Fish n Clips Magazine

Florida Angler Eats Potential State Record Fish!

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 07:17:05 -0600

FLORIDA - It would appear the previous entry of Big Fish Photo of the Week featuring Tony Eden, of Jacksonville Beach, with his giant sheepshead which measured 26 inches and weighed 17 lbs would have indeed been a new state record. However, we will never know for sure. You see Eden made a mistake and thought the world record of 21 lbs, 4 oz. was the state record. Therefore he never weighed the fish on a certified scale and simply went home and made dinner out of the fish! According to the Florida Sportsman Sport Fish of Florida by Vic Dunaway, the Florida state record for sheepshead is indeed 15 lbs, 2 oz. Regardless of his mistake, that is a great catch and at least Eden has a photo to prove his trophy sheepshead of a lifetime.

Mr. Wooly Bugger Dies

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:02:08 -0600

FNC NEWS - Russell C. Blessing, 74, of Harrisburg, entered into eternal rest Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at his home after a courageous battle with cancer with his family by his side.

An avid fly fisherman Russell was the creator of the world renowned Woolly Bugger, and was mentioned for his contribution to fishing in many books and magazines.

Born in Harrisburg on October 14, 1935, he was the son of Russell S. and Violet M. Gerhart Blessing.

Russell retired from the former AMP, Inc., as an administrative manager for 41 years. He was a 1954 graduate of John Harris High School. Russell was also a Sunday school teacher and member of Mt. Calvary United Methodist Church, Harrisburg, and a member of its Men's Sharing Group. Russell played trombone in the Washington Band, Annville and the former Doc Hughes' Band, Hummelstown. He also coached midget basketball and baseball. Russell was a Hershey Bears season ticket holder for 33 years.

Russell is survived by his wife of nearly 54 years, Patricia L. Fishel Blessing, whom he married on November 5, 1955; one daughter, Julie E. Brady wife of Rande of West Hanover Township; two sons, Andrew C. Blessing husband of Tina of Mt. Wolf and Fred O. Blessing husband of Cristina of York Springs; four grandchildren, Jason Brady of Bel Air, MD, Jordan Brady and Erin Brady both of West Hanover Township, and Sara Blessing of York Springs; one brother, James T. Blessing husband of Bonnie of Philadelphia; two nephews, Daniel and Jeremy; a niece, Daphne; and his best friend and fishing companion, Werner "Dutch" Fetter of Elizabethtown.

Pebble Mine Seen As Risky Investment

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:10:29 -0600

ALASKA REPORT - A new investor advisory released today raises significant questions about the risks associated with Anglo American plc's Pebble Mine Project in southwest Alaska. The advisory details the growing list of regulatory, legal, engineering and political challenges facing the London-based mining giant as its struggles to secure permits for the controversial gold-copper mine.

"No other mining projects in North America come close to the scale, the complexity and the technological challenges that face the Pebble Mine," said Dr. David Chambers, Ph.D. who runs the Center for Science and Public Participation in Montana. Chambers and Stuart Levit, a reclamation specialist with the Center, reviewed the report for its technical accuracy.

The Pebble Mine Project in remote southwest Alaska is a 50-50 joint venture between London-based Anglo American and British Columbia-based Northern Dynasty Minerals ltd. known as the Pebble Limited Partnership.

The project’s location in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery, presents significant difficulties for Anglo American. While the companies have yet to enter the permitting phase, they have already encountered unprecedented opposition in Alaska and from the commercial, sport fishing and jewelry retail industries.

"The risks identified in this report should be of particular interest to lenders," said Jonas Kron, Esq. an analyst with Trillium Asset Management Corporation who reviewed the report. Trillium manages approximately $900 million in assets for institutional and individual clients.

"Financial services companies that are asked to provide financing for the Pebble project would do well to recall the multiple challenges they faced related to mountaintop removal mining in the United States," Kron said. "Being associated with a project this controversial and opposed by Alaska Native Tribes and jewelers, is a risky place to be, particularly for financiers who have made environmental and social commitments related to their lending policies and practices."

Read more at Alaska Report

Fishing Charges Against Restaurateur

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:03:34 -0600

SFGATE.COM - What could be one of the more outrageous fish crimes in Bay Area history - the alleged gillnetting of white sea bass for sale in a restaurant - is going to trial in Marin County after game wardens reportedly caught a man with fish slime on his hands and three 25-pounders at his feet.

