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3. An old professor and fly-fishing mentor reappears in my life

This evening I attended a dinner at the University of Michigan Botanical Gardens, which was the Annual Garden Party for alumni and friends of the U of M Biological Station (UMBS or, more affectionately, "Bug Camp"). There I ran into a fellow I had not seen in many years - a professor named Terry Sharik, who taught Plant Ecology my first year at UMBS. I was a "pre-fly" fisherman in those days, trolling hardware for pike in Douglas Lake, having not caught enough large fish in my youth (oh yeah, and taking some graduate-level botany courses that made me wonder if I was in over my head). Terry, now professor of forest ecology at Utah State in Logan and then (1984)professor of same at Virginia Tech, convinced me that I would enjoy fly fishing during the Hexagenia hatch at the local trout stream, the Maple River. The next summer, armed with a Browning Siloflex glass rod, a cheap reel, and a 6-weight line, I began following this man on his nightly ritual to the river, flinging enormous dry flies out in the darkness to unseen sounds of large, slurping fish. Terry told me that it would take about 3 years for me to start catching fish, and he was right - it was 1988 before I could consistently catch trout on a fly rod (hmmm, just in time to meet my future - now ex - wife at the same place - I guess I proved I could feed her that summer).

Well, apparently Terry is on sabatical from Utah State and is going to be here in Ann Arbor for a while. Of course, we are planning on getting together, and no doubt will be hitting a trout stream as soon as weather permits. He tells me that he lives "on" a trout stream in UT and catches "18-inch browns" from his back porch. And we have already been discussing smallmouth on the Huron.

Seeing Terry again after, what, at least 15 years has brought back a flood of great memories, and he looks about the same, just a bit grayer (like me, and the rest of us). I can't wait to pull out the fly rods and go fishing with him. I couldn't help but share this wonderful opportunity I have been given to not only get back in touch with, but go fishing yet again with, my original fly-fishing mentor. This guy is really special to me and it is such a great surprise to see him again after all these years. (And he is one hell of a forest ecologist, too - something also near and dear to my heart.)

We all have someone special who gave them the incentive to pick up this challenging and wonderful sport. I am now lucky to come full circle with mine. Just thought I would share that with you guys...

Jonathon

Thats a very nice story. When I was a teenager, I was lucky to have a few mentors. One was the flyfishing cartoonist John Troy. I hold him personally responsible for my fishing disease.