Back in the winter of '91 I had the great fortune to spend several weekends at fly-tying seminars with Jim. He was a dab hand at tying classic Atlantic Salmon patterns.
One night, in the bar of the hotel we were staying in, we put a serious dent in their supply of Scots whisky. Along toward midnight, we were calling it a day when in walked Ernie Schwiebert. We had given up hope of seeing him that night as his transportation was delayed by the snow storm raging outside. (Yes, this was in Pennsylvania.) Well, the stocks of whisky got drained even further and at some point (along about 3:00am) we were told rather firmly to please leave. We all needed help finding our rooms! Imagine spending hours with two of the best outdoor story tellers of our time, and them being gracious enough to laugh at some of my stories.
The next day Jim gave me a couple of his Salmon flies, which now reside under a glass dome on my desk- a rememberance of a fine gentleman. The 1st editions of Ernie's that he inscribed to me will always be here, too, to remind me how blessed I was to have known some pretty cool guys.
