mark, Jake, and more recently Quinn. Their interviews are certainly just as thoughtful. I had the pleasure of answering their questions. I have to admit they took some time to answer in any short and pithy way fit for the short attention spans of the blog-o-sphere. The folks they are choosing are some who I would not have heard of before, others who I have, all of whom have varied perspectives on our sport, industry, and the challenges of fly fishing and conservation into the future.

The second is a brand new series worth highlighting. This one comes as a bit of a gratuitous plug for Recycled Fish. But hey, as a board member, I can do that right!? Anyway, they've started a nifty series highglight the "steward of the week." With that plan comes an interview, or interview questions turned into an article about the person. This week's steward of the week is April Vokey and as you can read, she is on a recent tear to raise awareness about the threats to the Skeena Headwaters. Her interview highlights how "why we fly fish" has as much or should have as much to do with "why we engage in conservation." As I have argued elsewhere, if you aren't doing both, then get off the water. Afterall, though, fishing gives us so very much we can at least give something back to the waters that sooth our soul or keep us out of trouble. Unlike the other two series highlighted here, this weekly not of praise will span the world of fishing from fly to ice.

Finally, I have recently been enjoying reading the back files of "20 Questions" on Eat More Brook Trout. If you don't know the blog, I would highly encourage you to spend some time with it. Chris Hunt is a great writer with a fantastic view of problems facing our waters around the west. And he should, as he is Director of Communications for Trout Unlimited. Chris's 20 Questions lighten the mood, with inquiries that drift toward fun to personal, wondering what qualities the interviewee might deplore most in him or herself. But in the process, the answers always got to more serious points in the world of fishing and conservation.

Each of these sources of interviews takes different tactics at getting to know the people of fishing, why they fish, and how their work might engage the good fight of fisheries conservation. Sometimes the people interviewed are pretty known in the fly fishing world. Other times, the interviewee might be someone a bit more anonymous, but who is out there doing good work.

In the end, I would encourage you to take some time to read said blogs, spend some time on the interviews, learn about the issues confronting anglers and fisheries conservation and what people are doing about it all. Or, if you are simply curious as to what is the idea of perfect happiness is for someone like Russ Schnitzer, then these are an equally enjoyable read. No matter what they are great reads and who knows you migh learn something new about your fellow anglers, bloggers, good fight fighters!

There might be other such blog series out there, if so, let me know I would love to keep a tally and add to my reading list!

 

Comments

[Chris Hunt]

Thanks Sam, for the plug! What started as way to keep content going as things got busy at the 'day job' has turned into something pretty cool. Glad you enjoy it!

[Cheap uggs]

That difference continued as my wife Yukari Watanabe Scott and I checked in and explored the property. It seemed so perfect that we had to find out why. So we met with Ana Maria Nordgren and Oliver Geldner to learn more.

[True Religion outlet]

so we were anxious to see if we could find any remnants of the mine now located on Washington State Parks property. It's on the south side of the Green River just east of Flaming Geyser State Park. Thanks to Gomer's memory and the sleuthing/bushwacking skills of our team, I think that we did great and now have a pretty good understanding of how this facility all laid out - at least at the big picture level.