Threaded Journeys is not your typical book of hunting and fishing stories.

Threaded Journeys Tom with FishThreaded Journeys by Tom Johnson is an unusual book, with a subtitle that gives you a hint of what’s inside: “Fishing, Hunting, Conservation, Adventure… and America’s Future.” Yes, Tom covers it all.

You’ll get provocative opinion pieces on important issues from climate change to the endangered species act to fracking. And there are lots of great hunting and fishing stories, as Tom roams North America and beyond. I particularly enjoyed his stories of deer hunting in Maine and fishing some of my favorite rivers in Montana. And his favorite brook trout spot in Quebec sounds a lot like mine, although it’s not.

“I’ve hunted whitetails in all of the New England states for over 45 years,” he writes, “first using wooden long bows and arrows before graduating to recurves and compounds. For the past few years, Maine has become my favorite place to pursue America’s favored big-game animal.” We need to plaster that sentence all over the country!

You may also fish some of his favorite waters in Maine. His story about the Healing Waters event at Aldo French’s Forest Lodge on the Rapid River is a really good one. Louise Dickinson Rich wrote several of her books there, including We Tool to the Woods. When Dickinson moved from here to the coast, she left many things in her camp. I stayed in that camp one time and had a photo taken of me sitting at her typewriter.

Threaded Journeys best cover photoAnd I liked this description of the Rangeley to Moosehead to Washington Country regions, his favorite Maine destinations. “It isn’t just the variety of rivers, lakes and ponds at one’s disposal in these territories that appeals to me,” he writes. “I’m attracted to the history and nostalgia of each region and to the people there who have labored to preserve our fishing and hunting heritage.” Me too Tom!

I also enjoyed – and appreciated – his articles about favorite people including Dave Footer, described by Tom as “the world’s best-known and accomplished brook trout taxidermist and restorer.” Dave is also a superb artist. Tom rightly notes that Dave has “been generous with his donations of art to worthy charitable causes… He has helped and supported many conservation and preservation programs over the course of his life,” winning many awards for his generosity.

During my years at the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, Dave would always show up at our State of Maine Sportsman’s Show in Augusta and make the rounds of the booths, donating his prints to worthy causes for fundraising. The man is amazing, and amazingly talented.

From his recommendation that you visit the awesome Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossic, to his pat-on-the-back to Bob Howe and his wife at Pine Grove Outfitters for their participation in the Get Back Outdoors program, Tom covers a whole lot of things in Threaded Journeys.

You can learn more about Tom as well as this book and his previous book, Life on the Fly, at his website, www.tomjohnsononline.com.

 

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.