Field Notes from Tenkara Rod Co. Ambassador Mirae Campbell

Fall Fishing Reading Field Notes from Tenkara Rod Co. Ambassador Mirae Campbell 6 minutes Next A Chat with @thevanman Jon Gaffney

We recently asked Mirae Campbell a few questions about her life, adventures, and fishing experiences, and here is what she had to say...

Name: Mirae Campbell

Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Day Job: Student/ Seasonal Ski Technician / Photographer / Children's Program Facilitator

Weekend Job: Full-time Adventure-luster

Based in beautiful British Columbia, Mirae Campbell, @miraecampbell, spends countless hours exploring the seaside and high mountaintops. Today’s Tenkara Rod Co. ambassador field notes reveal Mirae’s love for white winters and new experiences.  

What drives you to explore and to encounter the outdoors in the way you do?

It's the only way I can stay sane, everyone is so focused on 'staying connected' that they actually forget to be connected. I am one of those definitely guilty of staring at my phone screen too often so the outdoors is the only way to remind me what life is really about, it makes me re-evaluate what is valuable in my life. My father has always been keen on the outdoors since my birth and my grandfather has always been keen on capturing beautiful moments so the way I spend my time exploring seemed like a natural way to combine the things that I have been raised on into my own unique view on the world.

What’s your idea of the ultimate time spent outdoors?

It changes with every season or every week. Living on the coast of Canada we get TONS of rain in the spring and fall, but the rain is the only time I feel completely at home in the woods. Winter is all about life in the mountain’s weather. It includes glaciers, shredding, hiking, camping, touring, you name it. Summer is all about hikes to the peaks of mountains - stargazing, camping every single weekend, and cliff jumping into the ocean, unknown lakes and secret pools. I can't pinpoint the 'ultimate' experience because any time I spend outside is made into an 'ultimate' experience.

When was your first fishing experience?

I was 10 and my uncle made my brother and I get up at 4:30 to meet him in some absurd location to hike for 3 hours to the most pristine location I have ever seen - to freeze our butts off to throw some line around since we had absolutely no idea what we were doing.

Do you have a memorable fly fishing experience?

My dad is a HUGE fly fishing enthusiast, it's his way to escape from my mother. We went to Japan together one year and went to a fishing hole to catch fish for dinner and I don't think I've ever seen him as excited as he was when he got to see me catch my first fish, he almost started crying.

New to fly fishing, what have you recently learned about the sport?

It's a sport of patience. I am the type of person that is constantly on the go, and always moving from one adventure to the next, but my first experience fishing made me realize the importance of just enjoying and accepting peace,but like anything I've done outdoors, it's the type of inner peace and happiness that you can only get from breathing in fresh air and appreciating your surroundings.

How do you find time to get outside?

It just happens. I prioritize it over anything, it's like an addiction, I can't not do it. When people question how I do it, I can't explain it, it just happens, as regularly as I sleep or breathe.

What do you never leave home without when you’re headed to enjoy the outdoors?

Water bottle. Gopro.

Go to fishing, camping, hiking attire?

Rain shell. Plaid.

Favorite season?

Winter!! It's the COOLEST (literally) for everything, it's the most beautiful time of year, and makes everything look dreamy. All the most inspirational photos I have seen of surfing, shredding, fishing have been in the middle of a snow storm. I saw this photo that Jeremy Koreski took once where it's a half submerged fishing photo in a snowstorm and it was too epic, it's the first thing that flashes into my head as soon as anyone says anything about photos and fishing.

As an advocate for outdoor adventures, what do you think we can teach people about enjoying the outdoors, while protecting it?

This has been a question that has been sitting on my mind for some time now, and I'm not sure if I know the right answer. We all spend time outside for the same big reason, it makes us happy, it keeps us grounded and it reminds us what it means to connect. The outdoors have a way of healing every problem anyone may be facing, and by disconnecting from 'life' just for an hour to get outside and explore, it will completely change the dynamic of your day and will remind you to be thankful. For me, people get so excited to go out and explore (me included) that we become reckless and forget, that we are the ones invading an ecosystem, or an animal's, or even a fungal species' personal space. The only thing I can stress is that we need to be mindful of everything surrounding us; we are the ones who are privileged to be invited into the outdoors and we need to behave in the outdoors as we would in a guest's (a guest that we admire, adore and cherish) home, and practice humility, responsibility and respect.

 

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