Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!  We'll be back next week with our first blog of 2021!

We wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy, Covid-free 2021. Like the rest of the world, we anxiously await the time when we can freely move around the world again and do believe it is near. With that hope in mind, we share some thoughts from Mollie & Mike Fitzgerald & the Frontiers Team:

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” ~ Gustave Flaubert

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.” ~ Saint Augustine

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” ~ Anonymous

“Climb the mountain so that you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” ~ David McCullough

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” ~ Anonymous

“Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.” ~ Mark Twain

 Heart Melting Christmas Ads

We came across this YouTube clip of The Best Most Touching Christmas Adverts That Will Melt Your Heart. Bet you can't watch just one....enjoy and Merry Christmas.

Warning: Patagonia Scam

We all know this stuff happens and want to alert you to a scam that is making the rounds on Facebook. Don't fall for this too-good-to-be-true sale supposedly from Patagonia Clothing Company. It is a scam. It's from Pataonlinemall.buzz, NOT Patagonia Clothing Company. 

Follow this link from Patagonia to learn more.

https://help.patagonia.com/s/article/I-found-a-website-that-sells-Patagonia-products-How-do-I-know-if-it-s-legitimate

9 Shopping Days Left Until Christmas!

Gift Certificates

Need a last minute gift idea? Our gift certificates can be used for our online store, fly purchases, guiding, or any of our instructional programs. Certificates are available in any amount starting at $25 and will be emailed and can be printed by the purchaser.

 November Song

“Some days unfold slowly. Listen carefully and you may catch the rhythm.....

We enjoy Bob Romano's writing and think that at this unusually crazy time of year (even in normal years), taking a couple minutes to drift back with Bob to a November day and a more pleasant place and peace of mind. It's healthy for the soul. Enjoy the short story. If you enjoy this, you may like his blog too. Thank you Bob Romano and MidCurrent.

https://midcurrent.com/stories-essays/november-song/

Last of the Season?

Maybe not. Yes, there is a blizzard on it's way to us later today, but fishing has been good right up until now and if the weather man is correct, we are to have a relatively mild winter. There's a good chance that we'll have some nice days and you can be sure that our guides Jim, Tom and Brad will be itching to be on the water. These shots are from last week. If you want or need a day on the water and we get a break in the weather, get your long johns out and give us a shout.

Look at This Fish!!

While some of us were trying to do Christmas shopping online and in mask, a regular guiding client, Matt West, decided to brave the cold and get in a late season fishing day with Barry. As Barry was getting dressed that morning he mentioned that he must be crazy. It was cold and a breeze was kicking up. He piled on base layers, top layers, down, wool, and anything else that he could get inside his waders. I remember thinking that they are both crazy!

As the day unfolded, the wind died and the sun came out. I can't say that it was balmy, but bearable. They were catching a few fish when about an hour from quitting time Matt hooked into this beautiful 30” brown. Where he came from no one knows, but he's been living a good life! It was Matt's biggest fish to date and what a way to finish the day. Our season doesn't close here, and the next week looks good, so if you're up for it, our guides are anxious to find this fish again! Give us a call to set up a day.

Congratulations Matt!

GeoGalleries  

If you follow us on Facebook and Instagram, you know that we've been busy this season with our online photo gallery. We invite you to take a look at what we're doing and the many other artists that are represented by GEOGalleries.com/barryandcathybeck.

Calendars and Flies

 Don't forget to order a 2021 Angler's Calendar, the Dirty Duo & Ug & Ug selections, and Trapper & PTs. (See last week's blog) Time is running out for Christmas. Let us know if we can help fill your stocking....or someone else's. These are great early season flies and priced right.  

Looking Ahead

While the future is still somewhat uncertain, it's looking up with regards to the vaccine and late winter early spring turnaround. We're seeing an interest in fishing trips and the phone is beginning to ring again.

With that in mind, here is our 2021 schedule from March forward. As you begin to think about traveling once again, we hope you'll keep us and Frontiers in mind.

 2021:

March 6-12                 San Huberto Lodge, Argentina. Trout.

March 13-20               Tres Valles Lodge, Esquel, Argentina. Trout.

March 20-27               Estancia Tecka, Esquel, Argentina. Trout.

June 21-July 4            Ireland & Scotland. Trout/A. Salmon.

July 23-Aug. 9            E. Africa Safari. Kenya & Tanzania. Game Viewing.

August 21-Sept. 5       Bighorn River, Montana. Trout.

September 14-22        E. Pyrenees, Spain. Trout.

October 16-23             Turneffe Flats Lodge, Belize. Bonefish, Tarpon, Permit

Nov. 29-Dec. 4            Argentina Waters, Esquel, Argentina. Trout.

Dec. 4-11                    Tres Valles Estancia, Esquel, Argentina. Trout

We encourage you to embrace the Shop Small Movement that supports small businesses every day and everywhere. Please support small business this holiday season and beyond.

 Tis the Season

This is the week for Christmas ideas for yourself or others. We've put together some interesting fly selections, once again we have the 2021 Angler's Calendar, and a virtual stroll through our GeoGallery.

