Fishing
Trout bums: A week upriver is like therapy

By Mark Littleton
Special to The Seattle Times

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

Related stories Where they're biting and where they're not

I got a call from my fellow Trout Bum, Randal Sumner, after he got back from a fishing trip to Idaho. He was so happy and excited that he was babbling. It was hard to tell what he was talking about. Some places in Idaho will do that to you. I could pick up snippets, things like "beautiful place," "big fish" and "so relaxed."

"We've got to get up there. Are you still going?" he said.

You bet. We planned a trip to the North Fork of the Clearwater almost as soon as we returned from our fishing/camping trip to the South Fork Snake last year. The part of the North Fork we are going to is in the middle of nowhere — perfect. Six days in the wilderness with nothing bigger to worry about than what you're having for dinner. I need a trip like that. None of us has been there, but I have a good feeling about this place.

I got a jolt of 220 volts once, trying to fix a clothes dryer (before I figured out that you should probably unplug them before working on them). When I woke up, I had this wonderful sense of well being. All was right with the world. No wonder they use electroshock therapy for depression. Going camping for a week has a similar effect and is usually safer (not always, but that's another story).

There is something about a weeklong camping and fishing trip that you can't get anywhere else. Modern American life is full of worry — the job, the kids, money, the stock market, al-Qaida. It's a wonder we ever get any sleep. A day or two on the river is great therapy, but it really takes at least three days to really unspool and shut off that little voice in your head that is constantly yammering about all the things you need to do and all of the unsolvable problems hanging over your head.

Once you get that little voice shut up, you can revert to true trout-bum status. Fish, eat, sleep — this is the road to nirvana. If you could read my mind on Day 3 of a camping trip, you would find ... nothing. Living a civilized life can cause you to lose your bearings. A week of the simple life of being a full-time trout bum clears the mind and restores perspective.

Human beings weren't really cut out for modern life. This life is full of stress. When we experience stress, we are biologically wired to fight or flee. Both of these reactions tend to be socially unacceptable in most situations, so instead we sit quietly while our blood pressure goes through the roof. This is why there are so many crazies in the world.

Some people go their whole life without going on a weeklong camping trip. I don't know how they do it. Maybe they work on their dryers a lot.

Trout Bums, a column authored alternatively by Randal Sumner and Mark Littleton, appears on the first Tuesday of each month, except on special occasions. Sumner, a fly fisherman since 1972, owns Blue Skies guide Service on the Yakima River. Littleton, who also lives in Yakima, has been an avid fly fisherman for more than 25 years. Trout Bums can be reached at guides@blueskiesfishing.com.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More sports headlines...