a magazine for anglers
by Matt Stansberry
My brother, cousin and I
floated a tiny boat in
the Canadian northwoods
sipping a bottle of white
rum. Some joker had written
Help I am sinking inside
of the boat with black marker
and it was true.
The fish we caught sat frozen
to a board for two years until
I found a guy to preserve
the skin, and waited two more
years for him to stretch it on
a mold and sew it back together.
He didn’t want to let it go.
Ten years later, wiping dust
from blood and charcoal lacquered fins,
I think of Robert Ruark who
said To kill something that will
be dead soon, but is so fine
as to give you pleasure for years,
is wonderful.
Matt Stansberry lives in Eugene, OR and used to fly fish before he had a kid. He launched OregonFlyFishingBlog.com back in 2008 and is an accidental bigfoot witness.
