People and Places ~ Book Two ~ The Honest Flies of Jay Nicholas Paperback – October 9, 2024

Who would we be, you and me, without our friends? How do they shape and guide us. Did they encourage us to grow, improve, and advance? Or did they hold us back, did they place doubt in our minds, did they hurt us in ways that made our life more challenging?And what of the places we’ve been, the things we’ve seen. Do our visions serve to make us stronger, quench our thirst, nourish us? Is there danger that the places where we’ve been, the things we’ve seen, might bend, burn or break us? Could the sights around us generate fear or timidity?Here, In Book Two of my own Honest Flies volume, I'll lay-out a wide assortment of images and do my very best to answer these questions. Fishing first, and then fly tying, were my “safe place” when I was a child. The reasons aren’t important, but the fact that these activities did in fact serve to give me a genuine “safe place” is very important.You may take my word for this. As you begin to flip through the pages of Book Two, you’ll find that it is entirely uplifting, because I’ve chosen to make it so. You’ll find that all four of the books in this series are also, by intent, uplifting.As writer, producer, and editor, I’ve decided that I’ll share stories only about good people, relationships that helped me grow into a better person, and the beauty of places I’ve fished. After all, any events that aren’t uplifting and light hearted wouldn’t have anything to do with this “Honest Flies” book series, would they?So there you have it .... a typical (for me) tortured exposition on the importance of our friends, the people we associate with, and the sights, the visions we see as we go about our days.What kind of angler am I .... really? Quick Answer .... I am stubborn, I fish obsessively, and I experiment with fly patterns, hooks, and lines.I’ll fish before first light to after last light, when no one else is fishing. This is true especially if I suspect that a salmon might be near or will perhaps wander withing my casting range sometime during the day.I’ll tie fresh flies every night or before dawn every day, even if I don’t need them. Just one more fly ....I’ll re-organize my fly boxes, even if such tidying isn’t needed. Even if just a few flies are out of line.I’ll share information with other anglers. Unless I choose not to share. I will nearly always give flies away to other anglers.I’ll tie new patterns, try different colors and sizes and materials, and I will swim these odd new flies at every opportunity. Just one last cast .....There’s more I could try to say, but I’ve decided that this bit of honesty is enough. Read more