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Interview with Johnny Molloy (outdoor writer)
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Johnny and I have communicated via email many times. Johnny has been very helpful in answering my questions regarding his outdoor experiences. Johnny also allowed me to contribute a couple of articles to his newsletter (which is free). In the following interview Johnny gives readers and inside look at his life.
Johnny I must admit I am a little jealous of your wide array of outdoor experiences. To my understanding you have currently written 32 books and have had to many published articles to mention. How many more books can we expect? Current projects?
When I started out in know how many books I would write, but after I began devoting my entire career to writing outdoor guidebooks it became evident I could do three or so a year, in addition to magazine articles and websites content. After a while I began mentioning to people that I would write 50 books. And it may happen … I have fuor books coming out this year: Paddling Georgia, Best Easy Day Hikes Tampa Bay, Hiking Mississippi and Best Easy Day Hikes Greensboro. I am currently working on a book called 50 Hikes in Alabama, am concluding Paddling Tennessee, and am working on the fourth edition of 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Nashville.
Your book Backcountry Fishing is now available. Could you give us a brief outline of the book topics?
This is a great resource for those people who like head to the back of beyond for their angling experiences. I’ve been backcountry fishing for over 25 years and really put everything I had learned into this book. It covers backcountry fishing, whether day tripping in a canoe, day hiking along a remote river, going for a multi-day excursion in Quetico Provincial Park of Ontario or a weeklong backpack fish fest in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico. Whether fly fishing, spin fishing, or saltwater fishing, with this book in hand you will be prepared not only for how to catch fish in the outback but how to be best prepared for backcountry fishing excursions.
Subjects covered include but are not limited to: Getting in the Backcountry, Weight and Space, The Fish, Backcountry Fishing Tackle, Fishing Hardware, Flies/lures, Casting, Fishing from a canoe and kayak, Fishing Techniques, Backcountry Fishing Camping Gear and Cooking; Backcountry Fishing Safety, Where to Go Backcountry Fishing, Planning Your Backcountry Fishing Trip, Suggested Destinations State By State, and finally with comprehensive checklists for every type of backcountry fishing.
Do you have a favorite camping season?
Summer without a doubt. The days are longer, the weather is warmer, you can fish swim canoe, and backpack. More areas of the country are conducive for exploration then. If it’s too hot, head for the mountains or for the rivers. Since I work your round I have plenty of time to freeze my ass off.
Favorite camping area?
The Southern Appalachian Mountains are my favorite. Even if they were I wouldn’t tell you otherwise. It’s where I cut my teeth, where I learned outdoor skills and is my backyard. It’s the best. However, I am glad we are blessed in this country with so many different environments in which to explore. I am so glad the Rockies are different from the Appalachians which are different from Florida which is different from the deserts of the Southwest which is different from the North Woods of Minnesota. All the different ecosystems add variety to our experiences. As I like to say, “Here ain’t there and there ain’t here and aren’t we glad about that?”
Specific exercise regimen other than outdoor exploration?
I like to bicycle, paddle a canoe and stretch. My daily exercise when I’m at home includes a 2.5 mile loop hike near my house.
Basic advice for beginning multi-day hikers?
Go on your first long trip with somebody who’s done it before. Alter your gear, food and hiking habits to meet the alterations of the initial perceptions you may have had about long-distance hiking. Enjoy the highs but prepared to deal with inevitable lows
Outdoor survival seems to be a relatively popular topic. Have you ever considered writing a book on that topic?
Outdoor survival is a huge topic and it surprises me because so few people actually go out and do anything of the sort and less than a few actually have to utilize the information. I think it is a fascination with the possibility of having to survive along with the television shows about it that keep it popular. I have never had the opportunity to write a book about it.
Favorite camping food?
Well, I love campfire cookery so anything that has to do with cooking over a fire I love it. I do not bring a stove with me backpacking anymore and usually don’t use one when canoe camping either. So in the morning up all the water over the fire and make coffee then go from there. As far as specific foods I love to cook hamburgers and brats over the fire.
Favorite tinder?
It depends on where you’re at. For example, in the southern Appalachians I may look for dead Hemlock twigs. In the high country I may look for the bark of a yellow birch. In Florida I will use dry pine needles and cones, or better yet fatwood. But in northern Minnesota I will look for paper birch. I will look for dried seagrass on the Everglades beaches. You got to be adaptable to the local flora
Could you explain some key difference between canoeing and kayaking (with sea kayak)?
Canoeing and sea kayaking are both great ways to travel on water and they each have their advantages. Canoes can carry big loads but kayaks are better in big water, i.e., the ocean. Sea kayaks can travel farther and faster, however canoes can handle rapids better, and canoes can be portaged more easily. Canoes are also easier to get into an out of. I have camped out of both of them for 20 plus days. My preference is a canoe.
What is your favorite book you have written?
My favorite book is the one I just finished. Ha ha. It always feels good to finish a book. I am very proud of A Paddler’s Guide to Everglades National Park, as it was my first paddling guidebook. The second edition of it is coming out this fall.
Your career as an outdoor writer is an unusual one. How did you get started in such an interesting line of work?
I was lucky enough to attend the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, which is next door to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A buddy from college was into backpacking and he took me one time, then I was hooked. After graduating from UT, I became a backpacking bum, sort of like a ski bum. After spending over 400 nights backpacking in the Smokies another friend suggested I write a book about my outdoor adventures in the park. So I sat down with a yellow pad and pen and wrote the book, without a contract or anything. We then peddled it around and got the University of Tennessee Press interested. While shopping the book around I became acquainted with Menasha Ridge Press. They weren’t interested in a narrative adventure story book about the Smokies, but they were interested in a hiking guide to the park. I wrote that book and did such a good job they committed to me writing other books. At the time I was bartending on the weekends, and slowly evolved from bartender that wrote guidebooks to outdoor writer who bartended on the side to full-time outdoor writer…
Visity Johnny Molloy's site at http://johnnymolloy.com/
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