WFS 359 – John Gierach REPLAY from 2018 – AK Best, Ed Engle, Thomas McGuane

Show Notes: wetflyswing.com/359

Presented By: Zoe Angling Group, Jackson Hole Fly Company, Togens Fly Shop

Sponsors: wetflyswing.com/sponsors

John Gierach breaks out an amazing episode in this one as he talks about how he came to become one of the greatest fly fishing writers in the world. We talk about some of his books including the famous, Trout Bum and we also chat about his favorite writers.

We also dig into the hippie movement in the 60s, weed, and death in Colorado Fly Fishing. I’m excited to share a little perspective into the life, times, struggles and stories of the great John Gierach.

Show Notes with John Gierach

12:45 – John Shewey was on in episode 16 and talked about the process of writing and battling resistance.

15:20 – Thomas McGuane said as a writer, your only currency is your readership. My currency is my guests as noted by John in this episode.

17:00 – Tim Rawlins was on the show in episode 27 to talk about Spey Casting.

19:20 – Trout Bum was one of John’s first books published. He talks about how he has always just told stories.

21:55 – Roger Angell wrote for the New Yorker and wrote the essay This Old Man – John noted how amazing Roger described the hand pistol in the essay.

27:10 – April Volkey was on the podcast in episode 30

34:00 – Ed Engle and John McPhee are two big mentors for John.

34:20 – Draft No. 4 is a great book that John says everyone should read if you are interested in writing.

33:20 – AK Best was a big mentor who helped John really get started early on. Ak’s Fly Box was one of Ak’s biggest books.

36:30 – A Fly Rod of Your Own is John’s most recent book. John describes a little about his writing style in the podcast.

39:25 – In episode 5 Jim Teeny noted the article on throwing rocks on fish to move steelhead into place. I noted the idea of throwing spoons out to get steelhead into range for the fly fisherman to catch it. John didn’t recall what I was talking about but shared another great story.

56:30 – John tells the story of when he thought he was going to die in a plane crash

1:05:30 – A cougar killed a hiker in Oregon and it’s the first time ever that happened in Oregon history

1:15:00 – The Joe Rogan Podcast where the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, smoked weed on live air. I ask John if he would smoke in our episode today.

1:16:15 – The Beatles came out with the White Album partly due to a change in drug use. I ask John the same question about his writing and whether there were changes before and after.

1:18:05 – The Parachute Hare’s Ear and a hares ear soft hackle behind it are his goto flies.

1:18:30 – Mary Alice Monroe tells a great story and a writer he follows along with Jim Harrison and Peter Mathison.

Conclusion with John Gierach

I hope you enjoyed that episode with John Gierach as much as I did. Did you catch the few times that I was completely surprised by John? We went down a few rabbit holes unrelated to fly fishing including weed and the 1960s.

John also covered a bunch of topics related to the 20 great fly fishing books he has written over the years. I could have gone for hours with John on this one but had to respect his time.

Show Notes: wetflyswing.com/359