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| I have used this image without permission, but it should be clear that I expect no monetary gain from its use. Quite the contrary, in fact. |
Though we have yet to provide details, it's probably
apparent to most readers that our June fishing expedition didn't produce the
kinds of fish - numbers or size - that we'd hoped. Even now that the river flows are in check,
fishing has not been good. Fishing in
New England, where New English Jonny lives, can be unreliable as well. To insure success and reduce the pressures of
planning, we intend to make our next get together in Iceland. Jonny and I are both Atlantic salmon anglers,
but Iceland will be new for us. I think
it will be a lot of fun.
A trip like this will not be without its challenges,
though. I was listening to a recent
podcast about Icelandic salmon fishing wherein the interviewee mentioned that
it costs an outfitter about one million dollars to rent a stretch of
river...for the 90 day season. Not
surprisingly, then, the cost to an angler for a week of such fishing is quite
expensive; it sounds as if about $15,000 for a few days of fishing is the going
rate in today's dollars. One should also
budget in the costs of travel. Iceland
is an island that is farther from Indiana than is the moon.
This is going to require some planning, but hear me
out. First, I can't afford it right
now. But I've looked at my current
income and that bit of it which might be called "discretionary" and
I've run some numbers. If I am religious
about putting it away each month, I can afford the trip in about 40 years
(let's say the year 2054). I will be in
my early 80s then, Jonny a bit older.
But we'll be retired, so time off work won't be an issue. (And there's very little driving,
Jonny!) Now, if you've been paying attention
you may have realized that I failed to account for inflation. Doing so does complicate things, but in my
earlier calculations I had figured in college tuition for both of my children. In a fortuitous turn of events, though, my
older ten-year-old child informed me that he's decided not to attend college.
"Damn right!" I agreed. And the younger one, the eight-year-old, has
no chance of getting in anywhere. The
new numbers suggest the trip is, once again, within reach - still in the year
2054, but again, do-able.
Even without the bothersome worry of college tuition, the
numbers suggest no more fishing between now and then: all funds must go
directly into The Iceland Trip. Maybe I
can fish until all of my current supply of flies and equipment has been lost,
stolen or broken. Anyway, there will be
hardship all around. Divorce is inevitable.
But all is not lost.
It now occurs to me that if we can get at least some proportion of our
98 followers (97 if you consider that Jonny accidentally listed himself as a
"follower" of his own blog) to consider chipping in and joining us
for the trip, we can do this thing - by 2050 if half of you chip in, and by
2040 if everybody does their part. We
will provide "Angler's Culvert" hats.
Now I know at this point most of you are saying to yourself
"Brayshaw, I am virtually certain that I am all in, but I have a few
lingering concerns." I'm not
particularly interested in them, but if it will help, I will leave you with
some more numbers. According to the
interviewee, in the last season they landed just under 3,600 salmon during the
90 day season. In fact, at one point he
says, sounding not even the least bit winded, "This morning, we hooked 22
and landed 14. We get them with
single-hand rods on size 18 flies."
