Clark Campbell holds up a snapshot of four men standing beside a stream with fishing rods.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Clark Campbell holds up a snapshot of four men standing beside a stream with fishing rods.
"Looks like the Silver-Haired Legislature, doesn't it?"
Yes, the hair hidden under those fishing hats is as silver as a trout's belly. One man has a full white beard. But nothing keeps this intrepid old-fogy foursome from their biannual trout fishing trip. Their ages average 79, but they're still out there casting fly rods with the enthusiasm of kids playing hooky at the fishing hole.
The fishing soirees started 48 years ago with Jack Lynn, 78, a retired retailer; Max Kuyk, 80, a former Carbide engineer; and Kuyk's 8-year-old son, now a grandfather. Their version of the Final Four gelled in 1968 with the addition of Campbell, 82, retired from the insurance business; and Jack Lynn's 76-year-old brother, Bob, a retired newspaper photographer.
It's not catching fish that keeps them going. It's the event. The guy thing. As Bob Lynn put it: "The thing we really love is Clark's cabin, the camaraderie and, oh, yes, the fishing."
Yes, they actually do fish. "Jack's our leader," Campbell said. "He catches maybe five or six trout a day. The rest of us only get two or three."
Whatever they catch goes back in the water, even that 11-inch native brookie Bob Lynn snared. "There's a connection between me and the fish," he said. "It's a game we play. I catch him, but I wouldn't want to kill him."
Every spring and every fall, come hell, high water or snowstorm, they pack their waders and waterproof boots and head for Campbell's cabin at Timberline in Tucker County. From base headquarters, they've hit every touted trout stream in the area.
Like the postman, they go regardless. "When it snows and everybody else is home where they belong, we're fishing," Campbell said. "See this picture of me? I was fishing in Blackwater Canyon in the snow. The temperature was 29. I had on six layers of clothes."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Clark Campbell holds up a snapshot of four men standing beside a stream with fishing rods.
"Looks like the Silver-Haired Legislature, doesn't it?"
Yes, the hair hidden under those fishing hats is as silver as a trout's belly. One man has a full white beard. But nothing keeps this intrepid old-fogy foursome from their biannual trout fishing trip. Their ages average 79, but they're still out there casting fly rods with the enthusiasm of kids playing hooky at the fishing hole.
The fishing soirees started 48 years ago with Jack Lynn, 78, a retired retailer; Max Kuyk, 80, a former Carbide engineer; and Kuyk's 8-year-old son, now a grandfather. Their version of the Final Four gelled in 1968 with the addition of Campbell, 82, retired from the insurance business; and Jack Lynn's 76-year-old brother, Bob, a retired newspaper photographer.
It's not catching fish that keeps them going. It's the event. The guy thing. As Bob Lynn put it: "The thing we really love is Clark's cabin, the camaraderie and, oh, yes, the fishing."
Yes, they actually do fish. "Jack's our leader," Campbell said. "He catches maybe five or six trout a day. The rest of us only get two or three."
Whatever they catch goes back in the water, even that 11-inch native brookie Bob Lynn snared. "There's a connection between me and the fish," he said. "It's a game we play. I catch him, but I wouldn't want to kill him."
Every spring and every fall, come hell, high water or snowstorm, they pack their waders and waterproof boots and head for Campbell's cabin at Timberline in Tucker County. From base headquarters, they've hit every touted trout stream in the area.
Like the postman, they go regardless. "When it snows and everybody else is home where they belong, we're fishing," Campbell said. "See this picture of me? I was fishing in Blackwater Canyon in the snow. The temperature was 29. I had on six layers of clothes."
Like the weather, distance isn't an obstacle. In November, Kuyk goes to Florida for the winter, but he always returns in April in time for The Trip. Jack Lynn moved two years ago to South Carolina, but he never misses The Trip.
Campbell's Timberline cabin offers welcome amenities after years of tent camping and sleeping bags. "When I joined up, all they had was a two-man tent," Campbell said. "I had to sleep in a car that was 4 feet across, and I forgot my blanket. That was a very long night."
Over the years, they've accumulated a few tales, of course. Campbell enjoys the one about the skunk. "Jack and Max were tent camping on the Cranberry River. Jack woke up to find a skunk in the tent. He bolted. He couldn't get Max awake. Max didn't wake up until the skunk walked across him and he felt whiskers on his face." Luckily, the skunk skedaddled (along with Max and Jack) without unleashing his sprayer.
Bob Lynn chronicles each trip with his camera. When a mama bear and two babies visited the cabin one night, he didn't panic. He just opened the door and started shooting. Pictures, that is.
But picture-taking on a fishing trip has its perils. "We were fishing last spring on Seneca Creek," Campbell said. "Bob slipped on a rock and fell into 2 feet of water. It ruined a $750 digital camera."
As the youngest member, Bob Lynn leaves the cooking to his, ahem, elders. In return, he handles KP duty. "We stop in Elkins and buy groceries," he said. "Max has the same list he's had for 40 years. He can hardly read it anymore."
After a long day of fishing, the Medicare Musketeers retire to the cabin for beer, dinner and tale telling. "We do a lot of reminiscing," Bob Lynn said. "One of the constants is laughter."
There's only one rule, he said. "We've all heard the stories 100 times, but you never say, 'I've heard that before.'"
Reach Sandy Wells at 348-5173 or san...@wvgazette.com.
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