The popular 1992 movie A River Runs Through It tells the story written by author Norman Maclean of growing up in Missoula, Montana in the early twentieth century and learning how to fly fish with his father and brother on the Big Blackfoot River. Using Maclean's own words, the movie poetically depicts fly-fishing as an art form cultivated through patience and diligent practice. While most fly-fishing purists would tend to agree with Maclean's picturesque description of the sport, those of us who grew up fishing around the Uintah Basin and especially on the Green River, might just tell you an entirely different story.
For those of us old enough to remember fishing the Green before it was declared a premium fishery and became one of the top U.S. fishing destinations and attracted thousands of hopeful fly fisherman and their guides every year, fishing the Green wasn't about perfecting the roll cast, "matching the hatch" or "catch and release". To us it was about catching fish, being in the wild outdoors, and spending time with our dads and brothers, and maybe the occasional sister too. Though I would later spend a considerable amount of time trying to master the poetic art of fly fishing as Maclean described, most of my early trips to the Green River were more about adventure than art; more about fun than sport; more of a comedy of errors than a symphony of masculine triumph and taught me a few lessons worth sharing.
Lesson #1 – If you are going to float the River from Flaming Gorge Dam to Little Hole on Labor Day, you might want to hold off on having that water fight as soon as you get around the first bend of the river. While it might be hot when you first start out, September weather in Utah is unpredictable. Your wet clothes can take a long time to dry and those last few miles of river will soon become the coldest miles of your life and you will regret all the fun you had nearly drowning your little sister with the bail bucket. Well maybe not totally, but it won't be as fun as you first though it would be and your dad won't appreciate your whining.
Lesson #2 – When you do stop about half way to build a fire to get warm, if you find a small plastic baggie full of suspicious green herbs, don't assume that someone had hidden it under that rock in the hopes of flavoring their pasta primavera the next time they were there.
Lesson #3 – When you are going across Diamond Mountain don't ride in the back of the truck when you have to drive through a swarm of Mormon crickets and especially don't stand up and yell with your mouth opened widely. Mormon crickets may taste good to fish and seagulls, but not so much to thirteen year old boys, though you will understand very quickly why the seagulls were so eager to regurgitate them.
Lesson #4 – Be very careful when hiking over the "big rock" on the "back side" of Little Hole. You could easily fall, slide down the other side, bruise your knee, break your fishing pole, lose your favorite blue Rapala lure and drop your sandwich into the water. The latter is especially bad if you are a hungry kid whose brother won't share with him. A little electrician's tape might temporarily fix your pole but the hunger pangs in your stomach will linger for quite awhile, especially because you spent a considerable amount of time throwing up earlier. (See Lesson #3).
Lesson #5 – When you do finally catch that elusive twenty inch rainbow when you are fourteen, take care of it. Don't just stick it in the freezer to become lost for a few years. However, it is kind of cool when your mom pulls it out and shows it to your wife when you are twenty-three, though you shouldn't be surprised if it really doesn't impress her all that much.
Lesson #6 – If in the middle of a float trip you are throwing rocks into the river and it happens to disturb a couple of would-be tough guy fishermen and they threaten to come to the shore and "whoop your butt", it helps to have a couple of University of Wyoming heavyweight wrestlers back in the trees who can come out and say "Sorry, but nobody is getting their butt-whooped today." Apparently the tough guys lose their courage quickly and will hurriedly paddle away.
Lesson #7 – Last and most importantly, If you get the chance to fish with your dad on that river one last time and it turns out the be the most perfect day you ever spent together and the old man owns the day and catches the most fish; take lots of pictures, write about it in your journal and remember and cherish that day for the rest of your life. You never know if it will be your last fishing trip together.
Though my experiences fishing the Green River don't necessarily compare with Norman Maclean's majestic descriptions of fishing the Big Blackfoot, I have come to learn that there isn't a better place to spend a small town Friday night with fathers, brothers, sisters and friends. Also, I do know that what Maclean said is certainly true. Eventually, all things do merge into one and a river does run through it.
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