Ernie didn't actually write about the Two Hearted. He wrote about the Fox River; but, Two Hearted sounds so much better in print.
So, our annual gift recommendations. I hope everyone has emerged on the far side of the Covid scourge relatively unscathed.
Oh - Fox River:
Accuracy counts but in literature, it counts for bupkis.
The list:
10) Fingerless Wool Gloves ( Wool ).
Stretching the fishing season means cold hands. The issue is one of comfort and functionality. Full gloves are useless to a fly fisherman because: knots. Going gloveless means the cool fall or early spring breeze amplifies the evaporation and function is lost to cold paralysis. Fingerless gloves in wool retain heat in an inadvertent wetting, protect the paws from cold, and provide for twisting tippet into rudimentary knots.
These are a gift of care, concern, and thoughtfulness. Maybe they aren't quite right for the brother-in-law.
9) Amazon Kindle Paperwhite ( Paperwhite ).
There is a lot of time in camp, on the bank, and generally waiting about in this game. There's more of it than you think depending on your fishing partners. ( Detour for a new battery)
While waiting on the brother-in-law, wouldn't it be nice to be able to do a bit of reading? Well, he'll feel the same when subjected to your random delay events.
Teddy had his pigskin library. With the paperwhite, you are gifting someone their own version. I upgraded in 2021 to the new version as my original kindle of nearly ten years of age was left in a lovely home at Sun West Ranch as I fished the Madison.
8) Bertucci Field Watch ( Bertucci ).
My "big iron" Breitling is on the table in front of me but on my wrist? My field watch. I don't worry about dings, loss, immersion. It's handy in the kitchen as well. Help the fisherman in your life make dinner on time: field watch.
7) Darn Tough Over-the-Calf Wool Socks ( Socks ).
I'm known for a total disdain of cold, wet feet. Comfort is itself a holiday gift. Try the Paul Bunyan variant.
When your buddies go on their Alaska steelheading adventure, they'll thank you!
6) Stormy Kromer Choppers ( Mitts ).
For fishing? Sure. Brushing the snow off your vehicle or worse - your vehicle's door frame - so the snow doesn't fall onto the driver's seat requires a certain attention to detail. Oh - you've seen your buddy use an industrial ice scraper and sweeper combo? Where does he keep it?
Inside the SUV.
Yep, so he brushes the snow off with his now wet, bare, cold hand to get to the ice scraper. If he had these choppers, that wouldn't happen!
These are excellent for all manner of winter chores. They look cool. Most of all, glove liners can be worn inside so if a dexterous task is required, a chopper can be removed easily.
Mitts allow the fingers to heat their neighbors. Gloves do not.
Floridians need not apply.
5) Solo Stove Titan and Pot ( Solo ).
Hot coffee. Hot soup. Tortellini. The gift of a Solo stove provides a light field expedient relief that is especially welcome on the bank during the border season.
Who knows, your buddy might even see fit to make a cup for you at the campsite early one summer morning!
The solo stove seriously works.
4) Rubik's Cube ( Rubik ).
The Rubik's Cube represents the budget-minded gift this season. We've covered that there is a lot of sitting and waiting in this game (for the hatch, the weather, the brother-in-law). What else do you expect a fellow to do?
Maybe your buddy doesn't read. Hopefully we're not discussing your husband but there's no accounting for taste. In the event of the willfully ignorant in your life: try the cube.
It's a great campsite party favor and if your buddy/husband/red-headed step-child masters the thing, well there's that, too.
3) Hand Tied Flies from your own vise.
This is always a hit. You know the waters. Your know the flies. Boxes run less than $10 for six of them and flies just thrown inside would be fine! It's the gift that counts.
I have a renegade tied by my buddy Scott at a session in 2019 here on the desk in front of me right now. I haven't seen him since the pandemic which coincided with his relocation to a town only twenty miles away. Might as well have been twenty-thousand miles away.
The point is: flies tied by someone you know have a meaning beyond the value of imitation.
2) A book of rare value.
The North Country Fly: Yorkshire's Soft Hackle Tradition by Robert L.Smith. ( Smith ).
Trout Spey & the Art of the Swing by Steve Bird ( Bird ).
Matching Major Eastern Hatches: New Patterns for Selective Trout by Henry Ramsay ( Ramsay ).
All of the above texts are wonderful. I'll let you decide on your own if trout are "selective" because I don't talk politics, religion, or trout selectiveness with friends.
Smith and Bird have volumes whose images are stunning in their clarity and depiction of the intent of the author beyond the mere utility of illustration. The lucky recipient will find themselves returning to the volumes year after year for the rest of their fishing careers.
Ramsay? The insects one needs to know are clearly depicted though I wish the view presented was from the trout's perspective: bottom-side up. I don't know why editors miss this fact. Probably, they are not on the stream enough.
1) Single Malt Scotch Old Enough to Vote.
I don't include a link because if you have a fisherman in your life, you know where to go to buy booze.
Which scotch?
Glenfiddich 18, Glenmorangie 18, or Dalmore 18 (ouch ...that'll leave a mark) are wonderful. No fly fisherman would turn up a nose at any of these.
If the brother-in-law offers to drive on your trips up north? You owe him one of these.
If the brother-in-law has a cabin in the north country you can use anytime you ask? You owe him one of these.
If the brother-in-law's cabin is steps from a trout stream? Move on up the the 21 year-old stuff. It'll prove a bargain in the end.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and tight lines for all of us in the days to come.
Dean, I miss you buddy.
Prost.
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