Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/652998
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 4 2 M ark Susinno is a translator of underwater moments, the kind that for some only make sense within the dreamy confines of individual imaginations. He is a fanatical fisherman and an equally passionate artist who understands how difficult it is to describe those "you-had- to-be-there" jaunts on the ocean, or wading into a stream where the pools before you are the most beautiful things you've ever seen. Here he is now explaining the inspiration behind a very sweet new painting titled Worm Bar Tarpon. The work rises from his An ocean may divide them, but American painter Mark Susinno and Scottish artist Sam MacDonald captivate us with their inspiring reverence for fish. Todd Wilkinson rt & Etc. l L expectation that arrives with a shifting wind, intermittent pops of fish lips kissing the surface grew into full-on ripple eruptions as if caused by a pounding hailstorm. "Bob's memory proved to be perfect 'cause we found ourselves at the epicenter of a tarpon feeding frenzy more reminiscent of a bluefish and striped bass blitz," Susinno says with a lilt of satisfaction, reliving the sight of Megalops atlanticus swarms around their boat. "I thought to myself, Could these be the same species of fish that normally flee in panic if your fly lands too close? The three of us cast flies simultaneously as the tarpon-slurped worms off the surface all easel as he muses about a magical evening of tarpon fishing enjoyed with a pair of buddies named Bob Sherman and Mike McLean. The threesome, Susinno says, was towing Bob's boat from Islamorada down to Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys because they had heard reports of worms hatching there the previous night. Their hopes were pinned on the prospect of an encore performance. "Bob hadn't fished there since he and renowned Keys guide Nat Ragland had hit the hatch just right some twenty-five years prior," Susinno explains, noting that the mere possibility Bob might be telling the truth got them excited. "So we anchored up where he thought he and Nat had set up, and we waited, taking turns napping and standing watch." Gradually, in the quiet of that starlit night, they were joined by other boats drifting in and expanding the stake-out. Then, like the S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 4 2 cotland-born Sam MacDonald is known for his ambitious, head-turning designs. In Atlantic Salmon, he applied hand-beaten pewter and gold leaf to fashion the fish. S