Discover the Magic of ‘River Songs’: Dive Into Steve Duda’s Fly Fishing Adventures!

Meet Steve Duda. Originally from Detroit now living in Seattle. Steve is currently the Head of Fish Tales for Patagonia. Steve was introduced to Fly Fishing when he was listing in Boise. Quickly Fly Fishing “hooked” him. Moving to Seattle and working at the Rocket Magazine and Amazon Music Steve started writing about Fly Fishing. Steve has recently published his first book River Songs.

Dive into the Book: “River Songs, Moments of Wild Wonder in Fly Fishing” captivated us with its stunning woodcut illustrations by Matthew DeLorme and tales of fishing adventures.

Steve shares stories about his favorite foods when out fishing. We learn about “capping” a prank that Steve and his fishing buddies We wrap up with Steve’s preference between cake and pie.

Steve Duda Episode Transcript

Hello, friends, and welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington State. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. I am virtually sitting down today with Steve Duda, the author of River Songs, Moments of Wild Wonder in Fly Fishing. And I told Steve this before we hit record.

Scott Cowan [00:00:38]:

I have never successfully caught a fish in my life, so I’m probably the worst possible person to talk to him about his new book. But I read the book. I finished it today before this conversation. And and Steve, I’m gonna tell you, it inspired me to get outdoors, maybe not fish, but get outdoors. I I really enjoyed the the stories, the way you put everything together. So, kudos. I mean, it was a very I enjoyed the book a lot, and I will be sending I’m actually gonna send a copy to a buddy of mine who is a fly fisherman, who I think will really get a kick out of it. So welcome to the show.

Steve Duda [00:01:13]:

Thank you, Scott. I appreciate that. Happy happy to be here.

Scott Cowan [00:01:17]:

So I’m going to tell you what little I know about you, and then I’m gonna ask you to fill in the blanks. Okay. So you, you, you grew up in, you grew up in Detroit.

Steve Duda [00:01:26]:

Yes, sir. The motor city, Detroit, Michigan.

Scott Cowan [00:01:28]:

The motor city. All right. Where did you go to college?

Steve Duda [00:01:33]:

I went to Michigan State University. I’m a proud Spartan.

Scott Cowan [00:01:38]:

You’re a proud Spartan, and and what did you major in?

Steve Duda [00:01:41]:

My major was, philosophy. And in case that didn’t work out, as my backup, I had a poetry minor.

Scott Cowan [00:01:52]:

Okay. How? Oh my gosh. All right. Then what I know is that when you left Detroit, you went to Boise, Idaho.

Steve Duda [00:02:03]:

That’s right. I moved to Boise, Idaho. I moved to Boise sight unseen because I had such a I had such a desire, Scott, to move out west, to live among the mountains and rivers. Right? I had really never been out west my entire life. But I I just remember sort of mythologizing the west for all the reasons people mythologize the west. Right? Because it’s because of its beauty, because of its wide open spaces, it’s big skies, you know, it’s mountains, it’s rivers, it’s salmon. All of those reasons, I wanted to get out of flat Detroit and move out west. Yeah.

Steve Duda [00:02:39]:

And I pretty much really didn’t care where it was, but I remember seeing a photograph in Outside Magazine, 10 Greatest Places to Live in the United States, and Boise happened to be number 1 that year. And I moved to Boise, Idaho, sight unseen.

Scott Cowan [00:02:55]:

How old were you when you

Steve Duda [00:02:57]:

moved to? I was right out of college, so I guess I was 20 22, 23, maybe 24.

Scott Cowan [00:03:03]:

Okay. And, and what else I know is I was going to ask you this question and then I, and I did a little bit of research and I got the answer, but you, you, you didn’t grow up fishing. You kind of came upon this when you went to Boise.

Steve Duda [00:03:19]:

Yeah. That’s right. You know, I grew up in a family that wasn’t really an outdoors family. They’re more of a, let’s go with the Tigers game family or let’s go see the Lions play family.

Scott Cowan [00:03:31]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [00:03:31]:

You know, and the only times I really did much fishing when I was a kid was to sneak off so I could drink beer and smoke cigarettes with my buddies. Right? So when I did when I got to Boise, I I became editor of a a an alternative newsweekly called the Boise Weekly. And the publisher of that paper, was a was an avid avid fly fisherman. And he took me along, a couple of times to sort of learn the ropes and see what fly fishing was all about. And I was hooked from from, like, the first time No

Scott Cowan [00:04:06]:

pun intended.

Steve Duda [00:04:06]:

Pun intended. From the first time I saw what fly fishing was actually all about of, you know, standing in beautiful places and having the ability to to capture a wild thing, even if only for a moment in your in your hands, and then let it let it go. I mean, it just seemed like such a magical experience that I wanted I wanted to be part of it.

Scott Cowan [00:04:29]:

I’d like you to think back the first time you caught a fish.

Steve Duda [00:04:34]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:04:36]:

How much do you remember of that specific event?

Steve Duda [00:04:38]:

I remember the I remember the entire thing, Scott. I was I I lived I lived across the street, from the Boise River when I first moved to Boise. And right down the street from where I lived was one of those 3 g shops, Guns, gold, and guitars. Right? It’s a sort of an outdoor pawnshop or just a regular pawnshop, I reckon. So I went in there one day, and and I saw on the wall a fly rod. And it had a reel and a line. It had everything. And it was $75, which was $25 more than I had in my whole life at the time.

Steve Duda [00:05:15]:

And I told the guy, pal, I only have I only I’ve only got $50. And he gave me that fly rod, Scott, for $50, and he even threw in a couple of flies. And I took that thing immediately down to the river and waded in in my tennis shoes and blue jeans and, you know, just pretty much pretended I knew what I was doing and started casting away. It took me a couple of sessions, but I remember just

Scott Cowan [00:05:40]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [00:05:40]:

I I got the fly out there somehow, and somehow it was floating where it was supposed to float, and somehow it floated over the dumbest trout in the river and that trout rose up and grabbed that fly. And, yeah, I I just remember the thrill of it, the improbability of it, the magic of it, all of it. And it they all came together. And it was just a it was just a wonderful feeling. Like, all of those things just sort of exploded inside of you. And I thought, wow, this is the best thing ever.

Scott Cowan [00:06:14]:

Did you ever think that maybe the trout knew you were didn’t know what you’re doing and he was trying to help you out?

Steve Duda [00:06:18]:

Oh, hey. Oh, just a little sympathy, a little sympathy grab? Maybe. Maybe. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:06:24]:

You know? Hey, I don’t know. So that got you hooked. And so since then, what else I know? So you, you, you, what brought you out to Washington state?

Steve Duda [00:06:36]:

I had the chance to follow, a friend out here. She got a great job, in Seattle. And I think a lot of times when well, at least when I was in Boise, I thought, wow. The next place to go is Seattle from Boise. Right? Because if I can make it in Seattle, I can make it anywhere. So I followed her out, and, before too long, I got a job. I I Boise Weekly, I should say. I, you know, I I was the arts editor.

Steve Duda [00:07:04]:

So when I moved out here, I got a job as an editor at the Rocket Magazine. I think a lot of your listeners may remember the Rocket Magazine, which was a which was, you know, the preeminent music magazine on the on the west coast, at least in the northwest. Came out every 2 weeks.

Scott Cowan [00:07:24]:

Absolutely.

Steve Duda [00:07:24]:

Covered covered music in the Northwest for decades. Yeah. And I was lucky to lucky to latch on there and and started writing about writing about the great Seattle music scene.

Scott Cowan [00:07:38]:

What year what year when was that? What what part of the, of the rocket journey were

Steve Duda [00:07:43]:

you? So I

Scott Cowan [00:07:43]:

What what year

Steve Duda [00:07:44]:

If I recall, I think I I became editor in, like, 90, one of the editors in, like, 93 or 94.

