No drag, just drift
Striving to get even with the flow
CFStrians: The thermometer hit 80 this week, and I got out to fish. It was a kid trip to the pond, but all the same, I cast a rod, heard the birds, and got some mosquito bites on my ankles because I insisted on sandals. Spring is near.
Coming up fast ⏰: The Maupin Meetup and the book club discussion are happening in the next few months.
You can see the whole Current Flow State events calendar here. Get involved!
The quest for drag-free drift
Nick Parish
In the beginning...there was DRIFT.
All was right in the world. Things moved at their own speed. Some fast, some slow.
All beings were connected to a central vibration, while acting of their own accord. FLOW was ever-present.
Playful ANGLERS roamed the land, frolicking with their fellow creatures, using rod and line.
Until the day one angler crossed an invisible barrier, and began to assert dominance over his fellow creatures. This angler started keeping score. And their paradise was forever changed.
A mighty disturbance crossed the land, bringing forth a strong force of disruption from flow. The world heralded the dark coming of wicked and vexatious DRAG.
Drag pulled everything false out of the flow, and flung the reality of their artifice back at the anglers. It showed the puppet strings, the falsity of even child-like endeavors to fool nature. Nature could no longer be fooled, even in fun. Lo, the anglers were sad.
After many years of frustration and question, one angler gave up. There was no hope. They threw it all away.
But all was not lost, because in throwing it all away they discovered SLACK. For the first time, the angler could cast and evade drag. It took a couple whiles to dial in just how much slack to apply, but for some reason just enough slack fooled drag, and allowed them to touch the flow that once was, and sometimes fool nature's swimming creatures.
This, cousin of flow, the angler named DRIFT. They began to spread the news of DRAG-FREE DRIFT to all who would listen, and see the wake-free flies floating along as if untethered.
They roamed the land, casting and telling their tale, to try and help all reach the exalted state experienced by anglers everywhere before the fall.
Peek inside an Intro to Fly Fishing class
Earlier this year I got a note out of the blue from a student at PCC, a fellow angler, who had to produce a documentary on a PCC class. He chose ours! Here's the result:
Nick Parish
Leaders ➰
Mindset 🧘♂️
Betteridge's law of headlines states that any headline ending in a question mark can be answered "No". Thus when Hatch magazine asks "Can fly fishing for trout change your life?" then the answer must be no. It's true. Fly-fishing for anything can change your life. (link)
Environment ⛰️
Penn State researchers have found brook trout gene expression changes based on experience of heat stress, suggesting there's a heritable genetic opportunity to adapt to warmer water. (link)
Dump DOGE, buy BEAV: How eight beavers saved the government $1.2mm. (link)
As fish move up the old canal in Utrecht, Netherlands to spawn in spring, the canal lock is often closed. So, someone installed a webcam, and site visitors can ring the Fish Doorbell to alert the lock keeper to allow them passage. (link)
Tools 🎣
Fish finding devices are getting smaller and smaller, and now folks are questioning the ethics of livescoping / forward-facing sonar in tracking trophy fish. (link)
Technique 🤺
Fourteen PNW steelhead guides weigh in: What knot to rule them all? (link)
Conservation 🌲
The International Rights of Nature Tribunal is hearing cases on behalf of the earth and its creatures. (link)
A conversation on Big Tech data centers and who foots the bill when generating all those AI images somehow doesn't touch on their water use. (link) Previously: 100 words generated by ChatGPT requires enough electricity to power 14 LED light bulbs for 1 hour, and one bottle of water to cool the servers. (link)
Portland's Metro purchases 533 acres around Eagle Creek in the Clackamas watershed. (link)
Community 🏘️
South Africa's Mission fly-fishing magazine puts out an all-timer for its 50th issue. (link)
As of 2023, women make up 31 percent of fly anglers. Here's how anglers find solace on the water during a female-only fly-fishing retreat. (link)
Patrick Berry, CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers makes an appeal for public lands: "We must ask ourselves if some things are worth more than money: health, family, friendships, experiences, knowledge, resilience, self-reliance, peace of mind, sense of purpose, responsibility, and the personal fulfillment of sustainably feeding your family? These are the unquantifiable outcomes of time spent recreating on America’s public lands." (link)
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