Andy Dear | Monday, 18 April 2022
"I had caught fish...but I wanted to catch a BIG fish, I wanted to catch a world record. 80% of the time, it's a failure, but every now and then you get success. That success to me was so much more important, to catch THAT fish, than to just go fishing. Because I don' think I could have just gone fishing."
---Tom Evans
Over the past year, I have referenced The MillHouse podcast several times. Andy Mill and his son Nicki who host the show have had some fantastic guests that detail the history of saltwater fly fishing in the Florida keys. Perhaps my favorite so far though has been Tom Evans. Tom, who is known for his worldwide pursuit of record fish is perhaps one of the most passionate (read obsessed) anglers I think I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.
Tom had the good fortune of being one of the first fly anglers to target the legendary behemoth sized Tarpon that inhabited the area around Homasossa Florida in the 1970s. Later he pursued record Marlin on the fly in Australia and has cemented his place in fly fishing history as one of the best big game fly anglers the world has ever seen. This episode of The MillHouse also features Tom's guides, Al Dopirak and Dean Butler who had a ton of color and flair to the story of Tom's career.
If you've never heard of Tom Evans, or haven't yet listened to this episode, you owe it to yourself to do so....it's simply a fantastic look into the mind of one of the sports absolute legends. NOTE: This episode is NOT for the faint of heart. The language is definitely intended for mature audiences, so consider yourself warned!
https://youtu.be/KD1lH707ffQ
Hope you all are having a great week,
Andy