Scott Cowan [00:07:51]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [00:07:52]:

So it’s a little after the grunge explosion. But, you know, Seattle has always, always, always, to this very day, had a great music scene. So it wasn’t like I was lacking in things to write about.

Scott Cowan [00:08:05]:

No. And, it was a great, a great magazine that, you know, it was a simpler time back then. We used to go grab the rocket and then plan out our weekends. Where’s the band we wanted to see? Where were they playing? Or where was the venue we like to go and who was on the bill? I don’t know who this is. Do I wanna go? Yeah. We’ll go, you know, type thing. It was It

Steve Duda [00:08:26]:

was the glue Really? It was the glue of the Seattle music scene. And I I wonder, and I think this is a legit question, if the Seattle music scene would have been as vibrant were it not for the Rocket. Right? For all the reasons you just listed, it listed the venues, it listed the bands, It supported the up and coming bands. It promoted the big bands. It was it was really everything to that scene.

Scott Cowan [00:08:53]:

Yeah. It absolutely it it absolutely was. And, my knee jerk response to you is I I don’t think the sound music scene would have been as deep without without the rocket or something like the rocket. I think it I think it really helped. Friends of mine are, wrote a song about, you know, on the cover of the rocket magazine.

Steve Duda [00:09:18]:

It was, you

Scott Cowan [00:09:18]:

know, it was kind of a tongue in cheek, thing. And, they they still they’re they still play it every now and then when they’re, when they’re performing.

Steve Duda [00:09:27]:

What band is that, Scott? I’m dying to know.

Scott Cowan [00:09:29]:

Oh, they were back then they were called Little Stranger.

Steve Duda [00:09:32]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:09:34]:

And they’re now the band that the the guy who wrote the song, the 2 guys that wrote the song are, in a band called the Twang Junkies.

Steve Duda [00:09:41]:

Nice. I love that.

Scott Cowan [00:09:43]:

And, yeah. And they’re, Tacoma guys. And, and they, and it’s just this tongue in cheek, you know, and don’t ask me to sing, but everyone would just immediately throw their devices into the river to never hear my voice again if I tried to sing. But it was it was just, you know, it’s just this, you know, catchy little throwaway song, if you will. I don’t you know, it was tongue and cheek.

Steve Duda [00:10:05]:

You know, the rocket But

Scott Cowan [00:10:06]:

no, I love I love the rocket.

Steve Duda [00:10:07]:

Yeah. Unfortunately, the rocket, you know, it’s gone now. But, you know, I think its legacy is still is it still reverberates. Right? Because there were some incredibly talented people. Peterson’s photographs, art chantry’s graphic design, the incredible, incredible stable of writers that that magazine produced. So, yeah. I mean, it was

Scott Cowan [00:10:29]:

Well, and then, like, before you, Linda Barry was on on the staff. Linda Barry. Absolutely. 100%. And, what’s his name? Matt. Is it Goring? The guy that ended up doing the seasons?

Steve Duda [00:10:41]:

Yeah. That guy. Yeah. So many so many talented writers.

Scott Cowan [00:10:44]:

Exactly. Yeah. It launched it launched the careers of, you know, several, people that have gone on to big literary careers in their lives.

Steve Duda [00:10:53]:

Indeed, Charles Charles Cross, I mean, who was the who was the editor in chief wrote the definitive biographies of Kurt Cobain and Jimmy Hendrix. You know, Adam Tapetelin just wrote just put out a biography of Mudhoney. That was fantastic. So,

Scott Cowan [00:11:07]:

yeah, I

Steve Duda [00:11:08]:

mean, it’s just

Scott Cowan [00:11:08]:

No. I did see that the Rockets coming back as a digital.

Steve Duda [00:11:12]:

That’s right. Apparently, the state of Washington or I think I I shouldn’t I shouldn’t go out on a limb here because I don’t know all the details. But they got a a grant to digit

Scott Cowan [00:11:21]:

I don’t know the details.

Steve Duda [00:11:22]:

Grant to digitize the entire the entire run. And this, you know, this magazine was extent for, 30, 40 years, so big job.

Scott Cowan [00:11:33]:

No. Not that long. But but well, no, though. They’ve done that. No. I’m talking about they’re relaunching the masthead digitally. Like, they they wanna do an online version of the rocket contemporary.

Steve Duda [00:11:42]:

Oh, my. This, I have not heard. That’s great.

Scott Cowan [00:11:46]:

Yeah. So, yeah, I saw something pop up and it hasn’t I don’t know if it’s gained a lot of traction yet. You know, I saw it on Facebook, so it must be true. Anyway Well, I still keep in touch I still

Steve Duda [00:11:58]:

keep in touch with Charlie Cross, so I’ll have to see what the deal is on there.

Scott Cowan [00:12:02]:

Okay. You should yeah. I don’t know that he’s involved, which may be part of the problem. I don’t know. I’m totally I am this part of the show is complete rumor and

Steve Duda [00:12:12]:

conjecture, folks. There we go.

Scott Cowan [00:12:14]:

Alright. Alright. So you you worked at the rocket. When did you start well, your bio says a couple of of of other places, and let’s take the rocket, but let’s jump to a bigger platform. What did you write that got into Rolling Stone?

Steve Duda [00:12:31]:

So I, I never wrote features for Rolling Stone. I was more of a new I was more of a news stringer. Right? So they would have a a front of the book section where they would have news. And I would write I would write, like, the Seattle news. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:12:46]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [00:12:46]:

Courtney Love did this. Pearl Jam did that. Whatever happens. I would just write this the the news briefs on it. So nothing huge and nothing nothing like no grand features, unfortunately, in Rolling Stone. But I I, you know, I was on I was on the masthead, and and, that’s something I’m pretty proud of being Rolling Stone. Love that. I

Scott Cowan [00:13:05]:

Yeah. Well, it’s They made a made

Steve Duda [00:13:07]:

a photocopy of the first check I got from them. Showed my mom.

Scott Cowan [00:13:13]:

Can I can I be nosy? How much was the first check from Rollins’ house?

Steve Duda [00:13:17]:

$200. And at the time, Scott, that was a lot of dough for me.

Scott Cowan [00:13:22]:

Yeah. Still. I forgot

Steve Duda [00:13:23]:

to say.

Scott Cowan [00:13:24]:

That’s a nice payday. Yeah. No. It’s a nice payday. Okay. When did you start working in when did you start writing about fishing, and what what inspired you to start going in that direction?

Steve Duda [00:13:39]:

Yeah. Good question. I had been writing about music and the arts forever. And, after my tenure at the Rocket, I, I started as I I I started at, what at the time was a startup called amazon.com. And I was, I was their managing editor for music. Okay. And worked for them for, like, 7, 8 years. And that that kinda wore me out, Scott, after so long.

Steve Duda [00:14:09]:

I mean, Amazon was a very, very tough place to work in those early days. Right? I recall a time sleeping under my desk, right, to to to finish projects. So after 7 years or so, 7 or 8 years, Scott, I was burnt. So I just wanted to take some time off. And I did. And as a writer, you always carry your desk on the back on your back anyways. So you can take some time off, but you can’t take time off from being a writer. It’s just something that courses through your veins, I think.

Steve Duda [00:14:44]:

So obviously, I kept writing. And I I wanted to write about what I was passionate about, what I really, really loved because that’s always been the easiest thing for me. Whether it was writing about music or art or casting a fly to a trout, I always found that, you know, I could express myself most effectively when I was really passionate about that subject, when I really, really cared.

Scott Cowan [00:15:09]:

And then you became an editor at a fly fishing magazine.

