Jump Into Fishing

Jump Into Fishing by Jeff Varvil
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As an Alaskan sportsman I have been blessed with many opportunities that quite frankly no other state could even begin to offer me. Even my miserable failures have been an opportunity to learn how to do things differently next time. Everything in life is an opportunity, that’s the way I see it.

If you have read my previous rants there is no arguing that I have paid the proverbial piper with blood and sweat because of my bad decisions. That’s human nature I guess. We hear people say If died tomorrow doing something I loved, well, may we all be that lucky. That’s the way I want to go to I guess, not in a hospital bed cancer ridden.

Don’t get me wrong. I am no martyr. I want to live forever just like the next guy but I will settle for something in between a slow death in a cancer bed and a fiery plane crash. Fun comes with inherent risk, at least real fun. When I go back to Michigan to deer hunt this month I will inevitably be involved in various conversations in which old friends chatter on with mediocre stories about the “Giant” fourteen-inch Michigan bluegill that got away. That’s not insulting the bluegill. Everything is relative I guess. Someone will ask, “Jeff what have you done fun this year?”

I will smile, take a sip of my beer and say “Hmmm, I jumped out of an airplane at eight thousand feet and parachuted into a great rainbow trout stream where we preceded to catch thirty inch rainbow trout all day. Then we whitewater rafted the three days out.”

“Of course that was only one weekend”!
So goes life in Alaska!
When I first got the call from my friend James, I will admit, I was a little more than apprehensive. It went something like this:
“Jeff, I have great idea, were going to go on a three day fly-out trip and it won’t cost you a thing, the whole thing will be sponsored for a TV show”. “It will be me, you and two camera people.”
“Great” I said with gaining enthusiasm.
“We’ll fish rainbow trout on a stream that has never been fished”. I’m skeptical, simply because every river has been fished by someone.
“Cool” was again my reply, trusting that he has the whole thing planned out.
“The stream is supposed to be filled with giant bows!” Aha, Never been fished, like I said, skeptical.
“Cool.” “I’m definitely in.” I reply.
“Ok, I will be over in a bit to talk about the skydiving stuff!”
“Ah, What was that?”
“The parachute stuff, you just can’t jump out of a plane without a parachute and some guidance.”
“Ah, Did you say jump from a plane”?

“Yes, it’s all set up. Well, basically, the camera crews, the pilot. You’re the only one not committed, you’re the fisherman raft guy, we’re all in now.” With that the phone call ended.
I guess I was jumping from a plane.

The Planning
I am always up for an adventure but there is just something about the idea of pulling a Peter Pan from an airplane that gives most folks, including me, the willies. This kind of trip takes a lot of preparation and a little help from Mother Nature goes a long ways. As usual, Mother Nature did not cooperate with yours truly. First off, the obvious, you should know that this is not a trip for just anyone. They just don’t let any schmuck jump from a plane, unless that schmuck is a certified skydiver or attached to someone who is certified. You have to go through the proper courses and gain certification. There are jump schools in Alaska and throughout the country that will train and certify you for a nominal fee.

As I understand it there are a few different routes to gain certification with you either starting out with tandem jumps or static lines single jumps. I believe with some training and twenty-five solo jumps you can be certified. A static line is where your parachute is connected to the plane via a cord so it automatically deploys upon you leaving the aircraft. We were opting for the tandem jump as James has over fifteen hundred jumps to his credit and I had, well, none. He is an instructor, which in a tandem jump makes me the guy hanging from the instructor while we are deploying from the aircraft. I resemble a kangaroo baby attached to mom.

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