 Dirty Duo

For this double selection we've paired our Squirmies & Buggers Selection with a dozen tungsten Ug Nymphs (#8) in our best colors. You'll be ready for high cold water when the season opens in the spring with this duo. 2 Selections, 28 weighted flies, boxed. $60.  Click on the title to be directed to our store to order.

PT's & Emergers

For this double selection we've paired our Pheasant Tail Bead Head Selection with a dozen Trapper Tungsten Soft Hackle caddis emergers. PT's are always a favorite and with the Trapper soft hackles, you'll be ready for the hatches in the spring. 2 Selections, 24 flies(12-16), boxed $42. Click on the title to be directed to our store to order.

2021 Angler's Calendar

The 12"x12" Angler's Calendar is always a popular gift idea. 18-month calendar, large boxes for notes, moon phases, international holidays. By Willow Creek Press. $14.99.

Geo Gallery Tour

Just in time for Christmas.

We've put together a short video of some of our favorite images listed on Geo Galleries. Just sit back and let us show you what we're doing with prints, canvas wraps, and framed pieces.

All of the images here are available in a variety of formats and media types along with custom selections at Geogalleries.com/barryandcathybeck. Please let us know if you have any questions. Enjoy.

The Movement

We encourage you to embrace Small Business Saturday as it continues to be an annual holiday shopping tradition – just one part of the larger Shop Small Movement that supports small businesses every day and everywhere. Please support small business this holiday season and beyond.

This Week's Pics

The Homestead

The stories this place could tell! On a windswept Montana plain you can picture kids and old folks trudging through snow on their way to the outhouse, or struggling to beat a bit of a living out of the rock hard ground in the generations before irrigation. As they say, “those were the days....”

Last Cast

We've all had those magical days on the water that you don't want to end. So, you keep telling yourself that you really do have to start home and that you'll just make one more cast...and it leads to another and another.

We invite you to browse these photos and many others in our gallery at geogalleries.com/barryandcathybeck.

Starting at $25.

Prints, framed and ready-to-hang, and canvas wraps. Custom options available.

This Week's Pic – GeoGalleries

We are continuing to build our presence on GeoGalleries and invite you to take a look at
geogalleries.com/barryandcathybeck where you can browse prints, canvas wraps, and framed pieces, with many options in media, format, and custom sizes. Here are the pics for this week:

 Rainbow Trout Release

An angler gently releases a fat rainbow trout back into the river to be caught and enjoyed another day. As catch and release becomes more popular, anglers everywhere are increasingly releasing their catch.

Acacia Tree Sunset

The combination of dust and fire make for incredible sunsets and it's hard to find another place on earth where there is more dust and fire than Africa. The vast African plains and the few trees make an impressive stage for the sun to drop behind.

 Last Call

If you subscribe to or happen to see a copy of the November/December issue of Gray's, please enjoy our photo essay with our good friend Harry Schoel from Belgium.

Classic Pro Tip: How to Mend Your Line For a Better Drift

Here is an easy, quick, piece from Tom Rosenbauer and Montana guide, Molly Semenik, on mending line. These are great tips for mending and with it is a very useful 2-minute video.
Thank you Tom, Molly, & Orvis.
https://news.orvis.com/fly-fishing/classic-pro-tip-how-to-mend-your-line-for-a-better-drift

Fall Fishing

After a long hot dry summer and early fall, we have been blessed with rain to end the drought and beautiful fall weather to enjoy being outside. The fish are beginning their spawning rituals, water is cool and clean, and looking ahead the day time temperatures are projected to be in the 50/60's for at least the next week.

Just this afternoon we watched three whitetail bucks chase doe in the field next door and as we sat and watched, a bald eagle flew overhead from the pond. It was a beautiful warm fall afternoon and we couldn't help but feel fortunate to be here in this place at this moment.

Our guides have a few days available, so if you need to get out and fish, now is the time! We will have another week of it, but who knows after that. It could be a very long cold winter. Call us!

RIO's Fishing Tips  

RIO's fishing tips are short, usually less than a minute, tips that help us all and make things easier on the water or at the tying bench. You may end up asking yourself, “Why didn't I think of that?” Here is one for tying bench and at the end you'll see more tips.

https://www.rioproducts.com/learn/non-essential-tying-tools

This Week's Pick -- GeoGalleries

Last week we told you about our invitation to be part of GeoGalleries, an online community of artists based in San Antonio, Texas, and representing artists from around the world. We're excited to be included in the small group of photographers and here are our two picks for this week. Both pieces are available in a number of sizes as prints, framed work, and canvas. We invite you to see more by visiting https://geogalleries.com/BARRYANDCATHYBECK/.

Colorful Art Deco Street Life

Syncopated Bohemian culture comes to life on the streets and alleyways of Valprasio, Chile, like nowhere else on earth. It's a hard working port town, once known as "The Jewel of South America". Don't be in a hurry when you come to visit the colorful streets, cafes, and restaurants of this extraordinary city.

