Deeper Reflection On Dream Stream Morning

I wonder if some-thing unique happens, not only within our selves, but also in others and even the entire creation, perhaps even within the fish, when we begin to live according to the Beatitudes, as spoken by Jesus. Maybe “some-thing” new begins to happen, when we consider walking in the kingdom  of God,  starting with our own hunger and thirst for something deeper than the fish we seek.

When I took my daughter fly-fishing on the Dream Stream, I tried to do some “heart preparation” for our time together. It was not much but it was something. I simply made a choice not to be uptight and frantic. My daughter and I even talked about how we were not really going fishing but rather we were just going for a nice walk along the river. We might cast if we saw some fish but the attitude was quite laissez-faire.  With the Aspen golden yellow, it was far too beautiful of a day for stressful rushing around  fretting and worried about catching fish. I thought of some poetic lines:

“Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather in barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them…”

“Which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?”

We walked, letting go of our need to fish and it was then that we found a good run of water. The bugs started to hatch and the fish responded taking tiny Tricos off the surface. We also responded and started throwing our dry flies in the drift lines leading into gulping mouths. I did not worry much about helping my daughter. I had taught her enough 20 years ago.  I decided I was just going to let her fish and figure it out on her own. And, even that letting go felt right.  

Jesus says, “First seek his Kingdom,” and the other things we worry about (in this case, catching fish) “shall be added."  Of course, we were trying our best to offer our flies as naturally as possible to the hefty Rainbows and Browns.  The fish were being ultra selective as they often are on the Dream Stream.

When my daughter decided to sit on the rocks in the sun and rest, I did not try to convince her to keep fishing. I just let her be.  I finally took a few fish.  She fell asleep for a little while and then she got up and said, “Ok, I want to fish now.”  She then made about 10 casts and hooked 4-5 good fish. The fish were large and catapulted out of the water as she quietly giggled each time saying, “I got another one.” 

Fly fishers downstream heard the commotion came up and inquired as to what she was using. One man was particularly gracious to us, complimentary and asked for some tips. I tried my best to offer some help,  but, how was I to explain to this kind soul the way to place a fly in a fishes mouth when I failed to understand myself?

I do not share this little story of a Father daughter outing as any kind of formula on how to catch fish nor on how to live the spiritual life. I am also not saying that all we need to do in life, or in fishing, is to have faith.  The true mysteries of life cannot be reduced to such formulas. Nor can concrete science explain the best things in life. I doubt this type of experience will ever be repeated in my own life, or my daughters, in the same exact manner.

However, it is something to ponder. Can our small choices to, “First, seek His Kingdom,” and the slight changes we might make in our hearts,  change the tapestry of life? As we make a choice to seek, and whatever that might mean for each person, perhaps the entire creation responds in a different way. Perhaps even the fish respond to us differently.These are lofty thoughts and yet, I personally believe, worthy of our consideration.

Interesting that after landing her fifth large fish my daughter humbly said to me, “Dad, I feel I am casting ok and getting the fly where the fish are but I am not this good.”  She added, “It almost feels too easy.” We talked about that for a few minutes on the river without any conclusions. 

If a small window was opened up for us to enter what we might call the “kingdom of God,”  I am quite certain it will all too soon be sealed close again the very next time I fish.  The fish on the Dream Stream are most often difficult to entice and show little mercy toward us who pursue them so whole-heartedly. We can always hope that we might have our hearts in the right place. However, I know myself and chances are I will slip back into frantic striving trying to "force feed" trout. 

I am still not sure exactly what happened on this beautiful, somewhat mystical morning on the Dream Stream. I remain largely ignorant.  I am however, quite convinced,  that on this crisp, Fall morning walking the Dream Stream, “some-thing” happened in which, for a brief window of time we entered a place beyond and yet within our midst, even as the last tricos drifted down the currents and the fish stopped feeding.

Dream Stream Fly Fishing: Father Daughter Contemplation

My daughter Chloe and I went fishing this morning to the dream stream section of the South Platte River. Chloe took a little break and sat on the rocks and actually took a little nap in the sun. She then got up and said, "Ok, I want to fish now." She hooked 5 large fish on 10 casts including this beautiful Brown. We had a wonderful discussion on an age old question: What causes a big fish to take a fly? The usual variables were considered such as: skill, intuition, past experience, ability to problem solve etc. We also considered "luck" and "fate," "things lining up," although these are quite mysterious and abstract. In the end we did conclude that while prior experience, preparation, skill and luck, etc, all can come into play when we hook a fish, yet, there seems to be "some-thing" else. This "some-thing" else is what I am trying to write about in my book.

Today at the Dream Stream...Trico hatch was thick with large trout gulping along the banks. The usual tiny dry flies caught fish as well as a standard nymphing rig witth black and gray RS2s.

Deckers Fly Fishing Report: Trying to Finish a Book

Deckers is fishing well. No secret fly. We are catching most of our fish on small RS2's size 26. Gray and black. Strange how that same old fly keeps working if we present it correctly (or, sometimes, not?).

Sometimes the fish just hit it when we have not presented it correctly. As I told my clients today, there seems to be "Some-thing" else that determines when and who catches fish and who does not. It is a bit mysterious. I am not making any foolish, direct cause and effect, conclusions. I am just saying that sometimes, there seems to be "some-thing" else. At times things line up. Some times they do not.

These are, in part, some of the mysteries in fly fishing that I am pondering in my book. As my clients and I parted today they said, "Anthony, finish the book. Even if it does not sell finish it, for your self."

I think that is good advise. The best advise in fact. I never really started this writing project  for any other reason other than to describe my own experience and to more deeply understand life for myself. Of course I can try to share what I learn with others but there are fine lines here. If I write to be read, or to be understood, or if I write to sell; well, then, chances are I would be prone to lie, to please and distort things. I don't want to do that.

"May what I have to say flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children. Then in these swelling and ebbing currents, these deepening tides moving out, returning, I will sing you as no one ever has." (Rilke)

Tricos Persist on the South Platte River into MId-September

It is always difficult to know how long the Tricos will continue to hatch on the South Platte but as of 9/13 the little bugs are thick. Fish can be found gulping the spinners up and down the canyons and meadows of the South Platte. People often ask me what is "The" fly, yet it is best to use an assortment of "tiny little flies" and switch them out as the fish seem to start ignoring certain patterns. My clients seem to be doing best with "anything that floats" in the size 24 range. But we are also doing well with "drowned" tricos below the surface. It is hard to beat a size 24 sparkle wing RS2 in gray or black and a spent-wing trico spinner in black and white. Fish continue to feed on the remnants of the hatch well into the afternoon. The small bugs are imprinted on the trouts brain, so they respond to a well placed fly that resembles the trico most of the day. 

Deckers Fly Fishing: Labor Day

Over the years I have noticed that many local fly fishers stay away from the South Platte at Deckers on Labor Day. They think it will be too crowded. This reaction sometimes leaves some of the best runs open. Lots of people are about but many are just camping, barbecuing and tubing and recreating rather than "pounding" the river with their fly rods

.

Today reminded me of the Deckers of old. Lots of nice rainbows and browns were eager to take a well drifted nymph. Tricos were in the air and some areas had rising fish.  However, nymphing rigs were the most productive technique. And as was also true 20-30 years ago, my friends and I continue to contemplate the the question of what makes fly fishing a river so meaningful and beautiful. The fish seem to hit the same "old flies" but I still cannot figure out and rap my mind around exactly what the "some-thing" is we often encounter while fly fishing.  Perhaps another 2-3 decades from now I will be closer.