An anonymous tipster to the Department of Fish and Game reported that John Konatich, owner of Tony's Seafood restaurant on the shore of Tomales Bay in Marshall, was gillnetting sport fish at night for his restaurant, game warden Rich Mead said.

Tony's was contacted by phone for this column, but an employee said Konatich was not available.

"He sets up lights on the dock behind his restaurant to attract baitfish," the caller said, according to Mead. "Then when white sea bass and striped bass come in to feed, he'd set a gill net."

Mead said, "Every day I go out on patrol and I run across things that never cease to amaze me. When we got this call, I wondered, 'How long has that guy been doing that?' "

Mead, working undercover with another officer, Joseph Laugesen, also in plain clothes, visited Tony's Seafood on a weekday afternoon in August when the restaurant was closed. They quietly searched the property, and at the end of the dock, said they found a large commercial fish barrel - and inside was a gill net.

They returned to Tony's Seafood after working a spotlighting deer poaching case late on a Saturday night and arrived at 1 a.m.

"We saw an individual at the end of the dock," Mead said. "He was standing next to a roll cart, and on the cart he had three large white sea bass." When the game wardens approached, they also said they spotted wet waders and gloves covered with fresh fish scales on the dock.

"Where did you get the fish?" Mead said he asked the man.

"I caught them with my fishing rod," was the answer, said Mead, who identified the man as Konatich.

"Look, it's 1 o'clock Sunday morning," Mead said he told Konatich. "We didn't just show up here by chance."

Mead said Konatich then admitted using the gill net and showed him the three sea bass. Wardens said they found three more large sea bass in the restaurant's cold storage unit that had been caught that night and more filleted sea bass in a nearby walk-in freezer, along with a juvenile halibut and a 4 1/2-foot leopard shark. Konatich said he had caught the shark in April in the gill net, according to Mead.

Fish and Game seized the illegal catch and a wet gill net that was 400 feet long and 16 feet deep with 5-inch mesh, lead weights on the bottom and floats on top. Mead said the floats allowed the suspect to vacuum 16 feet of water, from surface to bottom, leaving no way for the fish to escape.

The sea bass was turned into filets the morning after it was confiscated, and Fish and Game donated it to charity.

Kathryn Mitchell off the Marin County district attorney's office said that Konatich was charged last week with eight counts of violations of the Fish and Game Code, all misdemeanors. The counts include the unlawful use of a gill net; unlawful taking of a bird, mammal, fish or reptile; possession of a creature unlawfully taken and failing to keep accounting records.

In Superior Court, Konatich pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. He is scheduled to appear again Nov. 10.

"Tomales Bay is famous for salmon, halibut, and people spend their hard-earned money for a chance to catch a fish," Mead said. "Yet here's a guy setting a 400-foot gill net, catching everything. It's disturbing."

Illegal fish and wildlife activity can be reported to Fish and Game's poacher hot line at (888) 334-2258 or its Bay Area office at (707) 944-5500.

Tres Pescado Winner Dies

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:26:24 -0600

FNC - Mark Elliott, one of the 2 member team that won the 1st Annual Tres Pescado Slam Tournament in San Pedro, Belize this past August and was slated along with Thomas Reckling to represent Belize in the 2010 IGFA Inshore World Championships this next June, die suddenly of what is believed to be a heart attack on October 20, 2009. He was only 45 years old.

Born Mark Lea Elliott in Durban, South Africa on 23rd September 1964 to English parents, Mark grew up in England before moving to Houston in 1985. After graduating from University of St. Thomas, Mark worked for several major corporations in Houston ending his successful career with IBM. Mark was passionate about hunting and fly fishing. Mark's extensive fly fishing exploits recently peaked with the winning of the "Tres Pescado Slam Tournament" in Belize, qualifying him for the 2010 IGFA World Championships. He was preceded in death by his father, Ian Lea Elliott and is survived by his loving mother, Elizabeth Mary Milling; brothers, David & Charles Elliott, girlfriend Wendy Nichols and an extended loving family. Mark had a huge personality and will be deeply missed by his many friends, family and colleagues. Thanks Giving Service: 3:00 PM, Thursday, October 29, 2009 at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Houston. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Heart Foundation in his memory.

