Beyond the Fishing

A big part of the fun of many fishing trips surrounds the folks who assemble in a place. During many of my travels, such as the recent trip to Gastons White River Lodge (http://www.gastons.com/) the circle of friends, new and old, includes mostly writers and guides or fishing pros who take the writers out to work together on magazine stories, photos, TV shows and such. On other trips, it's a group of friends who plan an outing together or possibly the people who happen to gather at the same lodge or lakeside grill any given day. Whatever the mix, most trips involve a collection of folks who have a strong common interest in fishing or in a particular destination but often little else in common, and the result is an abundance of interesting stories told and fun times shared both on and off the water. Some of the best fun at Gaston's, as awesome as the fishing was, occurred during the evenings, when everyone had put down there fishing rods and those who played guitars or other instruments picked them up.