A group of close friends got together over the weekend to go fishing for Cherry trout in eastern Korea. All of us have been pretty busy with work & it’s been a long while since any of us fished the creeks. While we were all pretty excited about the trip, the news of the recovered bodies of the 46 young Korean Navy men had each of us thinking about what had happened. These young men who are sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, friends… their lives taken away before their time. I thought about how thankful I am to the people who keep peace for the rest of us, how I am able to be here with friends fishing because of the work they do. As I walked through the valley and see spring all around me, it made me think again about how fragile life is.
The fishing was good, and the unique beauty of these cherry trout made up for the lack in size. Unfortunately, our friend Charles injured his back and had to stop fishing early. That really sucked because I know he’s been looking forward to this trip... Since then, he’s been getting some acupuncture treatment and will go back to his physical therapist as soon as he gets back to New York. I thought about a lot of things while I fished, and one of them was the fact that we are not twenty five anymore… sometime we feel like it, but our body disagrees. Thoughts like that can make one feel really depressed but it can also help one to truly appreciate the things and circumstances around ourselves. I did a little bit of both during this trip.
I enjoy catching lots of big fish as much as the next guy, but during this trip I came to realization that I am less horny about that than previous years. I’m sure I’ll never turn down an opportunity to throw a fly at a big fish if there’s one nearby, but I am equally content with catching small fish – or no fish for that matter, as long as I’m with the right company. I recently sold a small piece of farm land my father left behind for us and that made me think a lot about him during this trip. It’s been now over 10 years since he passed away and I find myself thinking about him more in the springtime than any other season. Although he never fly fished, I’m pretty sure he would have liked fly fishing and I would have enjoyed fishing alongside him. Fishing is simple and I don’t pretend to have any deep philosophical reasoning behind it, but it is an opportunity for me to honestly face myself. Confronting myself is no easy matter for me, most of the time I am scared shitless to do it. But sometime in the right season, at the right place, and within the right kind of company – it is a little easier to do than other times. This was a trip I’ll remember for a long time.
* By chance we ran into Matt, a friend of James Card at the bottom of the creek. It’s not often you see an foreign guy camped out on the valleys of eastern Korea in his one man tent, swinging a fly rod. I wished I had some time to hang with Matt, but we’ll have to look forward to the next time. Very cool when you run into friends unexpectedly.
