Fly Fishing

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

I can not really remember where I first heard the name "Jack Gartside." Perhaps it was in the context of his amazing soft hackle streamer flies that my friend Boz introduced me to for Salmon Fishing here in Maine. Or, maybe it was my friend Alex and other friends who always spoke in such high regard of Jack Gartside as being an amazing man, a passionate fly tier and fly fisherman and "One of the greatest guys you could ever meet." Or maybe it was the couple emails I exchanged with Jack trying to help him login to Flies And Fins, it seemed he always had "issues" with the technology of logging in .. but, we finally resolved it and Jack did finally manage to login and become the 3,423rd Flies and Fins crew member, with the username "JackGartside."

I was saddened today when I saw the news that Jack had passed away. Seems that people like Jack don't come along all that often. I can't say that I personally knew him, but I can say that every word I had ever heard spoken of him by so many fly fishing friends had a couple things in common. Across the board, everyone always spoke of how much they admired his flies, his fly fishing life, his books etc.. -- but more than that everyone seemed to universally say the same thing about him as a person, "Jack is one of the best guys you will ever meet."

Today I clicked through Jacks Website and looked at all of the ways this man truly lived a passionate "fishing life" through his books, his fly tying and his fly fishing. I realized that Jack was a very accomplished man in the world of fly fishing. The accomplishments on the vise, with the pen and on the rod were impressive .. but none of those things are as impressive as the way in which he was respected by so many people as being "One of the greatest guys you could ever meet." So, I just wanted to use this post to pay respects to a fly fishing legend and "One of the greatest guys you could ever meet."

"There are no luggage racks on hearses, no pockets in shrouds.’ All we have is this life, and it’s up to us to make the most of it.’’ - Jack Gartside

Here is a great article that boston.com put together on the life of Jack Gartside. As this article points out, Jack was definitely the "real deal" and will be missed by many. Thank you, Jack. Rest In Peace.

MarshallD · Location: Naples, Fl

Much of what Jack's life in fishing was how he shaped his flies and how he talked to hoards of onlookers at shows, and how he slept on beaches, being the fly fisher that we want to be...Jack showed us how to be way better at what we are doing out there.

I loved how Jack showed me flies and stuff about what is really important.