Local fishing guide hosts author, journalist

Tom Brokaw with the catch of the day.

Camp Sherman resident John Judy hosted a pair of luminaries on the Deschutes River earlier this month.

Judy floated with best selling author Tom McGuane and NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw on the lower Deschutes. They were fly fishing for steelhead using Spey casting techniques. Spey is an ancient Scottish fishing method which is currently enjoying a revival nationwide. It is one of Judy's specialties.

Brokaw and McGuane are old fishing buddies. They were brought to Oregon by Guido Rahr, Executive Director of the Wild Salmon Center in Portland. Author McGuane is a member of the Salmon Center board and a fan of Judy's slack line techniques.

He suggested Brokaw make the August steelhead trip.

"It was surprising, no one on the river recognized either of them even though there were a number of face to face encounters," Judy said. "The two men simply passed as a couple more fishermen except for the story telling. When it comes to camp stories they're two of the best!"

The stories ranged from bawdy -- McGuane telling how he flunked out of Yale as a hard partying undergraduate and was later awarded an honorary Ph.D. for writing about it -- to Brokaw's more serious reminiscences about his days as NBC White House correspondent.

These stories would begin with lines like, "When I was in the White House just before Nixon was about to resign ..." or "while I was having dinner with Gorbachev ...." "The insights that followed were absolutely amazing," Judy reported.

"I only wished I had a tape recorder to capture it all," he said.

Judy took three boats for the five-day trip: a raft for supplies and two drift boats for fishing.

Though temperatures were very hot and the fishing tepid, novice Spey caster Brokaw landed his first steelhead with a Spey rod, an important rite of passage for fly anglers.

McGuane, a more experienced angler who has been awarded the lifetime achievement award by the Federation of Fly Fishers, said, "If you give a fisherman five minutes when the fishing is slow, he'll have a theory."

Though both men are proficient outdoorsmen, this was their first time on the Deschutes. They loved the river in spite of less than fully co-operative fish. They remarked repeatedly on the scenery and the enjoyment that people seemed to be having while on the river.

McGuane has written 25 books in 30 years including "Nothing but Blue Skies," "Ninety-two in the Shade," and "Something to Be Desired." Known for his passion about fly fishing he includes fishing in many of his works which range from sporting stories to passionate personal remembrances. They often include a wry twist of humor.

Brokaw, in television news since 1966, is anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw." He wrote the bestseller "The Greatest Generation," and the follow-up, "The Greatest Generation Speaks" and numerous articles and essays.

Judy has been a fly fishing guide for 20 years.