Steve Duda [00:15:13]:

Correct? Well, these were this you know, when I first started writing about fly fishing, it was the early days of the Internet. And, you know, I I think you probably call there all these message boards. And I would go on fly fishing trips or spend a day out fly fishing and then write a little report on my trip. And I would get feedback. Hey. These are really good. You should you should publish these. And then and I I pretty much thought, yeah.

Steve Duda [00:15:36]:

Maybe I should. So I started sending them into sending proposals and story ideas into fly fishing magazines. And before I knew it, I was a fly fishing writer. Yep. That’s how

Scott Cowan [00:15:51]:

it happened. Okay. I can go in so many directions here. Let’s talk about the book specifically because as the time we’re recording this, the book has not yet been published. It’s got another week to go. When this episode is listed, it’ll have been released for sale. So, and I’m not asking you to say anything that isn’t, you know, but walk me through. I always find it interesting to talk to people, especially like authors who walk me through the process of how’d you come up with the idea for the book and then you, how you pitched it.

Scott Cowan [00:16:31]:

Did you have to pitch it to more than 1 publisher? Walk me through that and let’s walk through the actual, you know, how was the sausage made for this book?

Steve Duda [00:16:40]:

Sure. The book the the meat of the book are previously published essays. Stuff that’s appeared in fly fishing magazines, outdoor magazines, websites. Those are like the longer feature pieces. And for this book, I went over and rewrote every single one of those. There’s 14 of those in the book. K. I wrote a couple new ones for this book as well.

Steve Duda [00:17:06]:

So there’s a mix of new and old stuff in this in this book. So those 14 k. Long pieces, are the guts. But I wanted to make this book different somehow. I wanted to make it I wanted to add an element that propelled the reader forward that gave the book some momentum. Right? So I decided that I write I’d also write 14 interludes, 14 shorter pieces. They would fit between the longer pieces. So these 14 pieces became the river songs between between the longer pieces.

Steve Duda [00:17:41]:

And those are sort of, they’re they could be smaller sort of poetic pieces, observations, just short sketches, a little some humorous pieces. So that fills it out. So there’s 14 long pieces, 14 short pieces. As to how the book got written, I got super lucky on that, Scott. I didn’t have to pitch this book. I was giving a talk at an outdoor writer’s conference. And, a representative from Mountaineers came up to me and said, Steve, love your work. We wanna publish it.

Steve Duda [00:18:17]:

We wanna put out a book. And I thought she was kidding at first because that doesn’t really happen.

Scott Cowan [00:18:26]:

Right.

Steve Duda [00:18:27]:

It never happens. But she was serious, and I wrote up a proposal, put it in front of her. She loved it, and I got to work. And, you know, I worked on this book for putting it together, editing the pieces, rewriting the pieces, writing new pieces for about a year and a half.

Scott Cowan [00:18:48]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [00:18:48]:

Constantly pouring everything I had into it. And to see it come out now, to have a copy that I can hold in my hands now is is just amazing. And and I think for any writer, it’s it’s a dream to have a to have a to to be an author of a book.

Scott Cowan [00:19:07]:

I I can’t ask you the question I love to ask authors, which is I’ll tell you what it is. And, you know, and and what I’m gonna ask you to do is report back to me.

Steve Duda [00:19:16]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:19:16]:

Okay? At some point in the future, and it won’t be too far in the future. But so I started asking this, there was this another Seattle author who does, sale history stuff. And I was talking to him and, the question is simply this, is like, what was it like when you saw your book in a bookstore, or when you saw the book for the first time in in the wild? What was that like for you? And where did you see it at? And so I’m curious what it’s gonna be like for you when you, when you walk into wherever it is, whether it’s a fly fishing store, bookstore, in his case and these are history books about Seattle. The first time he saw his his published book was in a Bartels grocery

Steve Duda [00:19:54]:

store Oh my gosh.

Scott Cowan [00:19:55]:

Which I just, like I’m, like, what? You know, I don’t think of Bartels and history books as going Uh-huh. Hand in hand. But I’m really curious what it’s gonna be like for you when when you see when you walk in to some place, and it’s probably not fair if you’re gonna be giving a talk there. The books better be there. But I’m saying when you, like, maybe you go to the airport for some reason and you walk past the Hudson’s books and there it is. I mean, it’ll be I’m just curious what that reaction is gonna be like for you to see to see your baby if

Steve Duda [00:20:22]:

you will. If that happens wild. I’ll I’ll I’ll hope to have a pen on me, and I’ll sneak in there and sign that sucker. There you go. Leave it on the ship. That idea. But, you know, I did go down to to Mountaineers, just last week and picked up a couple of boxes of them because they’re here already. And I brought them home, and I opened that box as carefully as you could.

Steve Duda [00:20:44]:

And I took out one of those one of those books, and and I don’t have kids, but this felt like, you know, this felt like bringing my baby home. You know? It was great. I loved

Scott Cowan [00:20:54]:

Awesome. Yeah. So where do you what do you envision the next few weeks months to look like for you? Is does mountaineers have you on a pretty, I mean, you got stuck talking to me, but are you, not and I can’t, but, are you doing a book tour? They got you out signing. What what are they gonna have you do? We’re

Steve Duda [00:21:17]:

we’re the book tour is definitely coming together. We’ve got a number of dates. Got a number of dates in the northwest. I’m doing a bunch of pods, as you know. Talking to a bunch of, you know, media outlets. So, it’s it’s definitely it’s definitely coming together. You know, we’re we’re like I said, most of the dates so far are in the northwest, but I imagine more toward the winter gonna be branching out a little bit more. A bunch of the dates we’re doing in Oregon, we’re doing with a group called Water Watch.

Steve Duda [00:21:54]:

So, you know, I’m gonna get up and do my thing, read a bit, talk about the book. And then WaterWatch, is gonna have an opportunity to talk about what they do as well, which is preserving, wild waters and working to protect wild fish. Right? Which is something k. Super important to fly fishers at this point in time. Right. You know, because, you know, rivers need to be free. Wild fish need to have places to spawn, to procreate, to to make more wild fish. So that’s something that that we’re working together on.

Steve Duda [00:22:26]:

I couldn’t be happier to have those guys as a partner.

Scott Cowan [00:22:30]:

When I talked to you on the phone, once again, this is not my wheelhouse, but you are what is your official title at Patagonia?

Steve Duda [00:22:38]:

I am head of fishtails at Patagonia.

Scott Cowan [00:22:43]:

That’s a great job.

Steve Duda [00:22:45]:

I mean, it’s just I’m but I did it up myself.

Scott Cowan [00:22:47]:

I did not know that. Oh, did you? They allowed you to. Yeah.

Steve Duda [00:22:50]:

We don’t know. I did not know Patagonia.

Scott Cowan [00:22:52]:

Miss it. We don’t we don’t we we

Steve Duda [00:22:54]:

pride ourselves on on being that kind of company that doesn’t have titles. Right? Because we’re Patagonia. Right? So we do weird stuff like that.

Scott Cowan [00:23:02]:

So what is your day right. But what is your daily routine look like there? What is what is the the head of Fish Tales do for pedicle?

Steve Duda [00:23:11]:

I am responsible for all the words that are connected to our fly fishing department. Right? So Okay. One day, I could be writing about a new pair of waiting boots or new pair of waiters. The next day, I could be working on a story about how we’re working with the Yurok tribe to bring down dams on the Klamath River. So it’s really varied. I can I can be working on helping on a film script, working on our social media? It’s really varied. I think for a writer, it’s an amazing job because I get to stretch in so many different ways, not just marketing, but also editorial narrative stuff, film stuff, video stuff, social media stuff. And, you know, the fact that it’s for Patagonia, a company that that does things the right way, that strives Mhmm.