Mark will be missed on the fly fishing circuit especially this next year at the 2nd Annual Tres Pescado Slam Tournament.

Kiwi Fly Fishing Film Stuns Americans

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:17:38 -0600

Two Otago fishing mates have become overnight winners with their fly fishing film Once in a Blue Moon, about the fly fishing adventure of a life time.

Carl McNeil and Earl Kingi won a top American Film Award as they unravel a Fiordland mystery of trout eating mice... and then trying to catch the big one.

It took three years to film and over 400 hours of never before seen footage.

It's so popular they've had over 70,000 hits on YouTube.

Fiorldand is country we are all proud off... and yet rarely get to see first hand. It's remote, beautiful and simply stunning.

And it's down here at the bottom of the country where professional fly fisherman McNeil lives and breaths fly fishing, dreaming of catching the big one.

"Been for almost 30 years since I was 5 -6 years old," says McNeil.

"Like most Kiwi kids, most Kiwi country kids, my dad took me out fishing as a wee kid and yeah it has become a big part of my life."

Carl is a self admitting trout bum - a certified master casting instructor and obsessed with fly fishing.

"The thing that I enjoy most about angling and fly fishing is the places we go," says McNeil.

"We live in a beautiful country and it is a great excuse to get out and go and see it and do it."

And it's here in Fiordland in some of the most inaccessible places where some of the biggest trout live.

You have to have the best skills and experience if you are to bag fish like this.

The idea for a movie came after years spent fishing with his mate Earl Kingi, a cameraman and a keen angler.

"The idea for Once in a Blue Moon - I spent years and years with my mate Earl and we sat by a river and seeing all the glorious stuff every day and we thought we should probably make a film on this," says McNeil.

"And we said this every fishing trip for about 10 or 15 years and we had seen a lot of fishing films and really felt that they had never done fly fishing any justice.

"So finally we got our A into G and it took three years to make and that was the motivation. We really just made it for Earl and I, and low and behold a lot of other people have liked it which is really cool."

"Every night we would sitting outside in stunning conditions and Carl said: 'You should really film this one day, you're a cameraman why don't you film it?'," says Kingi.

What Kingi and McNeil set out to do was unravel an event that occurs once a decade, when mice grow in their thousands and trout feed on the rodents.

"Our film Once in a Blue Moon is about an interesting phonenoem that occurs in our native forest once every 5-10 years," says McNeil.

"The native forest flowers it produce seed and the rats and mice eat them and the population booms. It's fantastic for the trout.

"Once they have eaten the forest floor then they start to swim and they end up in our lakes and rivers. A trout it is used to eating bugs - now it is eating mice which is like eating 10 cheese burgers a day so these trout get very, very big very quickly and they turn into aggressive feeders and for a fly angler it is an absolute dream."

In the film Carl meticulously crafts a fly in the shape of a mouse and then goes for the big one.

The Kiwi fly fishing film has turned into a huge hit in the US winning a top award with the underwater footage alone being called some of the best ever seen.

"We tried to make the film really different and try to get stuff that people had never seen before and a large part of that was trout underwater," says McNeil.

"We got Dave Allen, put him in a wetsuit and threw him in the river for a week," says Kingi. "He nearly got hypothermia and he got some stunning stuff that we have never seen before."

"Took about three years to make the film,so it did take a long time I suppose," says McNeil. "We have taken 300 - 400 hours of footage that is edited down to 30 minutes."

Now these footage is playing on a 40 city film tour through the United States, showcasing the best of New Zealand.

IGFA School of Sportfishing Season 13

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:30:47 -0600

The IGFA School of Sportfishing is getting ready to kick off Session 13 on November 3. The lineup of classes will be focusing on offshore species such as wahoo, marlin and sailfish with instructors to include Ronnie Hamlin, Bouncer Smith, and Karl Anderson.

The IGFA's Jeff Mackin said updated information can be found at the school's website at www.igfa.org/schoolofsportfishing.asp.

"Session 12 wrapped up in early October and was highly successful," said Mackin. "Participants enjoyed a class lineup that covered different aspects of both inshore and offshore fishing including bottom, kite, and surf fishing. Participants also benefited from the School of Sportfishing's partnership with Yo-Zuri, receiving free Crystal Minnow lures and spools of fluorocarbon in addition to the customary rod, lure, and tackle giveaways.

