About

This photo was taken at a privately owned lake in Mackay, Idaho. A spring creek feeds into it, and wild trout live out their peaceful lives in this untouched paradise. The lake once belonged to the late David Stoecklein, a world-renowned photographer celebrated for his iconic images of cowboys in the American West. As far as I know, until I visited, the only people who had ever fished there were David and some close friends.

I got to know David through work, but whenever he came to my New York office, business talk would quickly give way to fishing.
“Hiro, I want to surprise you,” he once said. “Why don’t you come out to my ranch?”
And so our business relationship grew into a friendship. Before long, my family and I had visited his home and lake on his sprawling ranch a few times.

When he took us into town, we saw locals—cowboys, cowgirls, and even cowkids—wearing perfectly coordinated cowboy hats. They were the heartbeat of the town. The men were tall and broad-shouldered, the women looked effortlessly cool in jeans and western shirts, and one young cowkid, maybe slightly over ten years old, was confidently driving a full-sized pickup across the plains, with nothing but sky on the horizon.
To see a town so full of people who seemed naturally gifted—both physically and mentally—was incredible. I was in awe that such a place even existed on Earth.

The trout in David’s lake were just as impressive. They averaged around 26 inches, and having never encountered anglers, they rose eagerly to damselflies. That lake reminded me of a side of America I wouldn’t have known without David—the beauty, the scale, the generosity of its landscapes and people.

I’ve spent a total of 20 years living abroad: five in Europe and fifteen in the U.S. Along the way, I met people who shaped my life as a fly fisher. David, of course. Bill Akata, who introduced me to the soul of American fly fishing. Joan Wulff and Steve Rajeff, who inspired a lifelong love of fly casting. I spent countless hours at the Hardy Brothers shop in London when I was a student, and the crew there played a big part in my journey.
And at the very beginning, there was Ken Sawada—a genius who mastered the art of fly fishing. I met him when I was thirteen, and he lit the spark that started it all.