In an effort to promote the art of fly fishing, I have dedicated this blog to those who are willing to share their passion for the sport and also articulate their thoughts on the economic, environmental and emotional status of fly fishing in general.
I learned to fly fish as a young boy in Japan with a bamboo fly rod. I always lived somewhere where I could fish but felt that fly fishing was a cold water sport. I felt rather inhibited by tight quarters and out-of-the-way places I have fished around the world and since the quarry was a warm-water species, felt bait casting or spin-casting was more appropriate.
As I grew older and more experienced with fishing, I found that the enjoyment of fly-fishing transcended the temperature of the water and the species and that it was "OK" to fly-fish for anything, anywhere, provided you had the skills, equipment and space to "fly" a line. My bamboo rod has given way to complex 45-ton modulus carbon, my reels are machined but to a completely different standard, and the terminal tackle has made advancements beyond anything I had imagined in the bait-casting environment.
I also found myself wading in warm azure waters seeking species that would have swamped my john boat in Mississippi. As delicate as a 5-inch Brooke Trout to a Bone or a Permit, I have learned that the 2-weight and the 8-weight have the same principles, just different presentations and different considerations for personal refreshment and gear/apparel. I used to wear cut-off jeans and a T-Shirt and there was a cooler always close while bait-casting. I also never bait-casted with snow on the ground and waded with thermal underwear doing so either!
Over the years I was able to overcome the differences in the gear (specifically pricing) and the philosophical differences and application of the artificial lures used in the sport. When I was bait fishing for large-mouth Bass for instance, a long-time friend and mentor always told me, "color of the worm doesn't matter, as long as it is purple!" Fly fishing presented other complexities in not only fly selection but presentation and a better than a rudimentary understanding of entomology.
I also recognized a drastic shift in the geography when I fly fished. I was in rather out of the way places, the streams were gin clear, and the license and stamps to fish there were far more expensive than I was ever used to paying while bait-casting. Emotionally, I was happy to fish either way but somehow, I felt more secure and confident with a fly-rod than I ever did with a bait casting rig.
So, I think that Karl Pearson would have been proud of me to understand correlations and multiple-regression to the level I associated with fly fishing. I associated the three "Es" to my fishing experiences and understood the spectrum of fishing better. Economically, I could fish cheaper as a bait-caster. Fly Fishing gear is far more expensive for a basic and more experienced gear set-up than bait-casting. Environmentally, I could fish almost anywhere as a bait-caster. Meaning, the water didn't have to be clear and flowing in a mountain stream or be the clear wide flats of salt-water fishing. Emotionally, I was more excited about the location and the species as a fly fisher than I was a bait-caster. Not that catching slab bream or bass on a fly rod is not as exciting and enjoyable as catching a beautiful brown or a rainbow form a remote mountain stream. I can catch fish right off the dock of my lake home in Georgia with a fly rod and do it all the time. However, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy driving up to the mountains and getting the fresh air, hiking into a remote stream and catching some beautiful trout either. I just know that a jet ski is not going to get caught in my #12 Mr. Rapidan on the mountain stream like it has in my back yard!
I am happy with my fishing arrangements. I am happy I can choose between the modes of fishing. I do realize that fly fishing presents different hurdles economically, environmentally and emotionally and I accept all those challenges. I prefer to fly fish if given the opportunity to choose. I also chose to bow-hunt over hunting with a rifle. Like bow-hunting, fly fishing takes a little more skill and finesse to get your quarry. I liked the challenge and also accepted the failures far better fly fishing than I did bait-casting. I have thrown everything in my fly box to a Brooke trout that never took and I have caught the same bass over and over again with a plastic worm, a floating plug or a spinner bait in a 30-minute time frame.
I remember the first time I fly fished for Peacock Bass in Panama, the locals thought I was crazy rocking back and forth in the boat with line going in every direction. But, when the sun set each night, I had more fish than anyone and they always marveled at the mode that made me successful on those trips. I even had some locals mock my movements for years as they tried to replicate my casting of the fly, all the while laughing and appreciating the art of fly fishing.
I have fly fished in North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. I am planning a trip to Australia and if there is anything in Antarctica that will take a fly, I will go there just to say I have fly-fished on every continent! My enthusiasm for fly fishing is well founded. How about you?
No comments:
Post a Comment