"Attendees can expect us to provide and continue improving on the finest series of fishing courses available," he added.

The IGFA School of Sportfishing classes are held on Tuesday nights from 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. at the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum in Dania Beach, Florida and are limited to the first 24 anglers to sign up. .

For more information, please contact Mackin at 954.924.4340 or visit www.igfa.org/schoolofsportfishing.asp. Anglers can also sign up online at www.igfa.org/sosform.asp.

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Ban

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:33:34 -0600

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Billfish Foundation has learned its efforts this past summer calling for a ban on international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna has received the support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Today both NOAA and the Department of the Interior issued statements supporting a CITES listing for the species. Such a listing would ban all international trade in the species but recreational and commercial fishing could still occur domestically.

In the statement issued today Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, said, "We are sending a clear and definitive statement to the international community that the status quo is not acceptable. Over the past 40 years, the international body that manages bluefin tuna, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), has overseen a 72 percent decline in the adult population of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock of bluefin tuna and an 82 percent decline in the adult population of the western Atlantic stock."

TBF President Ellen Peel said, "We are thrilled to learn that NOAA and the Department of Interior will support an Appendix 1 CITES (Convention for the International Trade in Endangered Species) listing that has been proposed for eastern and western Atlantic stocks of bluefin tuna - a position that TBF recommended last July.

"It is very positive to see the new Administration step forward on this important fish conservation issue. The linchpin now rests with ICCAT to dramatically reduce quotas, stop international trade, close spawning grounds and show that it can stop illegal fishing or face a listing under CITES. Good fishing for all interests is dependent upon healthy fish stocks being in the water. A failure to restore bluefin penalizes all US fishing interests and those who enjoy bluefin tuna."

ICCAT will consider the issue at its annual meeting set for November 6 - 15 at Recife, Brazil. Ms. Peel, who this week is in pre-ICCAT meetings in Washington, has been named to serve as a U.S. ICCAT Commissioner to negotiate for the U.S. at that November meeting. A meeting of the member nations of CITES will take place in March 13 - 24 in Doha, Qatar.

TBF Chief Scientist Dr. Russell Nelson added, "I do not believe that anything short of a fully enforced ICCAT moratorium on international trade of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic will send a message sufficient to avoid a CITES listing. It’s frankly unlikely that the illegal and unreported fishing that is landing twice the tonnage recommended by the science can be controlled."

Peel concluded, "We are further encouraged by Dr. Lubchenco's wise choice to support CITES and conservation and the acknowledgement that officials in D.C. are listening to the recreational billfishing community."

More on the background on the situation plus the statements from NOAA and the Interior Department are on the TBF (billfish.org) web site.

Established in 1986 by the late Winthrop P. Rockefeller, The Billfish Foundation is the only non-profit organization dedicated solely to conserving and enhancing billfish populations worldwide. With world headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., USA, TBF’s comprehensive network of members and supporters includes anglers, captains, mates, tournament directors, clubs, sport fishing and tourism businesses. By coordinating efforts and speaking with one voice, the organization works for solutions that are good for billfish, not punitive to recreational anglers and good for the local economy.

Ms. Peel can be reached by e-mail at Ellen_Peel@billfish.org or by phone at 800-438-8247, ext 108.

IGFA 11th Induction Class

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:27:34 -0600

IGFA - Five talented men, all who have made significant contributions to the sport of recreational fishing, will be inducted as the 11th class into the International Game Fish Association Fishing Hall of Fame this fall. The announcement of the class of 2009 includes Carlos Barrantes, Sr, Jack Erskine, Dr. Guy Harvey, Harlan Major and Stephen Sloan.

The annual star-studded enshrinement ceremony and dinner will be held Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 6 p.m. at the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame in Dania Beach, Fla. The public is invited.

Each year the honorees are selected for the significant contributions through angling achievements, literature, the arts, science, education, invention, communication or administration of fishery resources.

