When I first waded into the swift, cold waters of Colorado’s Rio Grande River in 1958, wearing Ked tennis shoes over borrowed stocking foot waders, I hoped to catch a trout… and not fall down and drown. As I became a more proficient wader and angler I started hoping to catch a limit of trout. As the years rolled by I caught many limits of trout. I ate some and released more. I’m ashamed …but not much… to say I gloried in sometimes being that guy on the stream who caught trout when no one else could. But I was nice about it. I willingly shared my home-tied flies with other anglers. Now that I’m eighty years old I find once again that I hope to catch a trout … and not fall down and drown.
I’ve come full circle.
Published by BruceCochran
Bruce Cochran graduated from Oklahoma University in 1960 with a B.A. in design. He worked as a humor writer/illustrator for Hallmark Cards from 1960 – 1962 and has freelanced as a writer, cartoonist and illustrator since then. Cochran drew daily sports cartoon for USA Today from 1983 – 1991. He has 10 humor/cartoon books published by Willow Creek Press and his work appears regularly in Wyoming Wildlife, Outdoor News, On Wisconsin Outdoors, Pheasants Forever Journal, Wildfowl, Gundog, Ducks Unlimited magazine, Delta Waterfowl and other publications. He also writes and illustrates a regular humor column for Wyoming Wildlife News. Bruce won first place in the magazine humor category of OWAA’s EIC contest in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2010. Life Sponsor: Ducks Unlimited. Life member: NRA. Member: Pheasants Forever, Trout Unlimited, OWAA and Outdoor Writers of Kansas.
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