John Gierach suggested longer fishing trips provided the solution to life’s worsening problems, while Mark Twain humorously remarked on the futility of traveling far for the same unsuccessful results.
Back in June, Swing The Fly prompted our diverse list of contributors to share their latest and greatest thoughts and images loosely related to “Travel” for our next compilation.
Loosely was the key word. “Things like harrowing and/or humbling travel experiences. Lessons learned from glorious success and/or abysmal failure,” we urged. “Maybe it’s your take on why you don’t travel for fishing. Or why you feel strongly that folks should just…stay home!”
In Issue 26.3, we tried to share experiences and perspective from across our respective seasonal diasporas.
Some are unfortunately forced, like Mia Sheppard’s experience as a guide and outfitter in “Something Silver Can Stay”, where she says struggling Mid-Columbia steelhead populations are forcing her to expand her guiding to other rivers, states, even countries. A lot of the reason why is explained in detail by David Moskowitz’s piece “Columbia River Wild Steelhead: Will An Iconic Species Rebound, Limp Along or Fade Away”. Biologist and tenured Alaska-based contributor Glenn Chen pulls the curtain back on the least discussed part of Alaska: “town.”
Others are more classically hedonistic in nature; “Kings On The Swing” is overflowing with fulfilling grabs from big fish and pristine conditions, the sort of travel Great Lakes editor Rick Kustich was hoping for when Swing The Fly hosted a trip to western Alaska in June (still a few spots open for next year!) In “Good Company,” Sam Rocha shifts our focus back from the glory of the tight line to the Good Company we keep along the way.
I’m in a chapter of life where I have been enjoying going deeper rather than wider. Focusing a little less on being in the right place at the right time and a bit more on feeling the heartbeat of, and communing with, the waters that flow past my home.
That said, immediately after hitting publish, I’m hopping in the truck for some time in far-off rivers with dear friends, to quietly explore unknown abundance.
We’ll see what happens. Open heart. No expectations. Right?
Thanks for reading. Thanks so much to all of the contributors and to you for supporting Swing The Fly. We really appreciate you making this a community where, no matter how far apart we might live or how far we are from home, we’re never far away.
Good luck. We’ll see ya out there.
+ Daniel Ritz, Editor
danielr@swingthefly.com
P.S. Issue 26.4, focused on Pacific summer steelhead and Atlantic salmon, is expected in December 2026. For consideration in the next issue, please send in your Submissions to danielr@swingthefly.com before Nov. 1st, 2026.