Steve Duda [00:24:06]:

To make a difference, that respects our planet. Those things make it make it easy to get up and go to work in the morning. And and and, I think I’m I think I’m lucky to be a writer first. And secondly, I’m I’m lucky to work for a company like Patagonia.

Scott Cowan [00:24:27]:

Well, as the, you know, fish tails, I mean, that’s just what a that’s a very cool title. I I you may have made it up, but I think it’s, you know, you should have business cards that

Steve Duda [00:24:36]:

say I do.

Scott Cowan [00:24:36]:

I just perfect. I love it. I love that. So I was watching some things online, and I’m drawing a blank on the name of it. So, you know, I’m gonna ask you to help me out. But you’ve you’ve you’ve read you’ve you’ve gotten together with other writers and have kind of gotten up in front of an audience and read some of your work. And it looks like it was in a a video I was watching. Was that in a Patagonia store?

Steve Duda [00:25:11]:

The guy who, the guy who is the editor of Flyfish Journal now, where I used to be the editor, his his name is Jason Rolfe. And he started this event series called writers on the fly, which basically gathers a typical event will be 4 fly fishing riders, maybe a painter, an artist, a photographer, and a nonprofit group who works to protect wild fish in waters. And, basically, what we do is we gather the tribe. We gather the fly fishing tribe, the outdoor tribe, the river tribe, the fish tribe, and we get a chance to read live to them. And I think, not only Fly Fishers, but a lot of people in general have never been to a literary reading, let alone one where people are reading, something as goofy as fly fishing stories. So we get a chance to tell our stories in front of a live audience, Scott, and it adds an intensity, it has a flavor, it adds color to the work to have people laughing and cheering, sometimes crying at our words. It’s a it’s a it’s a really special event. It’s called as I said before, it’s called Writers on the Fly.

Steve Duda [00:26:34]:

We do it at least once a year, sometimes 2. It’s an event that’s growing. I’ve never read it one that wasn’t sold out. Wow. And and it especially works for fly fishing, Scott, because this is a sport with and I’m not exaggerating here. It might sound like I’m feathering my own nest, but it’s a sport that has maybe the greatest literary tradition of any sport. People have been writing seriously about fly fishing for 100 and 100 of years. Great writers like Hemingway and Jim Harrison, you know, so many I I’m I’m drawing a blank right now because I’m on the spot.

Steve Duda [00:27:21]:

But

Scott Cowan [00:27:22]:

Of course. But right.

Steve Duda [00:27:24]:

Tom McGuane, you know, there’s just such a great literary tradition in the sport of fly fishing that riders on the fly is something that amplifies that tradition, and carries it forward to a new generation and allows us to get these to get these stories in front of a new audience, right, in a new way. And it’s it’s just great for the writing. It’s great for the community, and it’s great for the writers, obviously. I just love doing it.

Scott Cowan [00:27:53]:

Why do you think that fly fishing has such a literary connection?

Steve Duda [00:28:02]:

Great question. I think I think it might have to do with the fact that fly fishing is a it’s a solitary sport. And we’re plopped down in some of the most beautiful, pristine places on the planet to do this thing, and we’re by ourselves. And we can’t help but but think about the wonder around us, the mystery around us, our place in that wonder, in that mystery. We know we have this we just have the time and the space to think these thoughts, to wonder about things, to ponder things, to laugh at the absurdity of the sport standing in a river waving a stick around. You know, it’s it’s it seems nutty. It seems kinda crazy. It seems improbable.

Steve Duda [00:29:00]:

But when you’re doing it, when you’re caught up in it, it can be the most important thing in the world at the time. Right? It just it also gives you a purse it gives you some perspective on your place in the world. Right? How important these places are? How pristine they are? How meaningful they are? How much we need to protect them?

Scott Cowan [00:29:24]:

Mhmm.

Steve Duda [00:29:25]:

Every time I step on into a river, I think about history. Who fish this river before me? What is what’s the natural history? Right? What’s the real name of this river? Like, what did the Duwamish people of Seattle call this river? 3000 years ago, 5000 years ago, 10000 years ago. What did the people fish what did the Duwamish fishing off Alki Point call Alki Point? Well, they called it canoe tips over. But what was it like? I I just think these these thoughts when I’m out fishing it, it just sort of triggers these prompts for me. And it’s really easy to translate that as a writer onto the page. Fly Fishing gives us a blank canvas. Right? We can put almost anything in that frame. So is it for a writer, it’s a beautiful delivery vehicle.

Steve Duda [00:30:27]:

It’s like a tortilla, and you put anything you want in that tortilla. Just roll it up, and it’s gonna be delicious.

Scott Cowan [00:30:35]:

Well, let me ask you this question. So you’re out, and we’ll just say you’re in the Yakima river because, you know, this this show is about this show is about Washington, so we’re gonna place you somewhere. So you’re in the Yakima, and you’re you’re alone with your thoughts and you’re you’re you’re you’re doing your thing out there. And does is this when the is this like being in the shower and the idea hits you? Is this kind of that sort of the mind, the subconscious kicks in and you’re like, Oh, I got this idea. Is that the way it works for you?

Steve Duda [00:31:05]:

That’s kinda that’s kinda cool. I’ve never I’ve never actually thought about the whole shower thoughts thing. But I think one of the one of the great things about fly fishing is it it allows our minds to free spool. It allows our minds to calm down. That chatter sort of recedes. And then we can have one thought or 2 thoughts that are much more clear, and we can roll those thoughts around a little bit. We could stare at a cloud and think of nothing for a while. We could look at a bird and think about that bird instead of thinking about ourselves all the time.

Steve Duda [00:31:47]:

And I think that that flow state is very easy to come to in fly fishing. That flow state is also what we try to reach as artists. So they they both, you know, there’s there’s there’s that connection there.

Scott Cowan [00:32:10]:

So so when you’re standing in in the middle of the river, and you’re casting, and you get an idea for a story, how do you remember that idea? I mean, you know, we all have these great ideas, and if we don’t write them down or do whatever it is to capture them, like, oh, god. What was I thinking about? Are you what’s your method for when you when inspiration hits, you gotta you gotta the the kernel of something now to work on.

Steve Duda [00:32:38]:

It’s

Scott Cowan [00:32:38]:

And you’re fishing

Steve Duda [00:32:39]:

You know, I’m a guy who I’m a guy who writes stuff down, Scott, and it’s it’s been one of the hardest hardest practices, but also one of the simplest is to just write something down. I I think we always think that, oh, yeah. I’ll remember that.

Scott Cowan [00:32:57]:

Yeah. No.

Steve Duda [00:32:58]:

But but I happen to suffer from CRS. Can’t remember shit.

Scott Cowan [00:33:03]:

I I’ve been diagnosed with

Steve Duda [00:33:05]:

that as well. So to me, it’s important. It’s super important to write stuff down.

Scott Cowan [00:33:11]:

So are you do you have a little notepad to carry with you and you scribble in yourself a note in the middle of

Steve Duda [00:33:15]:

the room? I always put it on it. Like, just stuff something in my pack, Make sure I have a pen.

Scott Cowan [00:33:20]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [00:33:20]:

Write it down. But sometimes I’ll I’ll write something write it on my hand if I don’t have a paper, but super important to write stuff down.

Scott Cowan [00:33:29]:

I could just I get this visual of you standing out there with a little stub of a pencil and a little notepad with your with your rod, cripped underneath your arm scribbling, and then the line, then it hits the, it hits the lead, you know, anyway. Okay. So since we’re all about Washington state, I’m going to break the rules with you because one of the chapters in your book was this I’ll call it an essay on going to Patagonia and Argentina, and you painted an amazing picture of that. And I have this, I don’t know why, but I’m intrigued with Argentina. I’d like to go. I’ve never been there. I’d like to go there. Now you painted a really unpleasant flight or series of flights that that did not sound enjoyable to me.

