I miss you Yellowstone. I truly do.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Evolution of a Fly Fisher
I once heard it said that the typical evolution of a fly fisherman happens in phases. The first phase applies to beginners who want only to catch a fish. The second is that the same fisherman now wants to catch many fish. The final phase is that the fisherman now wants to catch only large fish. I believe this is a fairly accurate description, but is incomplete. I think it should be pointed out that the evolution I’m talking about right now applies only to the desires of the fisherman; it says nothing about skill. Certainly, there is a path of evolution that applies to a fisherman’s skills, and I will discuss that as well, but let's first look at the question of desire.
Like so many other fisherman, I've made my own progress through these phases. For me it has been a matter of years to get to a point where I can say that I feel like I've gone past the desires of the third phase and now I'm in a different place. I believe it has taken so long in my case because I live in the east - in the mid-atlantic region of the country and the fishing if often pretty difficult. Based on my experiences fishing 'out west', I can say that we have neither the numbers nor quality of fish found in places like Colorado or Wyoming, for example. So it's taken me longer to move from one phase to another because sometimes, catching one fish is all that can reasonably be hoped for.
As I said however, I have moved from wanting to catch one, to wanting to catch many, to wanting to catch only big fish. Now I am in a place where I want to get the most out of the experience. What does that mean? There have been times when I've gone out and spent the majority of my time working on one difficult fish. Not necessarily a big fish, but because of where it's holding or what it’s feeding on, it presented a great challenge to me in solving the puzzle. This notion of being a problem solver has really taken me back my roots as a fly fisherman. This is the essence of what we do. For me it's never really been about numbers or size, although I would never say that numbers and size don’t matter. Who catches a lot of fish or a big fish and says that it wasn't a great time?? No one I know, surely. But what it comes down to for me is that solving the puzzle, figuring 'it' out or deciphering the code is truly what gives me the most satisfaction. When you consider how many things have to come together and align in order to catch that fish...it's really an amazing thing. Sure, sometimes it seems like they'll take any fly no matter how or where you put it, but that is the exception rather than the rule.
I'm just grateful whenever I get to spend any time on the water. I'm grateful to catch one fish. My hands still shake when I release a big fish. What I'm saying is that I still have the passion for it and to me, after these few years that I've been doing this, I think that's the most that I can ask for. And after going through the process of evolution, I believe we all end up in the same place; that is, we just settle into it for the long haul and feed our passion.
Like so many other fisherman, I've made my own progress through these phases. For me it has been a matter of years to get to a point where I can say that I feel like I've gone past the desires of the third phase and now I'm in a different place. I believe it has taken so long in my case because I live in the east - in the mid-atlantic region of the country and the fishing if often pretty difficult. Based on my experiences fishing 'out west', I can say that we have neither the numbers nor quality of fish found in places like Colorado or Wyoming, for example. So it's taken me longer to move from one phase to another because sometimes, catching one fish is all that can reasonably be hoped for.
As I said however, I have moved from wanting to catch one, to wanting to catch many, to wanting to catch only big fish. Now I am in a place where I want to get the most out of the experience. What does that mean? There have been times when I've gone out and spent the majority of my time working on one difficult fish. Not necessarily a big fish, but because of where it's holding or what it’s feeding on, it presented a great challenge to me in solving the puzzle. This notion of being a problem solver has really taken me back my roots as a fly fisherman. This is the essence of what we do. For me it's never really been about numbers or size, although I would never say that numbers and size don’t matter. Who catches a lot of fish or a big fish and says that it wasn't a great time?? No one I know, surely. But what it comes down to for me is that solving the puzzle, figuring 'it' out or deciphering the code is truly what gives me the most satisfaction. When you consider how many things have to come together and align in order to catch that fish...it's really an amazing thing. Sure, sometimes it seems like they'll take any fly no matter how or where you put it, but that is the exception rather than the rule.
I'm just grateful whenever I get to spend any time on the water. I'm grateful to catch one fish. My hands still shake when I release a big fish. What I'm saying is that I still have the passion for it and to me, after these few years that I've been doing this, I think that's the most that I can ask for. And after going through the process of evolution, I believe we all end up in the same place; that is, we just settle into it for the long haul and feed our passion.
Monday, April 12, 2010
2010
I've done a terrible job of being a fly fishing blogger so far! But it's time for me to do this right, so I'm going to make a great effort to do a better job of this. The only thing I need next is a few readers. Right now I think I have zero, so this equates to me talking to myself over the Internet.
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