Poking out of the North Atlantic depths at the western edge of the Norwegian Sea, mostly fitting in the bounds of 14–24 degrees West longitude and 64–66 degrees North latitude, Iceland was and to a large degree still is a stronghold for Atlantic salmon.

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Crisp evening in McLean’s Town. We’ve motored across the channel from Deep Water Cay to eat dinner at Alma’s, a local diner known for its excessive portions and countless courses: exquisite crab salad served in Styrofoam cups with plastic forks; conch fritters dipped in a tangy but feisty sauce; fried conch slabs hungry anglers hand-to-mouth like potato chips; then the main entrée of barely battered and briskly fried Caribbean lobsters served alongside rice and beans.

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Without preamble, I’ll continue this Spey-fishing primer with a discussion of mechanics for the basic casts and a general guideline for which cast to use when. If you’re just joining, it is imperative to visit the previous two issues, Vol. 2 No. 3 and Vol. 2 No. 4, for a review of the first two installments.

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I often think about different kinds of fishing that might or might not qualify as “legendary,” but should legendary fishing be all about merely the fish and the act of catching them, or should it also be about the place and the people? I can’t help but think more and more that it’s about the overall experience, and when it all comes together as some kind of delightful sensory overload then perhaps that is the time when the fishing becomes “legendary.”

Taimen fishing in Mongolia is just that to me. Legendary. And I got to go and do it, or rather I want to go and photograph it, live it, and perhaps fit in a few casts myself.

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From the cold winter waters of North Carolina’s Outer Banks to the salmon rivers of Canada, I am held, enchanted, and at peace, knowing that there is life for me when I am suspended between worlds, dancing with surf and currents, salt water and fresh. Only in remote grouse coverts am I as touched by time and my ancestors.

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Photograph by Russ Schnitzer

Depending where you live, the odds are better than even that you are probably buried in snow right now up to your derriere or at least freezing the latter off. I feel for you—really I do—and I am almost embarrassed to say that is late December here in Mobile and it is a frigid 73 degrees and sunny. In fact, my wife just gave our dog a bath, which resulted in the dog losing ten pounds of hair. The poor dog can’t make up her mind if she wants to shed her summer coat and grow a winter coat, or vice versa. The trees seem equally confused. They are dropping their old leaves at a much slower rate than would be expected and some have commenced the process of growing new ones. Roses are blooming and the azaleas have new buds and look like they are going to explode any day. Naturally, I am still wearing shorts and polo shirts and, of course, the ubiquitous flip-flops. In short, everything (including the winter one wants to escape on holiday) is relative. As Jimmy Buffet once said, perceptions are based on attitudes and attitudes are based on changes in latitudes. Which brings me to changes in latitude.

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Click on the image above to check out Russ Schnitzer’s video from Jim’s Deep Water Cay trip to the Bahamas.