other web sites – Roccus Writing

Gartside Retrospectives

I wanted to pass along along links to a couple of retrospective articles on Jack published just this past month. The first is by Dave Souza of the Fall River (MA) Herald News, a longtime friend and supporter of Jack’s work. The second is by Elizabeth Laden, the publisher and editor of the Island Park (ID) News. I’ve never met Elizabeth but I know second hand a lot of the stories she relates and surely she’s a member of Jack’s “western family.”

And not coincidentally the term, “family” is what struck me most after reading these two pieces. For a man with few blood relatives, Jack had an amazing ability to inspire and create family wherever he went. And of course, he went everywhere. So he had a Boston family, a western US family, a Florida family, a Caribbean family. He had cousins in Europe and brothers in Africa, South American sisters, Canadian uncles and New Zealand aunts.

Both very fine reads. Thanks to Dave and Elizabeth for sending them along.

Old friends, articles, and other updates

After a summer immersed in activity, the fall offers a time of respite, a chance to catch your breath, reflect on what’s been, and catch up with old friends, even as you’re marking the days down to winter.

On the old friends score, I met up with Gartside cohorts Dale Linder, Mel Harris, and Tom Kennedy for dinner one evening last week. We even got in a little fishing afterwards (see Tom in picture). Dave Skok, another local Gartsider of repute, could not be there as he’s gone for the month, fishing the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby as he does every year. A couple days later Dale and I cruised the Seatoad along Revere Beach looking for fish. Didn’t find any but it was a beautiful, warm, sunny fall afternoon and great to be out on the water.

Be sure to check out Stuart Patterson’s article on the Gartside Gurgler in this month’s online edition of Florida Fly Fishing Magazine. You may recognize some of the material that was reproduced from jackgartside.com and from Jack’s book Scratching the Surface. Another old friend, Masahito Sato, is also working on an article on Jack. I’ll post a link when I know when and where it’s going to appear.

Last spring long time Gartsider Iain Sorrel launched Saxon Tackle. Saxon produces and sells rods and other tackle for the emerging carp fishing market (emerging applies to the US…in Europe carp fishing has been an obsession for a long time now). If you’re interested in carp fishing, or have friends who are, you’ll find some great information on Saxon Tackle’s web site.

Jack’s Home Page on Facebook

Happy to report that Jack’s Home Page now has its own Facebook page. Why a Facebook page, you’re wondering, when there’s already this wicked awesome web site with its own blog? Well, a limitation of blogs is that they tend to be “newslettery” in tone due to their inherent structure. Visitors can’t really talk to each other. On Facebook, however, visitors can talk directly to one another, drop in any time to share a joke, a comment, a story, a piece of personal news, or anything really. You can upload a picture, a video, start a discussion, suggest an event. So Facebook offers a nice way for the community of Jack’s fans and friends to keep in touch with each another and even make some new friends.

Hope you like it and visit often. Jack Gartside’s Home Page on Facebook

Yes but I photograph well

Our friend and neighbor Dave Skok just returned from a trip to Costa Rica where, in additional to catching a few fishies, he also took some amazing photographs. A short selection of them is posted on Moldy Chum (which, coincidentally, is probably also a fair description of Dave after several weeks in the jungle). Take a look at the brilliant reds on the Costa Rican rainbows–their flanks look like sunrise in a Turner watercolor.

Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited

If you’re a tarpon or bonefisherman, you’ll want to learn more about Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited, a group doing important work with these species and whose research and activities I wholeheartedly support–and urge you to support as well.

To quote from their home page, “Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited was developed for a simple reason – to support research, education, and conservation of bonefish and tarpon. At BTU’s inception in 1998, little data existed on bonefish and tarpon, two of the world’s most popular saltwater gamefish.

BTU is made up of recreational anglers, guides, and marine industry leaders dedicated to increasing our knowledge of bonefish and tarpon biology so we may better manage these species and ensure the fisheries for future generations.

To visit their site, click on this link: http://www.tarbone.org/

I was introduced to BTU by Aaron Adams, author of Fisherman’s Coast and most recently Fly Fisherman’s Guide to Saltwater Prey
(both of which I recommend highly), who was representing BTU at the Flyfishing Show in Somerset, NJ this past January. After listening to his persuasive discussion of BTU and their work I gave him fifty bucks, signed up as a member, and got a really neat hat with a BTU logo on it as part of the deal. Aaron’s been doing a lot of important work with BTU and if you can help him out in any way, that would be great. He has a really interesting website also that I recommend looking into:

http://www.fishermanscoast.com

It has a lot of useful and interesting information on it about: about conservation, fish habits, flies, fishing tips, as well as writings about his own fishing excursions and a frequently updated blogwhere he shares whatever thoughts are on his mind. His website is called Fisherman’s Coast, subtitled Learn to Think Like a Fish.This is something we should all learn at some time in our fishing and Aaron’s writings go a long way towards helping us.