Keith McCafferty

To celebrate Father’s Day, all week long we’ll be publishing a series of stories all about dads—about their companionship in the outdoors, about them teaching or encouraging us to hunt and fish, and about how we wouldn’t be where we are, or who we are, without them. Fittingly, we’re calling this series “Thanks, Dad.” Do you have a great story to share about your dad? Submit it to our Father’s Day Contest for a chance to be featured in the F&S journal and win a prize package valued at $500.…

To celebrate Mother’s Day, all week long we’ll be publishing a series of stories all about moms––about their companionship in the outdoors, about them encouraging us to hunt and fish, and about how we wouldn’t be where we are, or who we are, without them. Fittingly, we’re calling this series “Thanks, Mom.” Except for the gaudy wet flies in the circle cast by my headlamp, the only color anywhere was a hazy yellow glow from the window of a stone croft on a hill. My parents and I had rented it…

My baptism in steelhead fishing began with a bang. At least as much of a bang as a .22 pistol can make in a canyon smothered by fog. Of the gun I recall nothing beyond its barrel. Nor, oddly enough, do I recall the fish, except that it was a winter run. Seven pounds, a bit more in the telling. But the executioner, that man I remember. He had sandy hair, a pencil mustache, and a right cheek that twitched. He was the friend of a friend and new to Washington state, he and his wife having recently e…