I know the fishing and the trico hatch is glorious when my clients are standing in the river and looking around in awe at all the bugs shimmering in the air and all the fish rising all over the water. And they just stand there for a moment. Mesmerized. Perhaps, several minutes.
Sometimes then something wonderful happens as we are watching this
glorious natural phenomenon. It seems that the fly
fishers do not care as much to actually catch the fish. They don’t care about counting fish landed. Oh, don’t
get me wrong, depending on the person, most folks want to catch some fish. But after
a while, what seems most important is to just be a part of it all and do more watching. And while we are looking around of course we
are often still trying to drift our
little imitations among the naturals, using our best technique and tricks, to get a rise out of a trout. We might hook a fish, let it run and then let it shake the hook free. This process of making the presentation, watching the fish rise to the fly, seems to offer enough
satisfaction.
I often tell my clients that for me, 99% of it is to simply
make a nice cast with one of my own hand tied flies, get a great drift, watch the fish rise and then momentarily hook the fish. I often
ask, “Do we really need to land the fish”?
And the answer I always have inside me is, “Not during such a glorious hatch and rise of fish. It is enough to be part of it all and to have fooled a fish".
These two young boys below who were first time fly fishers were lucky enough to land fish but at the same time did not seem to care about the ones that got away. It was enough. They were a part of it all.
These two young boys below who were first time fly fishers were lucky enough to land fish but at the same time did not seem to care about the ones that got away. It was enough. They were a part of it all.
Anthony - Thank you so much for your great guidance and remarks about the boys. You did a fabulous job with the boys and I am so very grateful we had the opportunity to meet you. My husband and I enjoyed watching the boys listen and learn! They have even suggested that fly fishing poles and waders would be great Christmas gifts for them this holiday season. We are Catholic Christians and I am thankful that the Lord led us to you! I will encourage Matthew to check out your blog too. Thank you for your words about encouragement about Matthew. He has had his share of life struggles and I do appreciate that you complimented him about skills and encouraged him to continue to fish. Since the Lord chose fishermen to lead generations to Him, I am pleased that you have shared the spiritual side of the art. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Knoff, Wichita, KS August 2013
You are quite welcome! Your own spirituality and faith is evident in you and your family. Thank you for taking a moment to share your thoughts with me. In some of my early posts on this blog I briefly mention how fly fishing as a kid helped me get through some of my own struggles. It still does even now, as an adult. In school I often tell young kids..."As a counselor, Do you know what is my number one way to get unstressed"? I have the kids guess and then I love to tell them that it is to simply tie my own flies and stand in a river fishing. :)
ReplyDelete