Roger Stouff
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The delicacy issue will always be there, Bret, because that’s how fiberglass and graphite were sold to the masses, and it’s become an urban myth, of sorts. And, like I said earlier, most people’s experience with ‘boo has been hardware-store rods that DID snap easily. The mid-grade and high-end rods are far, far outnumbered by the little, cheap Montys, H-Is and so forth.
I recall that Lee Wulff regularly caught 20+ lb. salmon with a 6′ one-piece bamboo rod.
Today’s rods are even more durable, and anybody that can afford a Z-Axis or a Zero Gravity can afford a quality modern bamboo rod.
I’m Roger Stouff, 42, a journalist for 26 years currently with the small town sheet in Franklin, La. I’m also an author of two books, and a member of the Chitimacha Nation of Louisiana, the Rez of which I’ve lived on all my life.
Divorced 10 years ago, two boys 15 and 19, engaged to Susan, second time’s the charm!
Home waters are the Atchafalaya River Basin in southern central Louisiana, where the river meets the Gulf of Mexico.
I’m with you, Bret.
I had the same notion before I got to know ‘boo. I fish cane, graphite and glass. My first bamboo rod was a 9’ Granger Victory and I fell in love. Certainly, it wears my arm off after a whole day of fishing, but not after two or three hours like some folks think.
Like you, I have banty rods at 6′ and longer rods up to 9′, and all are vintage except an 8′ 7-wt by Harry Boyd of Louisiana, which is my redfish rod, a Dickerson 8016 guide special that will throw an Orvis redfish taper a country mile.
But I think there’s a place for all of them. My ‘boo rods are my favorite, but I love a little Tiger Eye blank 7 1/2’ 4pc I built for a 5-wt, and I have a ‘glass Heddon Black Beauty in the same size that’s awesome on streams and spotted bass.
To each their own, I say, but ‘boo gets a bad rap among the uninitiated, or those who have only toyed with hardware-store grade rods. Even then, I have a Monty Rapidan and an H-I Spinner that are great with a 6-wt line…neither is very straight, but handle largemouth nicely.
John, I agree, “Earth is Enough” would be a great movie, if handled correctly. It could be terrible if not. 🙁
“The Bright Country” is indeed tough, but it intrigues and fascinates me because of one thing: All the toil and misery Harry was going through, and his sole, all-enveloping solace was wild water and wild trout. I think I know how that feels. I think many of us do. I think the “bright country” was not only the medicine the doc finally found to hold Harry’s depression at bay for a time, it was also sunlight sparkling on gin-clear streams, and the clarity he felt when in those lands.
Ah, Harry. We hardly knew you. 🙁
He certainly had a hard time of it, and yes, I think it led to his demise when his heart failed. Of course, many people believe he committed suicide, but that’s an urban myth arisen from his battles with depression, he died of a heart attack:
Birmingham News (AL)
July 30, 1993
DEATHS
Section: Obits
Page: 4-01Article Text:
Harry Middleton, writer, restaurant reviewer, dies at 43
Harry Middleton – a writer whose work brought him more fame and friends than fortune – died Wednesday of an apparent heart attack. He was 43.
Mr. Middleton’s work included seven books, the latest of which is due for publication from Simon and Schuster in early August; stories for The New York Times, Field & Stream and Smithsonian; articles for Southern Living, Progressive Farmer and Southern Accents; and, since April, restaurant reviews for The Birmingham News.
But his success never brought wealth, and in recent years, Mr. Middleton earned his living at a series of odd jobs.
His love of the outdoors was evident in the titles of some of his books: The Earth is Enough, Rivers of Memory, The Starlight Creek Angling Society and On the Spine of Time. The new book, The Bright Country, is Mr. Middleton’s memoir of his struggle to regain his balance after losing his job. An advance review from Publisher’s Weekly says the “unusual volume is beautifully written.”
After college – he was an English major at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., and earned a master’s degree in Western history at Louisiana State University – Mr. Middleton lived in New Orleans, where he wrote about food, art, music and books for Figaro, an alternative newspaper. He moved to Birmingham eight years ago to work for Southern Progress. His first novel was published in 1989.
