One day while scrolling through instagram I came across an account by the name of @kalamazoo_river_guide. The angler behind the account, Jon Lee, was posting photos of fish that were of very noticeable size and variety. Just by seeing his instagram nam I had assumed it was on the Kalamazoo River, but I also knew about the devastation that was caused by the oil spill back in 2010.
For those of you who may not know, the Kalamazoo River fell victim to the largest inland oil spill in American history. 1 million gallons of crude oil devastated a 30 miles stretch along the river and damaged the entire ecosystem along the way. You can only imagine what it did to the fishery. That area of the river was closed to the public for almost two years which stated no access to swimming, fishing or other recreation on the river.
Now that you have a very brief summary of what happened to the Kalamazoo River, you can see why I became so interested in Jon Lee’s instagram account when he was posting these photos of jumbo sized fish from the river. Another very unique thing about Jon is he does most of his fishing with a fly rod. I have always wanted to pick up a fly rod and learn the art of how to accurately cast and reel fish in with a method that I have heard from many as being “life changing.”
Jon breaks down how he got into fly fishing for smallmouth bass, pike and carp on the Kalamazoo River. Getting started can be intimidating to a conventional angler like myself, so I ask Jon to share a very basic set up and where to go to get started. To me it seems like learning on a larger body of water like an inland lake and or local river near by would be a great way to work on my craft. Jon talks about why bass are so forgiving and are always a great species to start with to learn the ins and outs of “beginners fly fishing.”
I have talked about it before but I am someone who is interested in all aspects of fishing. Jon has opened my eyes not only to fly fishing for some of my favorite species but is also helping bring back a great image of the Kalamazoo River and what a great fishery it truly is after such a horrific accident. We talk on the podcast about how as anglers and just human beings we are always taking from our environment and or fishery but rarely do we think about what we can be giving back. Through his instagram account @kalamazoo_river_guide, Jon is someone who is giving back much more than others to a body of water that most wrote off after the oil spill.
I for one am grateful that there are anglers out there like Jon. Be more like Jon.
Cheers,
Lee