THE AMUR…The Amur River makes up the border between northern China and the Russian Far East. Every spring, in just a few days, it pushes blocks of Siberian ice the size of buildings downriver mashing and booming. It can be heard miles inland and is one of the most powerful scenes I’ve ever experienced. If you are lucky enough to have someone take you upriver, you’ll find yourself in one of the world’s last complete wilderness forests.
THE SEINE…A beautiful clear river that drains the Paris Basin, the Seine flows gently through farmlands, small villages and cities of northern France. Unlike most rivers I love, this is an urban river, tame and peaceful. The riverfront cafes, where it flows through Paris, are perhaps the most joyous place in the world to sit for an afternoon sipping great wine with friends and lovers.
THE MISSISSIPPI…My wife and I spend a lot of time in New Orleans. One of our favorite places is the promenade just north of the riverboat landing. In the evening you can sit along the banks, echoes of jazz drifting from the city, and watch ships from all over the world carrying trade in and out of the central United States. This powerful river helped build America and is the epitome of a river as a highway and way of life. It recharges my Huckleberry Finn.
THE BITTERROOT…I’ve fished Montana rivers for decades and love the Bitterroot. It’s a tame river running through beautiful farmland. In the summer, the scorching sun makes early morning and late evening fishing the best. In the middle of the day, you can pick from dozens of clear tributaries and follow them into the mountains until you can drive no more. Those willing to walk a bit, will find themselves in narrow mountain canyons with the rustle of pines in the wind overhead, and pools of pan trout that will feast on a dappled grey-hackle fly.
ILIAMNA…Iliamna Lake is the largest in Alaska, about the size of the State of Rhode Island. From the Iliamna River on the east to where the Kvichak River drains into Bristol Bay, the drainage is about 200 miles long. Home to the world’s largest Sockeye salmon run, literally millions of fish push up from Bristol Bay into dozens of clear streams. Before commercial lodges inundated the area and increased fishing pressure twenty times since the 1970’s, it was also one of the premier trout fisheries in the world. Where a few years ago a fishing guide might get a client into schools of huge char and rainbows, they now run the river just to spot a fish, and after the salmon come in, join the bears in fishing for them. Still, it is the most beautiful country I’ve ever been in, ranging from heavy forests on the slopes of volcanoes, to rolling open tundra where it finds saltwater. It is the Iliamna River that keeps me and my family in Alaska.