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QuickTake:
After 30 years of angling and traveling, Jesse Robbins has learned that his passion is really about simply enjoying time spent outdoors on the water.
Editor’s note: People are the heart of Lane County — which is why, each week, Lookout Eugene-Springfield will profile someone who is working behind the scenes to make our community better. If you have suggestions on others we should profile, send us an email.
Name: Jesse Robbins
Age: 41
Occupation: Major gifts officer, Trout Unlimited
Years in role: Four months, but volunteered and worked in the environmental nonprofit space for over five years.
In Jesse Robbins’ Springfield home, dozens of rods line the floors, a slew of colorful feathers used to tie flies poke out of his desk. The walls are covered with souvenirs from his international fishing travels, and every leftover corner of his attic — an area of his home where he’s tried to contain his enthusiasm for fly-fishing — is stuffed with fishing paraphernalia.
Introduced to fly-fishing by his father, Robbins quickly became enamored by the endless novelty of it — with plenty of new species to catch and new techniques to learn. Now, he’s fascinated by the connections — with other anglers, the rivers and the fish. In this evolving pursuit, he’s pushed the sport to the next level.
Robbins’ attic is swarmed with decades of various fly-fishing materials — yet it’s all carefully organized. Each fly is in its rightful place, each piece of gear is ready and prepped. It embodies his approach to fishing: tactical.
“Fly-fishing is so much more than standing in the water making the cast,” Robbins said. “It’s fiddling with your gear, it’s tying the flies. If you were to calculate the time spent actually casting versus the time spent thinking about fishing, all the other things add up way more.”
He’s dedicated huge portions of his life to the craft, traveling the world to fish. His best memory: spending 4½ months living out of his van, fishing through New Zealand.
“Fishing six days a week for four months. If you do anything that long, you’re going to get better.” Robbins said. “My learning curve just got really, really steep.”
His latest book, “The Best Fly Fishing Is Everywhere,” chronicles his countless fishing trips, including that one. Yet despite his time spent traveling, targeting elusive fish, and a resume that places him in the upper echelons of outdoorsmen, his message to readers seemingly contradicts the deep preparation he does to land a fish.
“It’s not about how many fish we catch or how many check boxes on a bucket list we can make,” Robbins said. “If we can kind of appreciate the time on the water for what we learn from it, then every day could be the best.”
Oftentimes, it’s not about the size of the fish you’re targeting, the exotic location you’re fishing in, or even whether you walk away with a fish. The pursuit is enough.
“Don’t get me wrong. I definitely want to catch the fish, and I want to go to the places,” Robbins said. “But I constantly remind myself that even if it doesn’t go to plan, then it was still a pretty damn good day out on the water.”
His advice to anyone looking into the sport? Jump into it, treat the river as your oyster.
“It’s a great excuse to go stand in a river, hike a trail, or spend a day on the water just to connect with nature,” Robbins said. “It’s also a really interesting venue to do some self-exploration.”
Robbins’ book is now available online or in person at local fly-fishing stores throughout Eugene and Springfield.
