It all started from my family’s love to be close to nature. When I was a child, the archipelago and its surrounding countryside were my playground and my teacher. My twin brother an I explored everything we could, climbed the highest rocks and trees we found, and boated to the nearby islands. When our family wasn't at sea, we were enjoying the Finnish forests and lakes. Fishing was related to almost everything we did. While we were teenagers our cousin introduced fly fishing to my brother. As I watched him gain experience and excitement I began to catch the bug myself. Some have wondered, “how can I be so obsessed with fishing and the sea?” Especially because of what happened when I was 16. Our dad was always my hero. He knew everything about the sea- and you could always count on him for his advice and good judgement. But then, one stormy and cold evening in October he went fishing to the sea as usual, but this time, he never came back. The sea showed it’s dark side and took someone very important to my brother and I. After that day I started fishing even more. I wanted to make my dad proud and keep his love for the sea, and his love for fishing, alive and present. When you have grown up with fishing, you really can’t envision yourself without it. For me, fly fishing is all about being out in the nature. It is about being able to watch fish and learn their behavior. Fishing gives me the chance to admire the diversity of rivers and the secrets lying deep within the sea. I have always been an explorer, and fly fishing is the perfect way to explore the wilderness. For a long time fly fishing was something my brother, our nephew, and I did together. But within the last few years, I’ve found more friends in the fly fishing community and they have become very important to me. There’s still a long distance between all of them so I mainly fish alone, but still really enjoy the moments that can be shared with others. Laughing together about stupid things is the best! |