Steelhead Variations, Part Last
May 18, 2007
“Let’s drink to fishing,” Bill said.
“All right,” Nick said. “Gentlemen, I give you fishing.”
“All fishing,” Bill said. “Everywhere.”
“Fishing,” Nick said. “That’s what we drink to.”
-Ernest Hemingway, The Three Day Blow
We came a long way for this fish.
It’s not that she tailed out in one of the prettiest sections of one of the prettiest rivers we’ve fished. It’s not that we could see our faces in her skin. It’s not that she danced across the water on her tail. It’s not even that she was three feet long.
It’s because she was BV’s first steelhead.
You should have seen his face. Actually, I think the grin’s still there.
I caught a lot of fish two weekends ago, but I’m proudest of this one.
She’s what we call a Trip Fish. She’s the reason we made the trip, then she in turn made the trip.
Nick Adams would drink to that.
The Mad Fishicist 
I’m sure Jessica is proud! Congratulations on such a beautiful shot of “the trip fish”.
That fish is H-U-G-E!!! Congratulations.
Cheers!
True.
In much the same way, I look forward to a trip for the Trip Song, the Trip Laugh, and the Trip Cry.
Wow, that is really a huge fish. Congrats!!
That’s an astounding fish. I think watching it being played and landed would demonstrate to anyone why we can get excited about “all fishing…everywhere.”
That is a sweet fish and tale.
Nick Adams indeed.
Wow. I can only imagine that was the fish of the trip, if not of a lifetime.
Love the Hemingway quote as well. One of my favorites of his short stories, a perfect encapsulation of boys being men.
Nick Adams
I bought In Our Time at a used bookstore when I was in High School. First Hemingway I’d ever read. And I read it a lot. I had a professor in college who sought out the Big Two Hearted River with some buddies. He said he clawed his way through thick brush and almost killed himself, but he was confident he found Nick’s hole.
MAD