The five inductees and their contributions are:

Carlos Barrantes, Sr. - A proactive angler and conservationist Barrantes opened up Costa Rica and Central America to sportfishing and served as the IGFA's Costa Rican Representative. He founded and was also president of Costa Rica's National Fishing Federation. In 1982, Barrantes was presented the Sportsman's Honor Medal by the president of Costa Rica. Carlos was also a writer and in 1987 he was elected Lifetime Honorary Member of the Costa Rica Journalist's Society. From 1987 - 1990 he was president of the Conservation Association of Sportfishing in Costa Rica. Barrantes also developed hatchery programs for freshwater game fish in Costa Rica and established the first fishing store in the country, Gilca Ltd.; established the first fishing lodge on the Atlantic side - the Parismina Tarpon Rancho, and was the first angler to be inducted into the Costa Rica Hall of Fame in 2003. Barrantes died in 2004. His son, Carlos Jr. is now the IGFA's Representative in Costa Rica.

Jack Erskine - For more than 30 years, Jack's name has been synonymous with cutting edge tackle innovations, light-tackle fishing records and many important contributions not only in his home fishing waters of Cairns, Australia, but globally as well. Widely known by his clients and anglers as "Erko," Erskine has been a longtime technical consultant for AFTCO, Penn Tackle, Fin-Nor and Bass Pro Shops. He is particularly noted for his expertise in drag systems, especially for the giant black marlin that roamed the northeastern waters of the continent. Erko's skills as a consummate light tackle angler and his Cairns captures of marlin on super light lines -- i.e. eight black marlin on 2 kg line in a single day setting four consecutive world records -- is legendary. He's been a long time advocate of saltwater spinning tackle for billfish and other gamefish. He and his wife run a small, personal but highly technical reel-tuning business plus assorted, specialty equipment in Cairns, far north Queensland. He was inducted into the Cairns Fishing Hall of Fame in 2008.

Dr. Guy Harvey - Renowned marine wildlife artist, Guy became entranced by Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea while at boarding school. With no formal art training but with a scientist's eye for detail, he began sketching fish. Praise for the 119 illustrations in Guy's 1983 doctoral thesis convinced him to put on a one-man show of his work, and within three years Harvey had become a full-time artist. Guy is a vocal proponent of catch-and-release and generously donates artwork, time and funds for numerous institutions and conservation groups, including the Guy Harvey Research Institute established at Nova Southeastern University in 1999. He shares his knowledge and art in books, TV shows, and DVDs. Harvey became an IGFA Representative in 1986 and has been a member of the IGFA Board of Trustees since 1993. In 2008 Dr. Harvey created the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. He and his family live in Grand Cayman.

Harlan Major - One of saltwater angling's first historians, Major was an early outdoor writer and a superb tackle technician. Always experimenting with new ideas and techniques, Major, who was from Detroit, Mich., was known for bringing West Coast angling ideas to the East. His Salt Water Fishing Tackle (1939) remains a classic reference. Major was the first American outdoor writer to go to Chile to investigate reports of giant swordfish being caught (1935), pioneering the way for the Lerners, Farringtons and Marrons. He saw saltwater angling as the sport of everyman, and in 1933 persuaded railway execs to run special fishermen's trains from Penn Station to Montauk Point in New York City. Major convinced Pan Am that a big-game sport fishery could be developed in the Pacific islands, which would attract affluent anglers/travelers to their new "clipper ship" service. During World War II, Major set up a tackle clearing house in New York City and enlisted scores of volunteers who sifted through discarded line, lures and hooks to make up 200,000 usable angling kits to send to servicemen. Major died in 1968.

Stephen Sloan - Sloan has a history to be envied in several phases of recreational angling, fresh and saltwater. He held 44 IGFA world records; authored three books, Fly Fishing is Spoken Here, Thanatopfish and Ocean Bankruptcy; produced and hosted syndicated radio show, "The Fishing Zone" which discussed the problems and challenges that our ocean and fishing resources face; was a former adjunct professor at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science; Chairman of the Fisheries Defense Fund, Trustee of the IGFA; former director of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation and Trustee Emeritus of the American Museum of Fly Fishing. Sloan died in April of 2005 after battling cancer.

There are currently 75 men and women enshrined in the Hall of Fame including Zane Grey, Ernest Hemingway, Curt Gowdy, Ted Williams, Lee Wulff, Michael and Helen Lerner, Philip Wylie, Bill Dance, Roland Martin, Johnny Morris, Don Tyson and Stu Apte.

Tickets are $200 and include the cocktail reception beginning at 6 p.m., silent auction, dinner and the induction ceremony beginning at 7:30 p.m. Special sponsorships and sponsor tables are available. For reservation information please call Lesley Arico at 954-924-4222 or email: larico@igfa.org.

