swimmy
An honest tune with a lingering lead
Good to see you made it here Swimmy. This is a very nice tribute. Except “Useless” is spelled wrong! Lol.
Blame it on some random clerk at the Kum & Go in Rock Springs, WY
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Good to see you made it here Swimmy. This is a very nice tribute. Except “Useless” is spelled wrong! Lol.
But . . . the little fella IS sticking his tongue out . . . . I believe that OMJ would approve.Wait a minute ! (a calf has no middle finger)
Bill threw some likes at previous posts in this thread. He is around.BTW. Does anyone know where @flybill is? He and Old Man were friends. He’s not been here for almost a month. I wonder if he knows. I did hear from Freestone. (I miss her too.) She was very sad to get the news.
To honor Jim and his love of little blue lines, Sue drove as far up a nearby river as she could and then hiked even further. There she landed an absolutely beautiful 18'' brown trout! It might have been too big for the stream but was a trophy for where it was. In the past couple of years we have proven that there are some 17-18'' fish in our tiny little streams and she is good at hooking them. It is a treat to watch her fish skinny water.BTW. Does anyone know where @flybill is? He and Old Man were friends. He’s not been here for almost a month. I wonder if he knows. I did hear from Freestone. (I miss her too.) She was very sad to get the news.
O.K.I just this evening learned of Jim's passing. I never fished with or met him on the river. I don't think he liked me much as he didn't like bullshit. The no bullshit craft and quality I never mastered as I'm steeped in bullshit and traffic in it often. I liked Jim though. I even liked it when he told me I was an idiot or some other equivalent. Learning over the years about Jim's life it seemed a full one to me and well lived. I am bummed he didn't get to reconnect with his daughter for both their sakes. In the end tomorrow isn't a guarantee and today is really a gift. Tight lines Jim.
Oh man he's going to hate this. He tried the saltwater once and ruined all his shit as he loved to tell every time he (for some reason) wandered to the saltwater forum or anyone brought up saltwater. RIP Jim.He reminds me of a true treasured gemstone ...a rough tumbled river agate that finally made it to the sea.
Oh man he's going to hate this. He tried the saltwater once and ruined all his shit as he loved to tell every time he (for some reason) wandered to the saltwater forum or anyone brought up saltwater. RIP Jim.
Great words Chad. I remember some of your entertaining back & forth with Jim and wondered if you had seen this. I love your idea for the summer.Damn. I'm not on the forums a lot these days. One of the first things I do when I come back after a long break is to check and see if the Old Man is still kicking. Was so sad to hear of his passing - but like many of you, not surprised.
We didn't have a lot in common beyond fly fishing. I was much younger than him when we first met (sooo much younger....) and had a happy marriage and young kids that I actually enjoyed being around. I'm a person of faith and family above fly fishing. Yet fly fishing is part of me. And that was enough to connect us at the end of the day.
I started on WFF about the same time he did many moons ago. He was already an Old Man. And already grumpy. I am also strongly opinionated and outspoken at times - we certainly didn't agree a lot of the time and had a lot of lively back and forth discussions.
Over the years we go to know each other beyond the forums. He came to my house when I hosted a WFF BBQ and river cleanup event. We seemed to connect for some reason. Since then, we started fishing together. Often with Dave / Wetline and/or Fly Bill and a few others.
It was always the same routine. Find a spot where he could get close to water without a lot of walking, climbing, rock hopping, etc. He'd take 30 minutes to get ready, fish for 5 minutes. He'd fall down at least once, then spend 15 minutes trying to get back up. He'd cuss you out if you tried to help. He'd then spend the rest of the time in a lawn chair griping and grumbling before taking a nap.
When it was time for him to move to Montana, we met one last time and he gave me 2 things. First was his old tying vice. Many of you watched my tying journey on WFF. I still have the vice and use it from time to time. Second was the real treasure. His marked up map/guide of WA state showing all his favorite skinny water areas with notes and all. I was honored to receive it, knowing it was something he was immensely proud of and it represented so much of his life and passion - yet passing it on to the next generation, knowing he'd never be back and never see that skinny water ever again.
We didn't stay close after he left. Just lightly kept tabs on each other. I wish I could have joined him out in Montana one last time.
I know a lot of guys didn't like him. Many just didn't get him. He could definitely be an a-hole and turned off a lot of folks over the years. But he was an institution in the WA fly fishing community for so long, and someone who just wanted to be around other fly fishers, even if just online, because his old body just couldn't be out there as much as he really desired. It was his community. His peer group. And many of us were his friends and family more than we realized.
Jim, may you rest in peace and may your legacy and legend live on. I'm going to tie a few flies on your vice and use your map to fish one of your secret spots this summer in your memory - followed by an obligatory "usless fishing report."