Scott Cowan [00:34:16]:

So let’s let’s fast forward to you landing in Argentina, and you were there on a, on an assignment. Correct? Okay. Was it as amazing as, is the words on the page?

Steve Duda [00:34:33]:

Yeah, absolutely. In the piece, I talked about how Patagonia seemed familiar to me. Like, I had somehow Oh, okay. Had somehow been there before. Because in many ways, the landscape was familiar. It’s river canyons. It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful streams flowing through lovely vistas. But in these parts of Patagonia, there’s not the visual junk.

Steve Duda [00:35:08]:

There’s not telephone lines. There’s not advertising. There’s not garbage on the side of the road. There’s nothing. There’s this incredible palpable nothingness because it’s such a vast landscape, and there’s so few people there that it’s it’s it’s like you you can literally hear yourself think. And it’s in that sense, I mean, it’s it’s amazing. It’s amazing, Scott. And and, you know, you hear people say, oh, yeah.

Steve Duda [00:35:40]:

It’s just like Montana 50 years ago. I bet you that’s not true. It’s more like Montana a 100 years ago. You know, a 150 years ago.

Scott Cowan [00:35:51]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [00:35:52]:

It’s pretty it’s pretty it’s pretty, pretty amazing. And, you know, thank you fly fishing for allowing me to get there.

Scott Cowan [00:36:02]:

One of the common threads throughout the book is your camaraderie with the people that are doing the solitary activity with you. In other words, around the campfire’s conversations, the the fishing camps, your buddy in in in the pickup with you as you’re driving from, say, Seattle to Yakima River. And that’s one of the things that I was so intrigued by was this sense of, community and some of the tomfoolery. I always wanted to say that. No. In, and so one of the questions I gotta ask you is you talk about capping and really quick for the audience who may not know the fish if we got fishermen listening, they’re all gonna know this, but I I was chuck I was chuckling because I was like, yeah, I could see myself doing that, to somebody else or having it done to me, frankly. But I’m like, how on earth did this do you know how that practice got started? Because you didn’t invent this.

Steve Duda [00:37:07]:

You know, I would like to think I did. I’m sure I I’m sure I haven’t.

Scott Cowan [00:37:10]:

Well, give me credit. We’re working.

Steve Duda [00:37:12]:

When you when you’re on a when you’re on a fishing trip with with your buddies, and you’re, you know, you’re fishing all day, you come back, you’re sitting around the campfire all night, there’s gonna be some some I’m gonna say the word too. It’s gonna be some tomfoolery. And one of the things that just happened to evolve with my particular group of friends was attempting to sneak a bottle cap into the bottom of your buddy’s waiters. And what happens is that bottle cap goes all the way down into the booty, way, way down. So you pull on the waiters, you get all these you get these, And I think I think most people might know what waders are. They’re just these these trousers, these chest waders you wear that you so you can walk in the water without getting wet. But they’re kind of a pain to put on. It it takes a while.

Steve Duda [00:38:01]:

Right? And to get these waders on and then to feel that bottle cap in your foot means you guys have to go through the whole process again. And it’s a pain in the butt for you, but it is absolutely hilarious for everyone else. So it’s just something that we started doing. It’s super immature. It’s childish. But, you know, maybe that’s why we do it because it’s it’s also funny. I was

Scott Cowan [00:38:27]:

gonna say you make that sound like it’s a bad thing. I think it’s funny. What, what other pranks do you guys pull? I can’t be the only one. I mean, somebody else has got to have had to have retaliated with other creatives.

Steve Duda [00:38:42]:

There’s all kinds of things from, you know, hiding car keys to stealing every to stealing every beer in the cooler. I mean, you name it, Scott. It’s it’s probably been done. So there’s no end to the childish the childish antics on a fishing trip, I think.

Scott Cowan [00:39:00]:

And that to me, just the sense of camaraderie that you were that you you you write about in the book. That’s that’s what got me thinking, my buddy who’s the avid fly fisherman, you know, he he told me one time and we were just having a conversation. I don’t remember exactly, but basically he lives in, well, at that time he lived in West Seattle and he would go to fish camp in Montana in the summer. And I’m like, and I guess my knee jerk reaction is why? You know, why am I what you know, you’re going fly fishing. Can’t you go somewhere in Washington? Why are you you know? And he. He doesn’t have your way with words. Right. And, you know, cause you’re, you’re a writer, But the way he described it was kinda similar to how you described it was, you know, it’s it’s a bunch of guys getting together and having a good time.

Scott Cowan [00:39:50]:

And fishing is a component of it, but it’s not the only thing. It’s, you know, it’s this this gathering of people who, share a common interest, but also sit around, you know, drinking whatever the beverage of choice might be and eating well and having a good time. And, it it the way he described it to me is almost like they spent more time figuring out what to eat and how to prepare it and impress impress everybody, than they did, you know, fishing.

Steve Duda [00:40:21]:

You know, trout fishing is fantastic because it operates on bankers hours as they say. The trout really don’t start rising until about 10 in the morning when the start hatching. And then they’re done by the time the sun’s wet. So you’re not you you don’t really have to get up at some ungodly hour to go chase them, and you don’t have to you don’t have to torture yourself chasing them all day. You know, you can take a little siesta in the middle of the day when the sun’s hot. And I, you know, I do the same thing as your buddies, Scott. I I go with my pals from West Seattle. I live in West Seattle and take that 12 hour trip out to Montana and just sit around, for a week, 10 days.

Steve Duda [00:41:03]:

Fish during the day, come back, sit around the campfire, eat at night. And there’s an exuberance to that. Right? Because we’re we feel like we’re just slipping under the wire. Cell phones aren’t as important. The job isn’t as important. We’re in a gorgeous place. We’re doing something as as ridiculous and fun as fly fishing with our best friends. I mean, it’s just fantastic, man.

Scott Cowan [00:41:26]:

Yeah. Yeah. I know. That that does sound It does sound.

Steve Duda [00:41:30]:

It’s escape. Yeah. It’s escape.

Scott Cowan [00:41:36]:

In the book, you do a good job of bringing that out in the book. I mean, you really do. You mentioned something, maybe I heard it on a on a, an interview you’re on. Maybe you wrote it in the book. Maybe it’s in both places, so humor me. But this has to do with the flies. You’ve got some of them in the the headliner of your truck. Is that correct? You’ve got them?

Steve Duda [00:41:59]:

Yep. They just you know, you have a couple extra after the end of the day, and you don’t know what to do with them. You just stick them in the headliner of your truck, and they’re gonna be there next time you’re going.

Scott Cowan [00:42:08]:

So so in the book, you you tell a story about getting pulled over in Montana. And, and in the in the shall I say he’s a sheriff. I don’t know. Sheriff looks in your truck, sees the the flies, and, sounds like you guys were talking fishing, and he let you go with a with a, you know, a thanks for visiting Montana. Please please drive safely type of, it could have been much worse. But we’ll let people read all those details. But did you write it in the book or did you talk about it? Have you had like flies? Like, do you, have you had to have people like help you get flies out of your skin because they’ve you’ve gotten hooked or something?

Steve Duda [00:42:52]:

Yeah. More times than I can can I can probably count, Scott. It’s it’s sort of a it’s sort of one of the one of the occupational hazards of fly fishing is you’re gonna get one of those flies either caught in your stuck in your ear or in your finger or wherever, it’s gonna yeah. You’re gonna get one. So the way to the way to remedy that is to pinch the barb. There’s always a little barb on these fishing hooks. K. And if you pinch that down, the hook will usually just slide out.

