Road to Water Issue 7: Stories That’ll Stick

In Our Seventh Issue of The Road to Water Magazine, we have Stories You’ll Never Forget

From the very first issue, we wanted The Road to Water Magazine to be a different reading experience for anglers than what they’d become used to.

We were not here to share the latest and greatest tactics and techniques about where and how to catch your next largest fish. There are websites, apps and podcasts galore that will make those promises.

We were not here to showcase the most recent innovations in gear or tackle. As the media we consume becomes increasingly personalized, no doubt every social media feed you glance at has you inundated with cutting-edge, ultra-light, state-of-the-art, never-before-seen, tackle.

Our simple aim was to share stories about people and places that fascinated us. We knew the best part of any fishing story was always either the people or the place. The characters who attempted incredible feats and the places that were so beautiful, unforgettable or awe-inspiring that their existence could not be kept a secret. There are people and places that are meant for stories.

Take, for example, John Anderson. Anderson is a muskie guide on some of Canada’s wildest and most muskie-rich water, and the man has landed more than 300 fish that were at least 50 inches. With that many muskie put in a boat, you’ve got stories of dogs being attacked, terminally ill patients catching a muskie that lived in a spot that Anderson knew so well that he returned with his sick friend to catch a fish that he knew resided there for… a third time. Anderson has fished with the guitarist from Iron Maiden, a blind angler and once had an angler break his arm while battling a muskie only to land it and keep fishing, landing another fish with his arm in a sling.

Or how about Steve Ramirez, a fantastic fishing writer who we spoke with about his Casting series of books. Ramirez has fished all over the country, traveling and writing, and shares some profound insight about how we need to treat the earth if we expect to leave it for generations to come after us. A columnist for Fly Fisherman Magazine, Ramirez’s words are as meaningful and well-chosen as anyone working as an outdoor writer today.

Monte Burke is another phenomenal writer whose books have resonated with thousands of readers as he’s explored topics from world-record largemouth bass to the obsessive quest for giant tarpon in Florida. Burke was kind enough to share some of the inspiration and insight that has gone into his writing.

But for straight wow-power, it’s tough to top Jeremiah Catlin. This army chaplain sustained a life-threatening injury in the Middle East, had a potentially deadly surgery stateside that wound up saving his life, and has devoted his time thereafter to getting veterans on the water and in the woods through his ministry at Chappy’s Outdoors.

If you’re on a quest to catch giant, beautiful brook trout, you’d be hard-pressed to find more wisdom than Scott Daskiewich offers us in our interview. The Adirondack angler has landed more big brook trout than anyone I’ve ever met or talked to.

Blair Erickson is a top-notch college bass fisherman at the University of Alabama, Montevallo, and shares what it’s like to be working on a four-year degree while bouncing around the Southeast competing in college bass tournaments.

There are more stories in this issue, and we think you’ll love them. That’s exactly why we created the Road to Water. It is our sincere belief that that “you-won’t-believe-this…” expression, story, or incredulous attempt at description is the beating heart of our love for the sport. It’s the stories that we trade, search for and hold onto, over a tackle counter, a campfire, a cell phone and especially through words and images, that make this sport one that we all share with one another. It’s the stories that connect us, inspire us and that have the power to live forever.

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Rick

Issue Five: Powerful Stories

Issue Five of the Road to Water is full of colorful stories.

The most fascinating element of the fishing lifestyle for me is, and always has been, the fishermen. I have been surprised, grateful and overwhelmed by the intelligence, creativity, curiosity and kindness of anglers I’ve met on the road, while working at Bass Pro Shops, and through the effort to grow this magazine, time and again.

This issue is a testament to many of those incredible people. Take Allan Lang, for example. Lang likes to target lake trout, and pike in his native upstate New York, but do you know what he did for a living for most of his life? The man searched for, found, unearthed and sold pieces of meteorites that have struck the earth and fossils dating back hundreds of thousands of years. Yeah, Lang is an angler who has literally dug up and sold dinosaur-aged bugs and pieces of space rock.