John Norman Maclean Honored

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:34:35 -0600

MISSOULIAN.COM - The "old Rev." John Norman Maclean hasn't cast a fly line in 68 years, but he still casts a shadow that blankets our little town.

And he can still pack a church.

That he did on Sunday, as hundreds of parishioners and guests - including the grandson who shares his name - celebrated the legacy and life of Maclean, so emotively portrayed in "A River Runs Through It," and his friend A.J. Gibson, the gifted architect who designed the church the pastor preached in for 16 years.

A new stone memorial to the two men was unveiled Sunday morning on the First Presbyterian Church's modest lawn on South Fifth Street, followed by readings and remembrances.

"We thank you for the ministry of John Maclean, for the life-giving presence of his family," co-pastor Dan Cravy offered as a prayer in the bitter cold, braved by 300 souls.

It was exactly a century ago that Maclean and his wife Clara arrived in Missoula with their two young children to occupy the church pulpit. In 1909, Norman and Paul were 6 and 3, children who grew up immersed in their father's spiritual lessons, a love of the art of fly fishing and literature.

Paul's life ended tragically in murder at age 32. Norman pursued his doctorate in literature, and his beautifully crafted novella, "A River Runs Through It," has now enchanted millions, both as literature and as the Robert Redford-directed movie of 1992.

John Maclean, Norman Maclean's son and a famed author and journalist, told a packed hall that though he never met his grandfather - the pastor died in 1941, before he was born - he came to know "the old Rev." through his parents, through the people his grandfather befriended and ministered to, and through the land and waters he loved.

"As people of the spirit, it will come to you as no surprise that knowledge can come from unseen places," said Maclean, author of the acclaimed "Fire on the Mountain."

His grandfather was a deeply spiritual and knowledgeable man who had an "intellectual depth," surpassed only perhaps by a silent strength.

"He was quiet, like the giant peaks around him," said Maclean. "Dependable."

And Maclean came to know him as a craftsman, an artistic and deliberate one, through the Seeley Lake cabin he built, still in the family today.

"Each time, the Rev. becomes an almost palpable presence" while at the cabin, which Maclean meticulously cares for with linseed oil and turpentine.

Above all, John Norman Maclean saw nature as saturated with spirituality, the handiwork of God's creation magnificent and humbling.

So powerful was that belief that it inspired the now-famous first words of Norman Maclean's masterpiece: "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing."

People must, he wrote, search for God in the rhythms of nature. And in the discipline of fly fishing, you seek God by whipping the fly rod "on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o'clock."

One of the regular parishioners in Maclean's congregation was A.J. Gibson, the prolific and celebrated architect of some of Montana's most notable buildings. The Gibsons and the Macleans became close, a family friendship severed too soon by a fatal car crash in 1928. The Rev. Maclean delivered the eulogy.

Together, the families not only built a church, but a spiritual foundation for the Missoula community, said Rafael Chacon, an art historian and University of Montana professor.

"We are the beneficiaries of that great love," he said. "Invoking it today is the least we can do to honor it."

Interviewed after the reception, John Maclean said both his grandfather and his father would be pleased with Sunday's celebration of their lives.

"It was very important to my dad to be accepted and respected in his community," he said. "I think they would be absolutely delighted by this. They had talked about the legacy of the church over and over."

Today, the First Presbyterian Church is a modern church. Flat-screen LCD monitors, a complete sound system, even a rock band. And it has not one, but two pastors. The Rev. Dan Cravy and the Rev. Brian Marsh both came to Missoula in 2005, and became quite familiar with the church's history, the man who occupied its pulpit from 1909 to 1925, and the literature his life inspired.

"When I got here, I felt like the first thing I had to do was learn to fly fish," said Cravy, laughing.

He did. And so did co-pastor Marsh. Both men received plenty of instruction and advice from none other than their own literature-loving, fly-fishing flock.

"Everybody helped me," said Marsh. "They love it. And they're humble about it."

John Norman Maclean still casts that shadow, even on these two young pastors. It's not an intimidating one, but a teaching one.

And the lesson is further mastered from the pages of an obscure novella.

"("A River Runs Through It") informed me that there is a rhythm of flesh and spirit, of life and faith, of 10 and 2," said Marsh. "And that all life is spiritual life. Maclean lived that."