The fly-fishing world is filled with incredible people who believe in the sport and what it does for the soul.
Some are well known. Others work diligently behind the scenes.
They are the people running CNC machines late at night, the engineers designing and building the gear, the marketing geniuses who create the memorable ads, videos and stories that bring it all to life.
Ours is an industry teeming with talented people who believe as much in the spirit of fly fishing as the gear they create.
Over the past few years, we’ve lost too many of them. We celebrated icons like Lefty Kreh, Flip Pallot and others, people who moved our sport forward and left a mark.
We don’t often touch on the lives of those who played a significant role behind the scenes. People who may not have known that their work shaped fly-fishing culture.
People like Joe Wolthuis.
Joe was a beacon of compassion and kindness to many. He touched countless people through his creative genius, providing the inspiration to trade the magnetic noise of life for the silent solace of the water.
He did this in his life and through the tools available to him in his role as the Marketing Manager of Scientific Anglers.
If you’ve been on the water over the last decade, read a fly-fishing magazine, listened to a podcast, attended a film event, been to a show, or walked through the doors of your local fly shop, you’ve experienced his support and work.
I’ve always been drawn to the people in the fly-fishing world. They are a salt-of-the-earth community with a shared passion for the pursuit of freedom that adventure provides, the beautiful places where fish live, and the need to conserve them.
Joe embodied the spirit of the very best people in our community.
Without question, the single most treasured gift the Bird family has been blessed with over these last twenty years are the friendships. This community is an industry, but it is best defined as a family where friendships run deep.
I recall a dinner where we were introduced to Joe. The conversation was an instant connection over bed bugs, nerdy marketing data, metrics and demographics.
And there was always laughter.
That first dinner turned into countless dinners, lunches, phone calls, zooms and text messages. Sometimes work-related, most times not.
One of my favorites was a dinner where Joe told us about an out-of-this-world “candy bar” he encountered on a trip to Canada. There was a joyous hope in the way he described this chocolate nectar he had discovered.
He went on to explain that this particular candy bar was not available in Michigan. A few months later, as any friend would, I arrived for a lunch with Joe with a dozen Mr. Big bars. This would be the start of a long tradition.
Joy can be found in the little things.
When word of Joe’s arrival as Marketing Manager was announced, I called a mutual friend who knew him well.
Of Joe, he said, “You are going to really like him.”
Indeed, we did.
The fly-fishing family is deeply saddened by the loss of our cherished brother.
There is a place where rivers flow freely, where they run gin clear, where the fish are always eager, where peace is ever present, and where there is no last cast.
Joe is there now.
“Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.” ~ Norman Maclean
Joe’s voice will continue to move quietly through the fly-fishing community he cared so deeply about.
We will miss him immensely.
Photo: Allen Crater