Greg Thomas's blog

Morning, afternoon or evening—an appropriate option

I can't drink bloody Mary's very often but when I do I think, Why don't I swill these more often?

One guy who could drink them at a rapid pace was the author Raymond Carver who I was always attracted to because he's a Washington boy, having achieved much fame from the banks of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Port Angeles. His writing was dark, as I understood it, dealing with topics ranging from marital dismay to abusive parents and, of course, alcoholism. What I respect most about Carver's writing is his ability to create anxiety within the reader. Read What We Talk About When We Talk About Love and you'll see what I mean.Bad ass man.

If you haven't heard about Carver you've had your head in the sand. He's one of America's greatest writers, master of the short story, and throngs still idolize him, despite his death, at 50, in 1988. One of my friends, a dude named Corky Luster, once took a pack of friends and did a Raymond Carver tour, boozing at the bars Carver preferred, and cruising by his old place in Port Angeles. Now that is an excuse to take a trip. Reason to be there, wherever that might be. Pick an author, Carver or someone else, research their history and do a tour. What a great excuse to visit the local haunts of interesting people and to drink some bloody Mary's while you're at it!

Carver, of course, was a raging alcoholic, following in his father's footsteps. He penned words about the blue-collar life, because that's what he lived prior to his ascent to fame. One of his quotes goes like this: "You never start out life with the intention of becoming a bankrupt or an alcoholic."

One of the most famous stories about Carver was his relationship with another great author, John Cheever. They met in Iowa and presently became teachers and trainwrecks on alcohol. It's said that worried students would invite the two to dinner just to make sure they ate.

Ok, on to the drink. Here's the concoction. Enjoy. GT

2 oz. Vodka

1/2 oz. lemon juice

1/4 oz. Worcestershire

3 dashes Tobasco

1/4 tsp. grated horseradish

pinch cracked pepper, pinch salt, pinch celery salt

Top with tomoato juice

Add celery stalk and lime wedge

Winter Bliss with Big 'Bows

It's as easy as this—you get your winter-weary ass off that couch, tie a few Zebra Midges and Brassies, plus a few Parachute Baetis, and you drive an hour from Boise or as long as it takes from anywhere else you might be hibernating and you set up camp on the South Fork. And the reason you do this in the dead of winter? Because the South Fork Boise is a great rainbow trout fishery and it delivers all year, including days in late-February and, especially, March.

The Angler's Coast, by Russell Chatham

I'm probably not much different than you or the next person in line, meaning I sometimes question my luck in comparison to the rest of humanity. Then, one day, for no apparent reason, something happens that makes me feel like I was really fortunate and one example is when friends dropped off a book and left a note saying they'd found it at a Seattle-area garage sale and thought I'd like to read it if I hadn't already. That book: a first edition of Russell Chatham's classic West Coast fishing story, The Angler's Coast (Doubleday 1976).First edition, hard cover, 1976.

I felt obligated to tell my friends that The Angler's Coast is considered a fly-fishing classic and that they dropped off a first edition. I said, "You might want this book back," and they said, "No, that's great that it may be worth something. You keep it." That book won't be sold and it occupies a valuable position on my bookshelf that says as much about some people's generosity as it does about angling.

Another edition of The Angler's Coast is much easier to find and that version was produced in coffee-table style by Chatham's Livingston Montana-based Clark City Press, circa 1990. That edition is a classic, too, and I owned it prior to the standard-sized first edition showing up. I retain that oversized copy because it looks great on the shelf or on a table next to Dec Hogan's A Passion for Steelhead and Kaufmann's Bonefishing, adequate stimulation to book a trip somewhere wild whether you should or not.

In his book, Chatham graces us with 14 chapters about various fishing adventure in the Northwest, ranging from steelhead and sea-run cutthroat on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to shad on California's Feather and Yuba rivers, and more steelhead and king salmon in California. Especially entertaining are his entries on fishing for striped bass in San Francisco Bay and his run-ins with rats and the police and all sorts of characters. Throughout the book Chatham details his relationship with the late great angler Bill Schaadt who was recently documented in the  DVD, Rivers of A Lost Coast, produced by Skinny Fish Productions. It's fascinating reading about slightly deranged, but highly proficient and dedicated anglers. In one sentence, Chatham says that Schaadt caught 800 steelhead in 1956 from, if I recall correctly, the Russian River. This is also a story about great fisheries lost, which can be a real bummer to acknowledge. However, with that said, this should stimulate anglers to protect what's left, in California, in Oregon, in Washington where the Washington Department of Fish and Game still allows harvest of WILD steelhead, and in British Columbia where fish farming and netting influence the quality and future of steelhead and salmon fisheries.

In truth, Chatham's writing style is lost in many modern day publications and books, especially in the fishing category. And that is a shame; these stories, rather than describing the very rock you might stand on and the number of thread wraps in a General Practitioner, and how to gain four more feet on your double haul—these stories, instead, delve into the

NOTE: It's the voice of Troy Letherman again and if you've read his previous work published on Angler's Tonic you know what a treasure it is. This is another great, long read. Grab a drink, find reprieve from the family, sink into that leather chair and enjoy. To see more of Letherman's work check out www.fishalaskamagazine.com

Valhalla Lodge

by Troy Letherman

We come from the land of ice and snow,

From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.

Hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new land,

To fight the horde, sing and cry: Valhalla, I am coming!

--Led Zepplin

I TUCKED MY CHIN INTO THE CORNERS OF MY JACKET-TOP, attempting to avoid the artificially accelerated sting of these first drops of rain. There was no threshing oar to sweep—the little outboard was kicking along quite nicely, thank you—but otherwise Robert Plant had it about right: our goal was indeed the western shore.

Through a dim film of sea smoke and chronic drizzle, I could just make out the far beach as we clattered along, cresting short swells and slamming down again. Throughout the day, the loudest sound I’d heard was wind sweeping in off the tundra to rustle willows and spoil the cast. Now, skidding across the chop in an aluminum boat, the air was filled with barbarous dissonance. I retreated deeper into the last cranny of Gore-Tex, and, tasting zipper, I thought of trout.

Valhalla Lodge with the floatplane locked and loaded.

The flowing waters that vein these western Alaska lowlands represent one of the last great strongholds for Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus, the coastal subspecies of rainbow trout. The rivers pour from runoff, from groundwater springs, from cold headwater lakes, and the fish raid rich and stable sources for nutrition—sticklebacks, sculpins and leeches; voles, mice and shrews; flesh and eggs, alevin, fry and out-migrating salmon smolt. The water is clear, clean; the trout wild, pure. They color up in copper and gold, with coal-black spots and deeply magenta stripes, or they betray a fondness for the big lakes by turning out in silver, spotted faintly, a light emerald across their backs. The shingly streams invite the wading angler. These fish—eager eaters—invite the well-swung fly.

Pacific Coast Steel

For any of you who like fresh, in on the tides steelhead fishing, or for those of you who have an interest in discovering what all the madness is about, stop by the Missoula Doubletree Hotel on Wednesday, February 10 between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. I'll be presenting on steelhead and I'll be available at 6:30 to answer questions for a half-hour. The show starts around 7 p.m. and should run an hour or so. Lots of cool images to see. A few examples are shown below. I'll cover waters ranging from Alaska's Kenai Peninsula to southern British Columbia. Look forward to seeing you there. gregNW native art.Cracked dungee, ready for butter.Colored steel.Awesome sea-run cutthroat.Better than sex? Maybe.Easy there.Pacific Coast taxi service