Have Fly Rod–Will Travel

One of my favorite TV shows when I was a young boy was Have Gun — Will Travel starring Richard Boone as Paladin, a cultured and educated gunfighter-for-hire who lived in San Francisco’s Hotel Carlton. The show was know for its unique western approach, featuring a hero who quoted poetry and philosophy as easily as he handled outlaws, often using his intellect and a chess knight emblem on his holster as his signature.

Since joining FATC several years ago, I sometimes think one view of my life could be called Have Fly Rod—Will Travel or maybe even Have Gospel—Will Travel. I just returned from two weeks of guiding and mentoring at two back-to-back ALTAR fly fishing retreats in the Driftless region of Minnesota. I’ve been blessed to be asked to participate as “a guide” for the past several years. I enjoy traveling there and back with my close friend, Kenny Klimes, as well as spending time with Eric Camfield, Nathan Flowers, Steve Ebling, Scott Hayes and others on the ALTAR team. I consider these men as both my spiritual and fishing mentors.

One of the major themes of this retreat was that reading the waters of life and building the life we desire is a skill to be learned and practiced —not only on the water and during the retreat, but also for the health of our souls and to help us, if we seek a life of significance and a lasting legacy.

As our Retreat Guidebook read: we should break this process into four parts:

NOTICE…What is actually happening? We pause, look, listen and observe.

NAME…What is clear and/or stirring in me?

DISCERN…What is God’s invitation to me?

RESPOND…What will I do/practice to make progress?

The Retreat Guidebook goes on to state: Noticing begins with asking questions.

This reminded me of what I published in the FATC FORUM on April 18, 2026 titled Are You More Like Koko or Like Socrates?…

The most compelling reason I have to improve my question-asking skills is because it was one of the hallmarks of my Hero and Savior. Jesus Christ often used questioning as a powerful technique to encourage introspection rather than providing direct answers.

Thinking apparently has never been a well practiced activity. I’m reminded of Thomas Edison’s famous quote regarding thinking: “Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.”

Jesus is recorded as asking over 300 questions in the Gospels. This is amazing to me to consider that the man who literally had all the answers—asked so many questions. So I asked myself, why? It seems to me that this style had a very real purpose. I think the questions were used to challenge, teach, and force listeners to think deeply about their beliefs, motives, and hearts.

Back to the Retreat Guidebook which stated: We will let several key questions of Jesus guide us through our retreat to gain clarity and discern where we go from here. (I suggest these are some great questions to ponder:)

—What good is it to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? (Read the story in Mark 8:31-36.)

—What do you want me to do for you? (Read the story in Mark 10:46-52.)

—Do you want to get well? (Read the story in John 5:1-9.)

—Do you believe I am able to do this? (Read the story in 9:27-30.)

—Do you love me? (Read the story in John 21:1-19.)

—Who do you say I am? (Read the story in Mark 8:27-29.)

As you read this, if you’re still of the mindset of “So what? I’m a Christian and I go to church…Why go deeper? Why spend time in the Bible? What’s the big deal?” Perhaps you should ponder this quote from C. S. Lewis. What do you think about the pure logic of his statement?

“One must keep pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, is of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.” 

By the way, have you found the meaning of your life? We’d love to hear that story! If not, keep looking by choosing to look in the most fishy-looking water. Remember Jason Randall’s 90/10 rule in trout fishing, which states that 90% of the fish are found in 10% of the water. And that 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish. But even more basic than Jason’s truism is this: You can’t catch fish if you don’t go fishing. I think the same principles hold true for the quest for real meaning. Do you think truly examining your life and actively asking more questions might help? Remember our FATC motto: It’s not just about the fly fishing.

John Muckerman

FATC Inspirational and Leadership Lead