Program Summary John D

With student essays in hand, John Dolinsek, aka Doly, read a few of the winning essays in the project he helped organize in honor of  Rotarian Rusty Lockner.

John is an avid Fly Fisherman, and wanted to combine his and Rusty's love of the sport and  encourage it in youth, particularly under represented in the sport, girls.  In cooperation with the Sunrise Rotary Club of Missoula Montana where Rusty lived prior to his death, John's  efforts now provide fly fishing outfits from co-sponsoring Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop in Missoula for the essay winners.  "Why do you want to fly fish?" is the essay question.  John gave us many great accounts of what keeps his line flying across the water!

As early as the age of six, John explored the river near his his childhood home in Woodacre in Marin County.  From this early age John could read the stream before he could a book, learning the wiles of wild trout, and their angler-spotting vision.  John's treks in pursuit of the trout came to be know as "bushwacking" or cutting his way through brush to find the whole hole in the creek.

John's technique is catch and release~~ not like the bears do. "It isn't about fish count" John says.  It's includes sighting Bald Eagle stalking him and other fishers, such as the black racer water snake on the McCloud  who caught and consumed it's prey within yards of John's amazement.  Mingling with River Otters, being in one of the last bastions of wilderness, that what keeps Doly coming back for more, regardless of his creel count.

This is one fish story you can count on is the truth!!