Or how about Chris Wells. Have you ever heard of a Bass Chaplain? Chris is a guy who goes on tour with the B.A.S.S. anglers and provides spiritual guidance and support. He has heard and seen some anglers struggling with difficulties you’d never imagine on the road.

How about Idaho sturgeon. I don’t know about you, but Idaho, with its enormous roadless region, almost-vertical mountains and incredible wildlife has always fascinated me. We bring you there to tell you the story of an angler who targets ten-foot fish. We’re talking about a fish that, when you land it, you get in the water with it.

Ever wonder what it’s like to have your own fishing T.V. show, travel the world and be on magazine covers. We asked John Thelen, host of Destination Fish, a show that airs on Sunday Morning? in the Midwest. Oh, and he’s graced the cover of thirty magazines while chasing fish all over the globe.

Talk about heroes, how about Scott Boese, who, with his son Jon who is an Iraq-war Veteran, started Soturi Tackle When Jon came back from the Middle East he set his mind to making the world around him a better place and Soturi Tackle has worked with veterans, handicapped children (one child designed one of their more popular lures) and anglers everywhere to create incredible baits that catch enormous fish.

Ever heard of arctic charr? I hadn’t either until this issue, and probably because they only exist in one state in the lower 48 (Maine). In their fall spawning colors they’re a beautiful orange. So we talked to Stan Williams, a guy targeting a gorgeous fish you can only catch in one place in the entire U.S.

You want to talk tough? J.R. Cooper is a tournament angler who once, while suffering from a condition called primary thrombosis, chipped a tailbone on the water while fishing. He still raced back to the weigh-in, weighed in their bag despite vomiting blood, and then told the audience: “Okay, I have to go to the hospital now.”

Ever wonder what it’s like to be the hometown hero who goes pro on the B.A.S.S. tour? We did too, which is why we talked to Alex Weatherell, who, in 2010 was the Junior Bassmaster World Champion at only 17.

Ever wonder what kind of crazy stuff D.E.C. officers encounter in their time in the field? We did too, which is why we interviewed Vern Fonda, a veteran N.Y. D.E.C. officer whose traveled as far as Alaska, and once had his fifteen minutes of fame on national television for rescuing a hawk stuck in a picnic table.

Roadless-region Idaho sturgeon

Speaking of Alaska, how about the story of an angler who has caught arctic grayling. Yep, those are the ones with a wing. Steve Prievo tells us what it’s like to catch this almost mythical fish.

Soturi Tackle is a veteran-owned company and their lures catch… well… big fish.

You like soldier stories? Prievo has one of the most beautiful, heart-wrenching stories of a dedication to a fall soldier that we’ve ever heard.

And, if aside from loving a good story about fascinating anglers, you just want to catch more fish? Well, we’ve got the tale of Eric Apalategui, a west-coast angler who is building a growing website that utilizes a network of anglers around the country to tell you exactly where to go, what to throw, and how to fish to have your most successful day on on the water. Eric was once lost and then searched out and found by a helicopter, but you’ll have to read the issue to learn more about that one.

Arctic charr: Only found in Maine, and unrivaled in color.

I could keep telling you about the wild Georgia trout in the Blue Ridge Mountains (thanks Tad Murdock) or how you might stumble across a steelhead stream while living at a Catholic worker camp and be forever changed (Mike Hunyh shares some amazing stories with us), but you’d be better served by reading the issue.

I was so fascinated by the people I met who helped me conduct a 36-state, 200-night, living-out-of-a-Jeep fishing road trip from Maine to Montana in 2010, that I knew I had to create something incredible with those stories and more like them. This fifth issue of The Road to Water is the ongoing expression of my gratitude for all that the angling community has given me in the past 30 years. I hope these stories impact you as profoundly as they did me. I have been sharing these stories with co-workers, friends, and family for the past few months in amazement, and while it’ll cost you seven dollars, (my profit is only four), I think the 150-plus, ad-free pages in this magazine are more than worth it for the conversations, dreams and curiosity that they’ll inspire.

Thanks for reading.