When Steve Archuleta mentions ‘the one that got away,’ you can be pretty certain that he’s not talking about a long-ago love. The affable former school teacher and administrator is more than likely talking about a fish. Of course, not that many have gotten away from the life-long fisherman, now author.
Over the arc of his life, Archuleta has fished lakes, rivers and oceans. He’s fished all across the country, too, catching salmon in the northwest, bass in the northeast, rainbow trout in the southwest, marlin in the Pacific. And it’s all in his book, “Fishing by Hook or by Crook.”
Because fishing has been woven through each chapter of his life, Archuleta has been able to chronicle some of the best and most interesting moments when dangling a hook, including close encounters with bears, lions and rattlers. Other chapters merely involve the elements in their most unforgiving light.
Still, Archuleta never really imagined himself as an author. It was, perhaps, a pipedream at best. But life regularly throws you curves. For Archuleta, the ‘curve’ came in the form of the pandemic.
“It changed everything,” he said. The virus that first terrified, then paralyzed the nation also gave him the time to seriously consider the book. The material, after all, was all right there between his ears.
So, he downloaded his fishing tales into an easy-to-read book that takes readers—even non-fishers—into the outdoor cathedrals of his past, the isolated nooks, crannies and hidden gem fishing spots where he’s left his footprints over the years.
The book is written with a near reverence for an adversary that has survived on the planet for hundreds of millions of years. Archuleta’s respect for his foe—the rainbow, steelhead and marlin—is genuine. Rather than hastening its death, he honors its life. For him, fishing is simply a contest of wiles not conquest.
His respect for his foe extends to the end of the battle and beyond. Archuleta is part of the ‘catch-and-release’ school of fishers. The descriptive, for him, also defines success. Once the contest has ended, usually after a valiant battle of both wit and grit, the fish is returned to the water.
The fish is released, carefully, respectfully. The retired educator and native New Mexican said he’ll inspect the fish, “make sure it’s OK, breathing, not injured,” he said. Then, carefully, it’s cradled in both hands and laid back into the stream. To fishers like Archuleta, throwing it, tossing it back, is sacrilege.
Though Archuleta has caught thousands of fish over his lifetime, there is one that he just could not bring himself to release.
“We were trying to stay legal,” he recalled. Archuleta’s a stickler for making certain he fishes with a license. A couple of places where he usually gets one were out and it was getting late. Finally, in Blanca, they hit paydirt. But by the time they arrived to make their first cast, it was afternoon, not the best time to catch a fish.
Archuleta, his son and a friend set up their fishing poles. Archuleta had an extra that he also baited but didn’t expect a hit on it because it just had regular, not the steel litre line that a fish couldn’t escape. But the line didn’t snap and the fight was on. “I thought my line would pop or that the fish would bite right through.”
When he reeled it in, Archuleta had snagged a 20-pound, 40-inch trophy. He had it mounted. It now sits affixed to a plaque and hangs on a wall in his home.
Archuleta’s stories don’t all include the catch. They also tell about getting caught in white-out snowstorms or being pelted by hail. Weather, in all its forms, is simply the price of admission. “There’ve been a few ugly incidents,” he concedes. One, of course, was the close encounter with a hungry mountain lion.
The lion just appeared, he remembered. “It was about 75 yards from where we were,” he said. But instead of it continuing toward him and a friend, it suddenly darted off in another direction and disappeared. “We were in its hunting area and lucky for us, it disappeared to where there were elk.
Archuleta is experienced enough to know where he should or shouldn’t go. He researches new locations thoroughly to ensure he won’t get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s why he never heads into a remote location without bear spray or a weapon. He knows he’s just a visitor.
Archuleta is not one to hide favorite fishing spots. Sharing the wealth is not in his playbook. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his ‘faves.’
He’s fished lakes, rivers and oceans. But, if he had to choose one place where he’d be happy fishing any time, he said it would be in Colorado. “Colorado,” he said, “just has good rivers, good waters.”
Archuleta hopes his book will scratch an itch with other fishers, non-fishers, too. Maybe, he said, it’ll resurrect their own stories, stories he hopes they might even share with him.
“Fishing by Hook or Crook” can be purchased directly from him and through any other online seller. The reason? When you go through a faceless seller, “the only people making money on a book like mine, is them.”
The book which sells for $19.50 ( add $4 for shipping) is available at Archuleta3474@gmail.com. Incidentally, the ‘3474’ spells ‘fish’ on a cell phone dial pad. Each copy is also autographed.
