It’s been a week, precisely one week since I last wet a line. Dear God. I can’t imagine methamphetamine withdrawal is any worse than the jones of a flyflinger who cannot fling his or her flies. Freaking rain! Sure, we needed it. The river was getting a little on the low side, and around here […]

In the darkest corners of the darkest places there is whispered an old, politically-incorrect adage about marriage. Such colorful anecdotes have passed out of vogue; we’re told that men belittle both women and themselves when using such devisive language. Here goes. “Men want a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen, and […]

Several of my previous posts have referred to a river (THE river in fact), and I think I’ve gone out of my way to give the impression that it is indeed a special place. Much of what makes it special is its propensity for growing large, wild trout. It’s a wonderfully complex river, and a […]

I find myself wondering how they do it. Writers, I mean. From where do they draw their inspiration? How do they choose the right words once they’re blessed with an idea? I’ve been staring at my laptop for twenty or thirty minutes, and I am at an impasse. Tabula rasa. Completely blank. It’s almost embarrassing. […]

The narrator of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club, and his alter-ego Tyler Durden, would make fine fishermen. Why? They’ve the good sense to keep their collective, dissociatively disordered mouths shut. Silence is the first rule of Fight Club. Silence is the second rule of Fight Club. “You don’t talk about Fight Club” (For the sake […]

In the fascinating world of literary criticism, an anti-hero is any character in a dramatic work who lacks the noble qualities of a typical Romantic hero. Anti-heroes are often weak, unsuccessful, and sexually impotent. They’re pathetic, and in being pathetic they endear themselves to their audience. Anti-heroes are Everyman. They’re the guy who gets laid-off […]

This Memorial Day weekend I find myself thinking of the men with whom I served: Fitzpatrick, Kowalski, Magana, Sgt. Johnson, Capt. Moyer and so many others. I wonder where they are. More to the point, I wonder how they are. I’m sure that even as I write, several of them are walking the streets of […]

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Looking back over some of my previous posts, I am struck by just how improbable many of my stories must seem. I live in a quiet corner of upstate New York, only thirty odd minutes from the capitol city of Albany. I’m about two or three hours north of New York City. Many fly flingers […]

Looking back over some of my previous posts, I am struck by just how improbable many of my stories must seem. I live in a quiet corner of upstate New York, only thirty odd minutes from the capitol city of Albany. I’m about two or three hours north of New York City. Many fly flingers […]