On Saturday morning we lost someone very special. Alan Petrucci, "Brk Trt", passed away. Alan's blog, Small Stream Reflections, was a source of entertainment, joy, and peace for people around the world. He was a dear friend to many. I count myself very lucky to have known him. News of his passing hit me like a ton of bricks.
My heart goes out to his wife, children, grandchildren, and the rest of his family. I can't begin to imagine the loss they're feeling right now.
Small Stream Reflections was the first thing that I gravitated to when I became interested in small stream wild trout fishing. Alan's photos drew me in, be they photos of the fish themselves or the magical places they were caught; places Alan called Brook Trout Forest.
I started my own blog partially inspired by Alan's. It's fair to say this blog wouldn't exist in its original form were it not for Small Stream Reflections.
Naturally, I wanted to fish with Alan. I reached out to him by email and we eventually made plans to fish together. We met one morning at a small stream near my home. He then took me to a couple streams of his own, streams that quickly became important parts of my life. I'll never forget Alan's words: "I'm going to take you to **** brook. This place has the most beautiful brook trout in the state of Connecticut."
We were fast friends. We both loved brook trout for the same reasons, and Alan's quiet and patient nature took me in as it has many others. We fished together quite a bit over the years, sometimes planned and sometimes incidentally. Many times I'd be focused on a piece of water when I'd hear a familiar voice. I'd always look up with a huge smile on. "I thought I'd run into you today", he'd say.
We shared new streams with each other a lot. Alan's excitement with finding a new wild trout stream was infectious. One of the last days he and I fished together we were trying to find sea run brook trout in Connecticut. Alan had a deep love for salters as anyone who read his blog knows. His words and photos of Red Brook have undoubtedly contributed to it's protection into the future.
Alan drew like-minded people into his orbit, and whether in person or online he gave them something wonderful. He shared knowledge readily. His skills and instinct as a fly tier were obvious. If you've ever seen one of his feather-wing streamers you know what I mean. Both through his blog and personal conversations he made many people better fly tiers. He was just as generous with his own flies. Our mutual friend, John Huber, sent me this yesterday.
Alan was an incredible angler as well, far better than he'd let on. If you watched him fish a run you quickly understood. His trademark was effortlessness. There were no unnecessary steps made, he didn't put in excess effort. His memory for where he'd caught specific fish was remarkable, and made me think much more about what that can do for one's ability to catch trout. He'd point to a non-descript bit of shallow riffle, a place I'd walk right by normally, and tell me about the brown trout he caught there on a soft hackle. I owe my thoroughness on the stream to Alan. He made me slow down and observe.
Alan introduced me to some of my favorite people as well. John, Kirk, Mark, and Pete... the New Year's day crew. I was so excited when Alan first invited me. It was such a wonderful tradition only interrupted by the pandemic. I don't get to fish with those guys enough. We lost Pete to cancer, far too soon. John and I observed the New Year's tradition last year and a few days late this year. I found myself on the same jetties as Kirk a lot during tunny season. Mark moved to Massachusetts. Hopefully we'll all get to see each other sometime in the near future.
Alan was such a special person. I'm reminded, time and tine again, just how important it is not to take the people in your life for granted. I hope Alan knew how much he meant to all of us.
We'll miss you so much, dear friend. Your memory will live on in every small tumbling stream and every bejeweled wild fish.
great tribute. i followed Allans blog for many years - he was my inspiration to get back into small stream fishing. His blog was my first read every day. we will miss his daily insights and fish reports. he also was a great photographer. his passing makes us all aware that life is short and that you have to make the best of every day. tight lines.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful tribute, RM. Still stunned and saddened by Alan's passing, we communicated recently via hand written cards mostly. He sent me a box of note cards with brook trout on them. I won a streamer in one of his contests that I have in a frame now. Maybe I should fish it. I think he would like it if I did.
ReplyDeleteSad news.
ReplyDeleteVery nice tribute to Alan, thank you.
ReplyDeleteDH
Well said! Alan had a deep appreciation for the outdoors and was so generous in sharing his knowledge. He clearly had a positive impact on a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed reading this. Alan will be missed, he brought something special to the world with inspiration and connectedness. Very sad to hear of his passing.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful post about a very special friend. Thank you for the reminders of not taking people or things for granted. Life gets busy and we tend to forget what is truly important in life. Simple things, often times!
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame we only corresponded a few times but I felt like I knew him
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tribute to a lovely man. I enjoyed reading his bog so much, it always brought a smile and we will all miss Alan so very much.
ReplyDeleteRegards, Bill
Rowan-I share your appreciation for Alan’s skill and artistry. His blog was instructive and inspiring. The trout he sought connected him to his environment and it’s sensitivity to human activity. He promoted simplicity in his approach to trout fishing, which opened his mind and senses to the value of his time immersed in nature.
ReplyDeleteWell said. I started my day reading Alan's blog while sipping my morning tea for years. His blog brought me such peace with his genteelness, its old time flavor and appreciation for the simple things in life...and stoked my continued pursuit for a fish far larger than its confines would let on. I never met him, but I feel such sadness. We've lost a gem.
ReplyDeleteYear's later, I was reminded recently of Alan's passing.
ReplyDeleteRM's writing on fishing with Alan is the only writing I have ever read of anyone fishing with Alan. It is lovely to think that some of Alan's special touches - sites - people - flies, have been passed down to RM - and the very few he fished with, and to all of us through his blog. I started reading it what seems like 15 years ago and I was later stunned when I met him at Red Brook one day, completely by random. Several times. He always was with his dear wife Jeanette. I got to meet Alan's family - including RM - at Alan's service, and I was struck to learn that Alan had been a medic in what must have been the Vietnam War. We watched his 21 gun salute as we left his service. I still have numerous flies and art from Alan, and I was struck when I was doing some well-overdue accounting to find that Alan had made a small but significant donation to SRBTC just days before he passed. Thank you kind sir.
In a tribute to Alan, I left one of his lovely hand-tied Ausable Bombers at the lovely Narraguagus River. We were all skunked and I took out what Alan told me was a "surefire" fly - tied it on, and promptly lost it in a tree. No fish were caught that day besides a small bass and a chub (fallfish) or two. We saw a massive bobcat swimming across the river.
Alan would have loved the place. I love to think a tiny bit of his simple, gentle, deeply talented, deeply committed intensity will sit on that branch over looking that gorgeous river. Prolly won't use any more of his soft-hackles unless entirely warranted in a place he would love.
Geof Day
Sea Run Brook Trout Coalition