For over 20 years I’ve been surprised when I open the mailbox on a random day in October. Why? Because sometime in early autumn the next year’s Trout Unlimited calendar shows up. While hardly an informal holiday, it is a pleasant event to receiving mail  that doesn’t make an immediate trip to the recycling bin.

So, let it be known that I like receiving the official calendar of Trout Unlimited.

…but I’ve been less than enthusiastic about some of the photograph choices as of late. After all, it is Trout Unlimited we’re talking about. So why are over half of the pictures not trout?

I get it. Kids are cute. Excited anglers are exciting. But TU is primarily about, and I quote, “bring(ing) together  diverse interests to care for and recover rivers and streams so our children can experience the joy of wild and native trout and salmon.” So show me some trout and salmon. If you want this hanging at my desk, that is.

Okay. Let’s pause and recalibrate for a moment. I am not truly upset. There are countless matters that are significantly more important than this. But in the grand scheme of minutiae, the  TU calendar fish count has been something I’ve thought about more than once. I think about my friend Mike’s garage, where dozens of old TU calendars graced the walls. Fish and fabled rivers covered the area around his tying bench. I think about myself, staring at bull trout, greenback cutthroats, and western rainbows as a teenager. The dates on the bottom half were incidental. The salmonids were the eye candy I was there for.

Unsolicited, I’ve decided to weigh in on the editorial choices that have been made. So I’ve got a list, some data, and my opinions. Here you go:

1. Trout

2023 images:  6 (not including a duplicate of Ms. May on the cover)

And 6 is generous. There are a few obscured, artsy fish pics. But you could include some wild strains of cutthroat or some char in brilliant spawning colors. With a little bit of effort it wouldn’t be a challenge to create a trout-a-day calendar that made people smile with each page tear. Let’s get the quarry as the central theme.

Ideally? 9 images. There could be people in the shot. The fish could take up only a little bit of the frame. But keep the T in TU.

2. Landscapes

2023 images:  4

I love a good landscape shot. In fact, I’ve taken many of these when I’ve been less than successful on the water. Indeed, these are the  very places that need to be conserved if the fish I’m longing to see on the calendar pages are going to survive.

Ideally? 2-3 images. Again, get the sweeping vista or the dramatic aerial shot. Just throw a leaping fish in there and kill two birds with one stone.

3. People

2023 images:  4

Truth be told, there are people in every non-fish pic with one exception (flowers in the foreground?!?). A photo of someone else fishing has to be awfully special for me to want to stare at it for 30 days. I don’t think anyone is going to cancel their membership because the connection between fisher-folk and the mission of the organization isn’t being spelled out in 40-point font.

Ideally? 2-3 images. This is me compromising.

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Once more: I am not truly upset.  I know TU has many more and larger important fish to fry. I’m just a guy, standing at his mailbox, flipping through fourteen months of good pictures wanting great pictures.