THE SECRET
We all are interested in being privy to a secret. There seems to be something within our psyche that draws us to the idea that somewhere there is a secret formula that, if understood, will bring consistent success to the person that possesses the knowledge. It’s that desire that keeps us buying books, searching Internet sites, joining clubs, hiring guides, subscribing to magazines, and all the other activities that we engage in attempting to gain information. Somewhere, somehow we think that we can find the ultimate answer, the secret that gives that small percentage of men/women the edge, the key that separates the experts from the rest of us, that key that will give us the edge over our fellow anglers. Well, read on because I will tell you a secret that will change your knowledge of fly-fishing forever.
Perhaps, I thought, the answer was to be found in knowledge. To that end I committed myself to accumulate the wisdom of the ages. Certainly somewhere among the voluminous tomes of angling literature the ancients had written down the information that I desired. My bookshelves soon were groaning under the weight of the numerous volumes that I hoped would unlock ‘The Secret.’ Regrettably, the more that I read the more I became convinced that the collected wisdom of the ages did not reveal the answer to the secret.
Since knowledge alone was not the source of my answer I reasoned that experimentation was the next logical step to the solution of my problem. Equipped with the accumulated knowledge of the ages I embarked on the pursuit of ‘The Secret’ Soon my fly boxes were bulging with a cornucopia of flies of every description, and my tackle closet was bulging with rods, reels and fly-fishing tackle. Hours were spent honing casting skills, perfecting my presentation, and refining my tackle. I filled journals with notes recording everything from water and air temperatures to the convolutions of the barometer. Unfortunately, I found I was not closer to discovering ‘The Secret’ than I was when I began.
Back in my early days of serious fly-fishing I was convinced that somewhere there was a secret formula that, if discovered, would solve the question of selectivity, a fly that I could tie that would perfectly match any angling situation, and the Holy Grail that once found would provide the final piece of the angling puzzle. Alas, I fear that it does not exist, and if it did I would not want to find it.
While I have given up the pursuit for the ultimate fly, the perfect rod, the definitive bit of knowledge that would provide that one last piece of the puzzle and complete the picture I have discovered that it is possible to achieve enlightenment. However; I did discover, tucked away in the writings of the masters, bandied about around campfires, drifting on the wind, and whispered through the trees ‘The Secret’ of being the eminently successful angler.
‘The Secret’ is really no secret at all. You don’t need to look for it in books; you can achieve it without a degree, you can have it while fishing with an inexpensive rod, while you are throwing tailing loops, and at the end of the day when all you have caught are the streamside trees. ‘The Secret’ is right there for everyone to grasp.
It comes with the realization that fly-fishing is just a sport, a recreational pursuit that is intended, in the final summation, to be a means of escaping, if only for a little while, whatever unpleasant realities life has brought you way. It is a sport that takes you to beautiful places and allows you to see and experience adventures that others, that are not so blessed, will never see or experience. Whether on a trout stream in the Rocky Mountains, a secluded pond casting for bluegills, the salt flats stalking bonefish and permit, or carp fishing in a backwater slough there are beauties and wonders that only your eyes are privileged to see.
It comes with the realization that, at the end of the day, all that matters is that you have enjoyed the experience. The contest, if any, was between you and your quarry and it matters little how big they were, or if they were caught on a two thousand dollar bamboo fly rod or a rod bought at the local discount store. It also matters little how many you caught to anyone except yourself. Tomorrow will not be altered in any appreciable way by the fact that you caught a record fish, and the fact that you did it with a fly rod neither makes you superior too or better than an angler that caught the same sized fish on a worm!
You will have found ‘The Secret’ when you come to the realization that being a successful person involves an inner contentment, a settled acceptance that fly-fishing is but a part of your life experience. It comes with the realization that the place where you fish, the fish that you pursue, the people that you meet, and even the equipment that you use were never intended to be a means in themselves, but a collective part of the whole.
What then is ‘The Secret?’ In a word, contentment in being yourself.