As a jaded New Yorker with decades of memories on my side, it takes a lot to get me to travel all the way across the river to New Jersey.
Over the last few years, I've crossed the Hudson to see Lebron, the Stones, Wilco, the Copa America Finals and my photographer friend Jay Seldin, and that's about it.
But last weekend the Fly Fishing Show rolled into Somerset, N.J., and so I made the trek on the final day of the three-day expo on all things fly-fishing.
Along the way, I passed through two towns that played a big part of my early years: Plainfield, where my Mom was born; and Perth Amboy, home to my grandmother Rose when I was a little boy.
Steal Your Face reel.
Arriving at the show in Somerset, it was great to see Jim Klug at the Yellow Dog Fly Fishing booth. We became friends at the Fly-Fishing Photography School last October in Belize that he organized.
It was also fun meeting famed fly tier Enrico Puglisi and telling him we have a mutual friend: the one and only Alejandro Hernandez of Campeche Tarpon. Pugilisi's wide grin upon hearing Alejandro's name was worth the $20 admission alone.
My real motivation for attending the show, along with discovering the latest and greatest gear, from rods to reels to flies, was exploring some of the fishing lodges, outfitters and guides that work in the industry.
Enrico's vice and work station.
Lakutaia Lodge in Chile in one such operation. Located on Navarino Island in the Cape Horn watershed of southern Patagonia, the lodge offers helicopter-fishing for large brown trout, monster brookies, rainbow trout and sea-run browns. Lakataia is a new lodge that offers adventurous (and well-heeled) anglers a new frontier in Patagonia.
"We are the southernmost heli-fishing operation in the world," said William Kosmer, fly fishing ambassador for Lakutaia. "We are just now discovering some of the rivers in the Cape Horn region."
I also met Hogni Hardarson, a young professional fishing guide in Iceland. His company Fish Parnters offers guided fishing in some of the most beautiful parts of the country: Lake Thingvallavatn, the Central Highlands, Tungnaa River, Volcano Lake and more.
Fishing map.
Having been to magical Iceland twice before but never to fish, I started plotting my return in search of salmon, trout and Arctic char. Indeed, I am going to keep Hogni's business card on me for that very time.
Most exciting was stopping by the booth of Tsimane Lodge in Bolivia, which is a place I'd like to go, possibly later this year as I celebrate a landmark birthday (gulp!). It was also great timing because Marcelo Perez, the founder of the remote lodge located deep in the Amazon jungle, was giving an hour-long presentation on Tsimane.
Perez explained that in the jungle there are many exotic species of fish to catch but at Tsimane the main prize is golden dorado.
"The golden dorado is a beautiful fish that jumps like a tarpon, hits like a GT, and runs like a bonefish," he said. "All these things add up to the golden dorado."
The latest fly rods.
Unlike northern Argentina, where anglers catch golden dorado in wide, murky rivers, at Tsimane the fishing is done in fast-running clear-water streams.
"It's relative to a creek in Montana," Perez said.
The local indigenous Indians think of the golden dorado "as sacred, like a king" due to their symbiotic relationship. During the great migration of the sabalo fish, the golden dorados feed and drive the sabalo to the river banks, where they can be killed by bow and arrow.
"The golden dorados and the Indians hunt together," Perez said.
By the time Perez's presentation was over, I was completely sold on Tsimane and this adventurous, once-in-a-lifetime fishing trip.
As we shook hands goodbye I told Perez that I would hopefully see him in October at Tsimane.
"See you in October," he said. "We will have a cold Bolivian beer."
From New York to Bolivia, by way of the Hudson.