Steve Duda [00:43:24]:

If you do not pinch that

Scott Cowan [00:43:25]:

bar down,

Steve Duda [00:43:26]:

you’re entering into a whole different world of pain. Yeah. Yeah. I mean It’s not cool.

Scott Cowan [00:43:34]:

I’d you said the ear. I’m just like, oh god. That would be no matter if you pinch the barbed down or not. That just sounds like a remarkably unpleasant thing. So, but if you’ve described this as a solitary endeavor, so what happens if you’re standing out in the middle of the Yakima, and you you hook yourself, so to speak? We just simply stop and, try to squeeze that barb out and just remove it as quickly and cleanly as possible.

Steve Duda [00:44:01]:

Usually, the first thing you do is is say to yourself and to the fly fishing gods, I hope I pinched that barb. And if you did, you just pull it out. It it’ll hurt for a little bit, but, you know, it’s just pain. Right? If you if I I I have had friends who literally have gotten a fly stuck in their ear, on their forehead, who’ve who’ve just cut the line, just cut the little leader and left that fly dangling there because they didn’t cut the barb. And they waited till they got back to camp to push it through the other side, and then either you cut it off or pinch the barb down as it comes out the other side and pull it through. So either way, it’s, yeah, it’s not that’s that’s not that it. It’s yeah. It’s not good.

Scott Cowan [00:44:51]:

So so did anybody warn you of this when you got started fishing?

Steve Duda [00:44:55]:

No. They don’t tell you about that. They don’t.

Scott Cowan [00:45:00]:

So what was the first time like for you when you when you caught yourself, if you will?

Steve Duda [00:45:05]:

Well, I mean

Scott Cowan [00:45:06]:

Was was that one of those, oh, shit Yeah.

Steve Duda [00:45:08]:

It’s an, oh, shit. You’re at first, you’re a little shocked. Sometimes it doesn’t really hurt. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt that much, Gwyneth, because these, you know, flies are small.

Scott Cowan [00:45:18]:

Right.

Steve Duda [00:45:18]:

And it’s more of, like, it’s a it it’s more of like the impact that you feel and then you realize, oh, I’ve been impaled. So then you have to figure out what to do after the impaling. Sounds a little medieval, but, you know

Scott Cowan [00:45:35]:

Yeah. Kind of. Yeah.

Steve Duda [00:45:38]:

Do you

Scott Cowan [00:45:39]:

tie your own flies? Do you No. One of those guys?

Steve Duda [00:45:41]:

I’m not one of those guys. I I don’t have the fine motor skills. I kinda have sausage fingers. I have friends who tie flies who are generous enough to let me let me beta test their latest creation. So fly ties. I mean, a lot of people do it. I’m not one of them.

Scott Cowan [00:46:01]:

You know, I’ve, you know, I’ve seen it to me, like any hobby, like any of us can be obsessive about whatever it is we’re into. Like, if we’re into our cars, you know, it’s spotless. You know, I’m not gonna drive it if it, it looks like it’s gonna rain within the next 30 days, you know, whatever we’re obsessive about. But the guys at not necessarily guys, people at Thai Flys. Yeah. I’ve got those sausage fingers. I’ve watched some people. It seems like, you know, a science.

Steve Duda [00:46:30]:

It’s very it’s very artsy craftsy for me too. It’s such a little change.

Scott Cowan [00:46:35]:

Yeah. Okay. So you’re not so you’re you’re you’re happy to test for for your friends or your

Steve Duda [00:46:42]:

Don’t knit, don’t crochet, don’t tie flies.

Scott Cowan [00:46:46]:

Got it. Okay. Now that the book now that the book’s out and you’ve got copies at home, we can say that in in books, it’ll be in the store when people are listening to this. Have you thought about another book?

Steve Duda [00:47:02]:

I sure have. I’ve already, you know, I’ve already started getting the stories in order and thinking about what I could what I could write about, where I could go.

Scott Cowan [00:47:12]:

Mhmm.

Steve Duda [00:47:12]:

I’ve got a trip coming up, that I hope will be the cornerstone of my next book. I’m gonna be heading out to Guyana, to fish the jungles in Guyana. So that’s both terrifying and thrilling, to me. And I think that’s a good thing that that I’m that I’m terrified of fishing in the in the jungle.

Scott Cowan [00:47:38]:

What is the is this did you just spin the globe and blindly put your finger on it and say, I’m going here? Or how did you, how did this get decided on?

Steve Duda [00:47:49]:

Well, I just got I got an invitation from, the Guyanese government to come down. They’re bringing some folks down, I guess, to to introduce some of the fishing down there. And they’ve got some they’ve got some crazy fish that swim in these jungle rivers. And, I get a chance to go see if I can fool a couple of them.

Scott Cowan [00:48:10]:

And when are you doing that?

Steve Duda [00:48:12]:

It’s coming up in October.

Scott Cowan [00:48:15]:

Wow. That’s kinda cool. I mean, it

Steve Duda [00:48:17]:

I’m stoked beyond words. I’ve just just can’t believe it’s gonna I mean, I get to go to Guyana to do something like fly fishing. So, yeah, it’s it’s amazing.

Scott Cowan [00:48:27]:

Yeah. Okay. Well, that’s that’s cool. And so that may like you said, might be the cornerstone of the next the

Steve Duda [00:48:32]:

next big project, if you will.

Scott Cowan [00:48:34]:

Alright. Alright. I’m gonna ask you some questions, and and these might be not meant to be hard, but they might put you on the spot because I’m gonna ask you to, like, answers give me specific answers. If you can, you can, if you can’t, that’s fine. Where’s your, where’s your favorite place to fish in Washington state?

Steve Duda [00:48:56]:

I grew I I started fishing in Washington state on the Yakima River, and that I feel is like a home to me. It’s so beautiful. The fishing is so good. I’m still familiar with the place. I love Right. I love I love the Yakima’s swallows. I love the Yakima’s rattlesnakes. I love the Yakima’s red tailed hawks.

Steve Duda [00:49:22]:

I love the Yakima’s rainbows and cut bows in that river. I love everything about the Yakima River.

Scott Cowan [00:49:29]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [00:49:30]:

I also love the Ho on the Olympic Peninsula. I love I love the awesome fish, the steelhead that swim up that river. And to me, the the the steelhead and the salmon, to me, the fish that swim in that river are the beating heart of Washington in many ways. They they exemplify what Washington state is about in so many ways, and they’re so symbolic of our state. But to me, fishing that river, I just feel honored to do it. So you asked for 1, you asked me to be specific. I failed. I gave you 2.

Scott Cowan [00:50:13]:

No. No. That’s okay. Those because they’re they sound very, similar, but, yeah, they’re very

Steve Duda [00:50:19]:

Very different. Very one’s the rainforest, one’s the high desert.

Scott Cowan [00:50:23]:

Is there anywhere in Washington that you haven’t fished that you want to try?

Steve Duda [00:50:30]:

I can’t think of a place that I that I really haven’t that I really haven’t fished. But you know what? I’ll I’ll fish anywhere, anytime, any place, though. So if if anyone wants to wants to get has a see has a secret little stream that they wanna that they wanna share. I’m more than willing to go check it out.

Scott Cowan [00:50:49]:

But see okay. From the outsider, you know, fishermen, you guys are all very secretive. Nobody wants to, you know, it’s hush-hush. Can’t tell you where I’m fishing. Can’t show you my my my spot. Can’t show you what works here. It’s all very hush-hush. So I’m gonna ask you on the Yakima, where’s a where’s where’s a good spot on the Yakima?

