I woke up this morning and realized that it was 40 years ago now that John Lennon was murdered in the foyer of The Dakota in New York City. I remember where I was, too, when I heard this tragic news. I had arrived at work in Renton, Washington. There was a radio on in the office and the news broke to me then and there. I calmly got up from my desk and walked outside, tears streaming down my face the whole way.
I look back at it now and have come to understand that this event, and my reaction to it, was the end of my youthful innocence. I could no longer make sense of the world.
I didn’t fish much in those days. I was immersed in rock climbing. My whole world revolved around climbing as much as possible. I breathed it, I ate it, and I lived a climber’s life - at least the life of an employed climber, which is pretty rare. Climbing consumed me.
But that morning, things changed. I began to question my career, my life, and my goals. 6 months later, I was gone. I came back to Arizona where family and friends provided some sense of safety. I came back to Arizona for the climbing, too.
According to Mountain Project (a website dedicated to recording rock climbing routes nearly everywhere), Arizona has more rock than any other state in the US. That’s a bold claim, but it also says that not all of it is climbable. All you have to do is peer into Grand Canyon to realize there IS a lot of exposed rock out there. And, that’s just the beginning.
Anyway, upon my return to Arizona, I quickly immersed myself in the Central Arizona climbing community. That community, more than any other, has sustained me through the years. To this day, most of my friends are either active or retired climbers. There is one in particular that I met rather early on that now sticks in my mind. Not only did he climb, but he fly fished as well. We were never all that close, but we did climb and fish together some.
As I think about it, this person still influences my fishing today. As I plan another carp session in the East Valley of the Sun, I see that influence clearer than ever. He fished for trout, sure, but he fished for a whole variety of species. At the time I was strictly a trout guy, but he planted the seed for me to explore other possibilities. I’m glad he did.
So, Thursday I will be meeting Lee Lynch and Jeff Martin at a park in Gilbert with a canal running nearby. This particular canal has lots of carp in it. If things don’t go our way, we’ll move to the ASU Research Park in Tempe, where a few small lakes hold some very large carp.
Interested? Let me know and I’ll get you directions to the park.