The air has a different feel now, the humidity is gone, the lingering blanket of heat has passed for another year, and there is a sense of change on the pure, crisp feel of autumn. In this new beginning, it gives great pleasure to realize we do not know all. The hot summer had many believing Pine's trout were doomed. Trout sulking in eddies, ready for their inevitable death? Not nearly - they were alive and well in Pine's countless spring seeps deep in the craggy depths as well as grouped in the mouths of the cold-water tributaries. The fish didn't just survive, they prospered. And, as the water temperatures dropped, they ventured astream. This is the point at which we started to see them as they rose to a well selected imitation. They were still beautiful fish in excellent condition.

   For most of us fly fishing is so much more than the catch - one of the quantifying factors society is obsessed with. As you look at the picture above of Jamie on the riffle entering the Naval Run Pool, he is a part of it, transformed in a picture of harmony with the trout, the insects, and the stream he loves. I understand the great number of trout that lived through the summer much more than I ever did, and with that came a better understanding of the power of life itself. There was never any doubt to the trout last summer. As fall continues to Thanksgiving and Christmas, may we continue to be able to wade into Pine's waters, breathe in its pine scented air, and cast a hopeful imitation to one of those great browns...