Steve Duda [00:51:10]:

The Yakima is pretty easy if you wanna get started fly fishing in the state of Washington. Go fish in the Yakima River Canyon, And you’ll know you’re in the canyon because there’s a sign right there that says you are entering the Yakima River Canyon. And there’s there’s plenty of guides who will put you in their boat and take you down the Yakima River. If you don’t wanna do that, check the flows and just go walk up and down the banks. There’s a there’s a bunch of campgrounds and day use areas, that make it really easy to bank fish and you can have a fantastic time walking the banks of that river fly fishing. It’s it’s, I mean, it is it is Washington State’s only blue ribbon trout stream, and it’s worth it. Give it a shot. It’s it’s beautiful.

Steve Duda [00:52:03]:

It’s productive. There’s some nice big fish in there.

Scott Cowan [00:52:06]:

So when you say blue ribbon trout stream for somebody who’s not a fisherman, what does that mean? It means

Steve Duda [00:52:11]:

plenty of fish and some nice big ones too. K. The the Canyon in Yakima, also those fish are protected. Right? It’s catch and release only. So Mhmm. That makes that translates to the fact that there’s gonna be a lot of fish. People aren’t hauling them out there to fry them up, and those fish get bigger year after year after year. Right? A fish is too valuable to be caught only once, and in places like the Yakima River Canyon, they’re allowed to flourish.

Scott Cowan [00:52:42]:

When you’re not fishing, and I think I told you this when we talked on the phone, I’m a coffee drinker and you reside in the Seattle area. That’s right. So this this this is this is the biggest softball question I can ask anybody, but, you know, where’s a good place to get a cup of coffee in in Seattle?

Steve Duda [00:53:03]:

I’m gonna keep it in my neighborhood. I’m gonna keep it in West Seattle. I’ve been thinking about this, and it was it was easy. I’m gonna say CMP Coffee on California Avenue because it is a coffee shop the way coffee shops are supposed to be. There are guys playing there are guys and girls playing acoustic guitars. There’s there’s art on the wall. They have open mic lights. They have big tables to spread out where you can talk where you can host your book group or you can work on Yep.

Steve Duda [00:53:39]:

Or you like me, I did it a number of times. You can work on your on your book. There’s I mean, it is a coffee shop the way coffee shops were meant to be. And I hope they keep making them like that, but as far as I’m concerned, when I think of a coffee shop in my mind’s eye, I think of something like CMP. I mean, it’s in an old craftsman for gosh sakes.

Scott Cowan [00:54:02]:

Yeah. It’s per it’s Yeah. It’s a great place. Yeah. It is a great place. What’s your go to beverage when you’re going there?

Steve Duda [00:54:09]:

I like a dirty hippie, or a dirty chai as they call it.

Scott Cowan [00:54:16]:

Okay. Okay. I can’t do shy, but that’s okay. That’s okay. Alright. So, Wes, I’m gonna keep it West Seattle for you. Lunch lunchtime. Where’s a great place for lunch in West Seattle these days?

Steve Duda [00:54:30]:

Well, my newest my newest pick is just over the border in White Center. It’s a place called Tim’s Tavern, and I just started I just started going to this place. And the great thing about Tim’s is it’s it’s a it’s a music venue, so it’s got that vibe to it. It’s got that energy to it. But they also make great bar food. And the secret sauce of Tim’s is that they have their regular menu, and then side by side, they have an identical menu that’s also vegetarian.

Scott Cowan [00:55:10]:

Oh, okay.

Steve Duda [00:55:12]:

So if you’re not a huge meat person, I swear Tim’s is fantastic.

Scott Cowan [00:55:19]:

What are you grabbing when you go to Tim’s?

Steve Duda [00:55:21]:

Okay. I’m gonna the sounds I used to love chicken wings more than anything in the world. I consider myself a chicken connoisseur, then I’d be cutting back on the meat like I think a lot of us have. They have the best cauliflower, buffalo wings there I’ve ever had. Cauliflower buffalo wings. So there’s lightly fried cauliflower Yeah. Treated just like a buffalo wing with that nice spicy sauce.

Scott Cowan [00:55:51]:

Oh, they’re so good.

Steve Duda [00:55:52]:

They are

Scott Cowan [00:55:53]:

so good.

Steve Duda [00:55:54]:

They are so good. Alright. My second I I gave you 2 for the where you wanna fish question. We’ll give you 2 for the where I’m gonna have lunch. I’m gonna check the website. I’m gonna check and see if the Tatz truck is in West Seattle. Tats Delicatessen has a food truck Mhmm. That goes around the city of Seattle.

Steve Duda [00:56:15]:

They also have a retail store down in Pioneer Square. They make my favorite sandwich of all time. It’s called the tatstrami. So it’s Tatstrami. It’s a it’s a it’s a big sub roll, and it’s got hot pastrami, Swiss cheese, and it is topped with coleslaw.

Scott Cowan [00:56:37]:

That’s solid.

Steve Duda [00:56:38]:

Oh.

Scott Cowan [00:56:39]:

That’s very solid. Oh. Okay.

Steve Duda [00:56:41]:

Man, just thinking about it. My mouth is watering right now. Ted Stromi.

Scott Cowan [00:56:48]:

I’m gonna I’m gonna spring 2 other questions on you that I wouldn’t I wouldn’t normally ask an author. Number one question, but you’re a music guy too. Absolutely. So the music question is, in your opinion, where’s the best place to see live music in Seattle? Oh,

Steve Duda [00:57:06]:

man. That is a tough one.

Scott Cowan [00:57:08]:

I know. I You can give me more than 1, but what do you like? Where do you like where do you like to see live music?

Steve Duda [00:57:13]:

I like smaller venues. I don’t like I don’t like big crowds. So that rules out a lot of places.

Scott Cowan [00:57:21]:

Fair.

Steve Duda [00:57:22]:

Lately, I’ve seen a bunch of really cool shows at the Neptune up in the u district. Mhmm. Yep. I’ve I feel like I’ve been going to the crocodile my whole life, you know, all of all of its incarnations. It’s a great place. I have to say that the Tractor Tavern in Ballard to me just exudes character and vibes. And I I think of, like, all of the amazing musicians who have ever taken the stage at a place like the Tractor Tavern, and I’m just awestruck. So, I mean, it’s a sort of an embarrassment of riches, I think, for live music venues, man.

Scott Cowan [00:58:08]:

Oh, no. In in all three of those all three of those are are it’d be hard to name like, if you wanted to name the top 10, all 3 of those would be in the top 10.

Steve Duda [00:58:19]:

100%.

Scott Cowan [00:58:20]:

Probably, top 5, those 3 are gonna be in the top 5.

Steve Duda [00:58:23]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:58:23]:

I mean, it’s there those are

Steve Duda [00:58:25]:

ridiculous. Sound. Yeah. And just Yeah. In terms of sound, sight lines, yeah, they’re they’re great.

Scott Cowan [00:58:35]:

Yeah. No. Yeah. The tractor sight lines can get a little weird. I I love the tractor. I mean, I I I love the tractor. But, alright. So the the the other question that I wouldn’t it’s a variation of a questionnaire.

Scott Cowan [00:58:49]:

What’s your what’s your favorite campfire camp food when you’re when you’re fishing? What’s the go to go to meal

Steve Duda [00:58:56]:

out there? Man, That is tough. Okay. I’m gonna say a carne asada burrito. It’s ultimately custom ultimately customizable, easy to eat along around a campfire. And if you plan ahead, you can make one for tomorrow’s breakfast or lunch because they’re portable.

Scott Cowan [00:59:31]:

Yep.

Steve Duda [00:59:32]:

So it’s a lot of utility and a lot of deliciousness in a carne asada burrito.