Gray Crowned Cranes

Gray Crowned Cranes are long legged birds of African grasslands and wetlands, famous for their elaborate courtship dances performed in pairs. Cranes mate for life and enjoy a varied diet by pecking on the ground or searching in the mud for frogs, lizards, seeds and grains. These cranes have inspired artists, conservationists (and photographers like ourselves) around the world, but some species are now threatened due to habitat loss.

We are honored to be part of GeoGalleries, a curated community of independent international artist galleries. In the weeks ahead we will be spot lighting a couple of our images each week through the blog, Facebook and Instagram. Our work is representative of our travels and includes cityscapes, landscapes, animals, people, and of course fly fishing. It will take us months to build our online gallery at Geo so we hope you will follow us and check in often to see what is new.

Geo is an extension of FinerWorks, a fine art and photo print color lab based in San Antonio, Texas, specializing in prints on canvas, metal, and fine art papers, as well as unlimited custom options. 

This week our spot lighted pieces are from our horse collection, My Horse at Last Light and Lipizzaner Eye. All of our work will be offered in print sizes and as canvas wraps. We invite you to view our collections by following the link below and then selecting the individual collection. Thanks for looking around. 

https://geogalleries.com/gallery/?q=Cathy%20Beck

Turneffe Review

We mentioned last week about a group of anglers that we had at Turneffe Flats Lodge in Belize for the week. The reports we got back were that air travel was a breeze and the airplanes and the service was smooth, could not have been better, the attention to cleanliness and Covid precaution was impressive, and the in-and-out process in Belize was very well orchestrated and went smoothly. Belize City airport is small and with the new precautions in place the line of travelers stretched outside of the terminal, but it was a nice day and no one seemed to mind. The required Covid app and test results procedure worked well and there were no unexpected delays or hiccups.   

Once at the lodge our group settled in and enjoyed a week of good weather, comfortable accommodations, great guides and good fishing. We have a hosted departure planned to Turneffe for the same time next year, October 16-23, 2021, and we hope that you'll think about joining us. 

Andras Outfitters in Almeda Fire

A couple weeks back we put out a call for help for our friends, Rachel & Jim Andras, in Talent, Oregon, and the Almeda Fire which ravaged their little community. As you can see from their most recent newsletter, the town is pulling through but it will be a long time before families have homes and can provide for themselves and their families. Thank you to everyone who sent money, fishing tackle, and prayers.  Here's a update from Rachel's newsletter.

Moving Forward!
Being able to work with some of the staff at Talent Elementary to bless families in need is a true JOY! Meeting Mamas at the school to give them gift cards and diapers is meaningful and makes their day a little easier. It is because of you. Thank you!

The Red Cross has provided hotel rooms for families and though it is a safe place it is not a long term solution or ideal. Seeing families struggling on our school zooms has been heart breaking.

There is a long road ahead for so many and we hope we can continue to offer support, hope, and love to keep their spirit and hearts at peace. We are truly better together. The holidays are right around the corner so I am thinking of doing a few things to continue to give. Possibly a Sock Drive and/or Secret Santa for families too. I welcome your ideas. Just email Rachel at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Local Call for Help

Sherri Cooney is a personal friend and is involved locally in feeding families who are having a difficult time. This is her plea and I can personally guarantee that any donations are going to be used to put food on the table for these people.

Please consider helping us raise money now while Sherri has someone who is offering to “match donations.” I asked Sherri why she is soliciting donations if the food is free and she explained that CHOP (Child Hunger Outreach Partners), a non profit, pays the PA Food Bank for the food to be given away.

We all appreciate your help, but most of all the receiving families thank you. Please help us make a difference in someone's life today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYESJUmhXNc&feature=youtu.be

https://www.facebook.com/childhungeroutreachpartners/

Just in Turneffe Flats

We have a small group of friends at Turneffe Flats Lodge in Belize this week. They are part of a group that was rescheduled from our April trip and we would love to be there with them. They are catching bonefish, jumping tarpon, and having a beautiful week of weather. Last report was one small permit landed and others sited. We'll have more next week, but it sounds like a great week to be in the salt!

A Nod to Vince

Awhile back MidCurrent ran a nice tribute to Vince Marinaro, author of “A Modern Dry Fly Code” (1950) and “In the Ring of the Rise” (1976). There's no denying that these books inspired anglers to think more carefully about trout behavior and small flies and terrestrials to tempt trout. 

Barry and Vince were friends and shortly after we were married, Vince came to visit and fish with Barry for a few days. It was very early (emphasis here!) in my fly fishing career and of course I had no idea who Vince was and truth be known, I only remember him as a grouchy old man. Perhaps partly due to the fact that his car broke down while he was here and I had to take him where he wanted to go because apparently Barry wouldn't stop fishing to do it (I can't remember for sure). Anyway, that's neither here nor there. This is a nice tribute and we hope you enjoy it.

Thank you Bob Romano and MidCurrent.

https://midcurrent.com/stories-essays/a-nod-to-vince/?goal=0_8efbf3b958-22924c89ca-18929377&mc_cid=22924c89ca&mc_eid=bb6eaedbe9