Reflections on Fly Fishing

Artwork From "A River Runs Through It"
A film by Robert Redford
adapted from a book by  Norman Maclean 

I love to fish.  It is just that I am a horrible fisherman.  Well, let me clarify that.  I am a horrible fly fisherman. 

A few years ago my wife, Dre’, presented me with a nice fly rod and for a birthday gift.  She knew that I had dreamed for years of learning to fly fish.  I read books on it, I watched videos, I went to clinics and I talked with friends and acquaintances about the art of fly fishing.  I learned to tie all of the knots I purchased a beautiful selection of flies, a creel, a wooden net even an nifty little floating fly case from Orvis to hold and protect my flies.  I practiced casting in my front yard for months before I ever got my line wet for the first time.  I got to where I could place a fly in a glass of water 40 yards away. (That may be a slight exaggeration.) Once I felt I was ready I went to a lake not many miles from my home and fished.  Needless to say I left a lot of fish in that lake that day.  I fished for hours and I was less than productive but, I completely enjoyed my day of fishing.

It was at that point that I figured out that fly fishing, to me at least, is more about “fishing” than about catching.  I fell in love with ritual of fly fishing.  Since then I have gone fly fishing many times.  I don’t get to go as often as I would like but each time I go I am rewarded by the act of fishing.  The quietness of the stream or lake, the ritual of the preparation and the rhythmic casting of flies upon the water.  Seldom do I actually catch fish but, often I find a peace and relaxation that many people never experience.  For a while it is just me and nature.  There are no pressures, no deadlines and above all no phones ringing for me to answer.  Fly fishing brings me closer to my creator.  Standing there in the midst of his great creation I become as much a part of the stream I am in as the rocks that have been there for millennia.  I am a part of nature; one of God’s creations no more, no less than what I was meant to be.  I am a fly fisherman.

Until next time…John