Scott Cowan [00:59:38]:

Yeah. Well, that’s super sausages. Thank you. That’s a super I kudos to that choice. That’s actually, you know okay. If I was closer to Seattle, I might go find that food truck, but, you know, carne asada burrito, I can I can find those in Wenatchee?

Steve Duda [00:59:52]:

This conversation is making me super hungry.

Scott Cowan [00:59:56]:

Yeah. It’s kind of this. Alright. Alright. So I got I got I got this. This is the question that I put every guest on the spot. You have to answer it, and you have to give me your reason why you’re answering the way you

Steve Duda [01:00:09]:

are. Okay. K?

Scott Cowan [01:00:13]:

Cake or pie? Cake or pie. And why? Mhmm.

Steve Duda [01:00:19]:

Can I have a cake made of pie?

Scott Cowan [01:00:23]:

No. It has cake. I

Steve Duda [01:00:28]:

think I’m gonna go cake. I’m gonna go cake because I think you can do more with cake. I think cake allows you to express your inner sugarness more creatively than pie. Because pie just kinda sits there and and and is pie. Cake

Scott Cowan [01:00:53]:

Mhmm. Okay.

Steve Duda [01:00:54]:

Cake has a better visual element. It’s more structural. It’s more architectural. It’s got that sort of it’s got that sort of cake wants to cake wants to sing and dance. Pie is just, like, just sitting there. I don’t I don’t hate pie. I love pie.

Scott Cowan [01:01:12]:

Okay.

Steve Duda [01:01:13]:

But cake cake cake is more of a show.

Scott Cowan [01:01:17]:

Okay. Part 2. Okay. What type of cake? What type of cake?

Steve Duda [01:01:28]:

I’m gonna go, like, vanilla cake with white chocolate icing and and sprinkles and maybe, like, some strawberry. What is it called? A ganache strawberry. What’s the fruit?

Scott Cowan [01:01:45]:

Ganache. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Steve Duda [01:01:46]:

Yeah. All right.

Scott Cowan [01:01:49]:

There’s no wrong answers there by the way. And I love asking that question because some people are like, what’s this and that you, you know, they’re just adamant. Other people are like, you’re asking me to pick between my kids. I know.

Steve Duda [01:01:59]:

It’s a lot of pressure. It’s like that. Those are literally the toughest questions I’ve had to answer in in any interview.

Scott Cowan [01:02:07]:

Okay. As we wrap this up, here’s here’s the last question of you, and it’s really quite simple. Was there something we should have talked about that we didn’t talk about?

Steve Duda [01:02:17]:

You know, I I just wanna I think I I think I should say, like, that that I think I made it clear that that fly fishing can be a ridiculous activity. But there’s also it’s it’s ridiculousness wrapped in wonder.

Scott Cowan [01:02:36]:

Mhmm.

Steve Duda [01:02:36]:

And I I think that that’s the one thing that that fly fishing brings to us is this sense of wonder, and that can be a contradiction, but I don’t think sometimes there’s anything wrong with contradictions. Right? I think if we can embrace embrace those, embrace that ridiculousness, embrace that joy, embrace that just sort of being in the moment, it makes us better per better people. And and that’s one of the reasons I love fly fishing because it it it embodies those things. Right? We can we can be ourselves out there. We can be our true selves. We can be as exuberant and silly or serious and determined as we wanna be. And that’s one of the reasons I truly, truly love this ridiculous sports, Scott.

Scott Cowan [01:03:23]:

Well, I mean, if you if if we wanna look at any sport from the outside looking in, they’re all ridiculous. You know, bowling. Let’s set some wood up

Steve Duda [01:03:34]:

and let’s knock it

Scott Cowan [01:03:35]:

down. Baseball. Yeah. Let’s throw a ball at a round object that we’re going to swing through the air. I mean, sports life in general is ridiculous when we look at it that way, but you know, sports are they’re magical. I mean, I’m a baseball nut. That’s that’s my

Steve Duda [01:03:54]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [01:03:54]:

My sport of, you know, historical choice. I love the history of baseball. But it’s ridiculous.

Steve Duda [01:04:01]:

That’s a sport with a great literary tradition, baseball does. Yeah. It really, really does. I mean, there

Scott Cowan [01:04:06]:

have been some And it’s a ridiculous

Steve Duda [01:04:07]:

I’m sorry. I keep interrupting. Sorry.

Scott Cowan [01:04:09]:

Yeah. Go ahead. No. There’s been some wonderful books written about that sport. Absolutely. Yeah. Alright. And bowling, not so much.

Steve Duda [01:04:16]:

No. But I this baseball has this myth mythology to to it. I have a piece in the book about, fishing, a canyon in in Oregon that is shoots River Canyon. And I imagine that canyon as old Tiger Stadium, the baseball stadium that I grew up in. And, I tell the story in a way through the eyes of the eyes of a catcher for the Detroit team from the 1800, a guy named Charlie Bennett.

Scott Cowan [01:04:47]:

Mhmm.

Steve Duda [01:04:48]:

And it’s it’s just a way to bring history and perspective to this piece because I imagined the Canyon as the stadium for what we do. Right? And I’m I’m like you, Scott. I love baseball too. And and just to be able to to change around perspectives like that, I thought was fun. A fun thing that we did. A fun way to frame Yeah. The fishing.

Scott Cowan [01:05:15]:

We’re gonna wrap this up, but I wanna say kudos again. This is a fantastic book. I’m saying that is a genuine compliment. Not, not because you and I were talking about your book. No, I really, when Mountaineers reached out to me to ask if, if they thought if I thought this would be a good fit for my show, I wrote back, absolutely, my audience my audience will love it because some of the most popular content that we’ve written has been about fishing in Washington state, which is, once again, not my wheelhouse. Right? But the audience loves fishing. And so I was really thrilled, and they sent me an advanced copy. And I when I talked to you, I told you I would read it and, you know, because it’s hard to talk about a book if you haven’t read it.

Scott Cowan [01:06:02]:

And I really enjoyed it, and I almost was my biggest regret was that it was old. I wish there was more to it. It is it’s not a short book. I don’t mean like like it was, you know, but it was like, I wish there was more to this. This is really cool. It really, invoked emotions in me, and you really, you did a wonderful job of telling stories. And so, kudos to you. And I hope anybody that’s listening to this really goes and checks it out because I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised and pleased.

Scott Cowan [01:06:35]:

So, where can people find out more about you if they want to?

Steve Duda [01:06:42]:

I have a website called Steve Duda Rights. You can order the book, direct from me, and I’ll I’ll actually sign it from you. My good friend, Matthew DeLorme, also did 14 woodcuts that grace this book as its illustrations. And those woodcuts, the prints of those are also gonna be available, on the book.

Scott Cowan [01:07:03]:

Oh, really? Cool. Awesome.

Steve Duda [01:07:04]:

So, you’re probably I think your copy probably didn’t have all the all the art in it, Scott, but

Scott Cowan [01:07:09]:

It it didn’t.

Steve Duda [01:07:10]:

The the cool thing about this book, well, the the woodcuts really bring another element. So I think folks will really find that really find that pleasing that as a pleasing part of this book. But, yeah, Steve Duda writes, the book will be available where all fine books are found. All the bookstores, all the online outlets shouldn’t be too tough. Mountaineers does a great job of getting these things in front of people. So

Scott Cowan [01:07:36]:

yes. They do. Well, thanks for sitting down with me today and, I hope you run out, maybe find that food truck.

Steve Duda [01:07:44]:

Indeed. You

Scott Cowan [01:07:45]:

know what? I don’t know. Tats. But thanks so much.

Steve Duda [01:07:47]:

Alright. Thanks, guys. Really, really appreciate it. Love being on. Love chatted with you. Love chatting with you.