The Confluence- a meeting of the lines
With fall colors straining to show, rain/snow, and cooler than normal temperatures, I made my way down to the Gays Mills Lions Park, joining my good friend and contributing writer Len Harris at his annual Confluence.
As Len puts it, “The confluence is a meeting of all different methods of trout anglers coming together, eating, drinking a beer, eating all sorts of different food from different nations, and telling a lot of lies and spinning a few yarns.”
By now, most of our readership has seen and/or read stories that lean heavy on trout fishing, but occasionally include nostalgic writings of Len’s past.
See, Len has a love for the Driftless Area that focuses on the outdoors and fishing, and strives to bring fishing enthusiasts together. Touted as a world class trout fishing area, the Driftless has many anglers both local and abroad that seem to have a comradery, one that sees sharing of weather conditions, stream/river conditions, fishing reports, technique, and favored recipes.
The Confluence serves as a time to come together as the inland regular season comes to a close. Stories are exchanged, food and beer are enjoyed, and some new friendships forged.
The food part, well, let’s just run down a few of the tasty items; bratwurst, Polish Kielbasa, fresh grill roasted bacon, pulled BBQ beef, home canned pickles in brine not vinegar, amazing fresh polish bread, and amazing mustards, and hot catsup.
My hats off to Jacek Gawlinski. His ability to grill roast fresh bacon/pork belly was uncanny (no pun intended).
“I love it. We talked with Len online about it. I was like, ‘We have to get the guys together’,” Gawlinski said of the gathering.
Harris’ Facebook page, “Small Stream Trout Monsters Club” you could say has been a catalyst for the annual Confluence.
Retired from law enforcement, Harris has a passion for uniting people through fishing and the outdoors, and his story telling. As trout season comes to a close, at least a few anglers, 36 to be exact, shared stories, ate, drank, and enjoyed each other’s company.
Until next year’s Confluence, tight lines.
To read Len Harris’ work, visit; https://lenharris.blogspot.com, Small Streams Trout Monsters Club, or www.facebook.com/len.harris
