I know Simms would have preferred that I write about their new campaign, called Fish It Well, a month or more ago when they sent me a hoodie emblazoned with a logo promoting the campaign.

But I wanted to wait and give the whole idea some thought. I am definitely from the mold that you get one life so you better make the most of it, and fishing and hunting have been instrumental in my efforts to do just that.

The package arrived at a time when I needed to make a decision between a few extra days with the kids or actually taking care of myself  for once. On the table was a trip to British Columbia’s Dean River and BC West lodge—I’d been there before, landed 21 steelhead in six days, and didn’t want opportunity to slip.

Do this and you will live a good life.

In the end I accepted the trip and fished with three men I’d never met, the writer and founder of Spey Pages, Dana Sturn; Mike Walsh, who’s a serious fly tier and a salmon and steelhead junkie; and Dake Traphagen, who is a custom guitar maker, a dedicated fly tier, and a master of Pacific Northwest steelhead and salmon.

We’d chosen a week on the Dean that could be hit or miss—the second week of the season when water conditions might blow out completely. When we arrived, the river was high and muddy, but the forecast led us to believe that the river would drop and our timing might be perfect. Continue reading →