The Unexamined River Isn't Worth Fishing
b'Do designers have a shelf life? That\'s the question State of Wonder guest curator, the user experience designer Elena Moon, asked that set us in search of a craft that only improves with age.
Amy Hazel, who co-owns a fly fishing shop in Maupin, the Deschutes Angler, has traveled the world looking for great places to fish. But if you\\u2019re wondering where the best spots in the world\\u2014or just on the Deschutes\\u2014are, she makes it clear that you\\u2019re going to need far more than GPS coordinates. What you\\u2019ll need is an expert in foam, someone attuned to the vagaries of bubbles and intimate with current.
\\u201cNo foam, no fish,\\u201d Hazel recites, \\u201cFoam is home.\\u201d It\\u2019s traditional wisdom on how to read the river.
Hazel, who has been fishing for 30 years, has lived in fishing meccas like Vermont and Wyoming, and in her twenties traveled to 19 different countries to fish, including some where she had to pick her way around land-mines. She\\u2019s seen a lot of foam, and she\\u2019s gone through a lot to do it.
\\u201cI went full-hog,\\u201d Hazel says, chuckling as she recalls the beginning of her journey into the world of fly fishing.
\\u201cI loved fishing, but then when I found fly fishing I thought, This is really a thinking sport. You\\u2019re not just throwing something out there and hoping that something will grab your fly. You have to actually imitate the insects. It\\u2019s active.\\u201d
Read the full story: http://www.opb.org/artsandlife/article/the-unexamined-river-isnt-worth-fishing'