“If you want to know the best about Harry, know what he wrote,” said John Logue, now retired from Southern Progress, where he was creative director. “The thing he was meant to do, he has already done, and that’s his books.
“Harry was a contradiction: On the one hand, he was the kind of guy you’d love to go fishing with, although I never did; on the other hand, he could be fairly hostile about anyone editing his work. It meant that much to him.”
Memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bluff Park United Methodist Church, with burial in Jefferson Memorial Gardens South.
Survivors are his wife, Mrs. Marcy Middleton; sons, Travis and Sean Middleton; father, Harry Frederick Middleton, Scottsdale, Ariz.; sister, Mrs. Donna Middleton Bates; grandparents, Mrs. Rose Middleton, Shreveport, La., and Travis Jones, Arkansas.
Copyright (c) 1993 Birmingham News
Stouff you a Harry Middleton fan? I’ve read all his books that I could get my hands on. A few of his titles are sadly out of print.
Everything but “Rivers of Memory” and “Starlight Creek Angling Society” is on my shelf in hardback AND paperback for loaners. 🙂
Our esteemed host doesn’t share our opinion of Harry ;), but to me he’s among the finest writers of any genre, not just fly fishing memoirs.
Agreed, you gotta take some of them with a grain (or a pound) of salt. It was kinda strange: After our discussion here, I wrote my weekly newspaper column last Wed. on my encounter with the big cat (I don’t want to call it a panther anymore, I think that was just Indian/Cajun interpretation of the true animal) then my girlfriend told me about reading this in a more recent magazine in Louisiana. I did an Internet search and found this earlier reference.
Rest assured, my attention to my surroundings will be much more keen when in the basin…and my Nikon will be close by!
Two words: Shiny, and slow.
It will look like bait to them…minnows, shiners, little bream. Sparkly fish, moving slowly, tempting them. When you set the hook, hit ’em hard, their long jaws have little soft tissue. I’ve never really targeted them, but I’ve seen them take flies like bendbacks and Clousers enough that sometimes, when bored, I’d hookset just for the fun.
That’s not to say that other things won’t work…I’ve had them hit at poppers while idle, and they will also chase a bugger, but never had one hit it. This is south La. gar, your mileage may vary elsewhere.
Incidentally, speaking from my Cajun-half, gar is SERIOUS good eating.
Writing from south Louisiana, at the mouth of the Atchafalaya River and the southern edge of the river basin that covers 3,000 square miles.
About 20 years ago, my buddy and I were fishing near dusk deep in the basin and we heard the cry of a panther, though we didn’t know what it was then. Scared us half to death. Almost an instant later, we saw it pass along a clearing on the bank. It was black, and it was big. It was in plain sight for about thirty seconds, maybe 45. It never looked at us, but it kinda stared ahead of us, as if interested in something we weren’t able to see or were aware of. Then it was gone in the cypress thicket.
I never saw or heard another. But I also live on the edge of a federal black bear refuge which is supposedly teeming with black bears, and in my entire life as an outdoorsman, I’ve only seen one, and that one was dead on a highway having been hit by a truck.
Roger Stouff
LouisianaHere’s my twist on it, which some might call crazy. I fish warmwater only on the Louisiana gulf coast, bass and ‘gills mostly. But my goal right now is a bull redfish on this rod, built by Harry Boyd of Winnsboro, Louisiana. It’s an 8’ 7-wt based on a Dickerson 8014 Guide taper:
So far, I haven’t done it, but I did hook into a bull south of Morgan City, La., a few months ago that fought me hard for 20 minutes until the hook let go. I turned his head three times with this rod, it’s powerful but light and will cast a country mile.
Other than that, I have a Granger 9050 Victory and an 8 1/2 Monty Rapidan. I turn to graphite when I’m in boats with people I don’t know well yet, when I need a short rod (just don’t have a short bamboo yet!) and sometimes, I’m just in the mood for one or the other!
