IS IT IMPORTANT? - Neil - May 21, 2012

IS IT IMPORTANT?


In one way or another I have been involved in the sport of angling for over 60 years. Forty-seven of those years have been spent fly fishing. While this is not as long as some, during those years I have covered the gamut of fresh water fly fishing from bluegills to salmon. In the course of time I have spent time working in a world famous fly shop, been a Montana river fly fishing guide, taught fly tying, fly casting and aquatic entomology classes. Along the way I served as a board member and state council chairman for Trout Unlimited, been a publisher, editor, and author for a couple fly fishing rags. Now approaching my three score and ten I find myself increasingly reflective, increasingly questioning the relevance of the sport that has consumed most of my leisure time for several decades.

Neil:

You have been blessed with a good full life, doing things that you wished to do. Fly Fishing is a way of separating the hustle and bustle of life, from the time to leave life's problems and enjoy the beauty of the countryside and the streams to restore ourselves by being a witness to the beauty of what God has made for us to enjoy. ~Parnelli

Very well said.

Randy

It is of the utmost importance if it has made you and yours smile as a result. Not everything in life produces something tangible, or readily identified as beneficial and/or producutive. But that in no way diminishes it's worth. Sometimes the worth is only identified by what you carry away within you.

Great thoughts. Thanks kindly and have a smooth day. "The journey is the reward." Michael J.

Is there really a question there, or just giving your self a pat on the back?
Why wouldn't a person spend as much time as they can with the fun of fishing.
I'm only 76 years and counting and will go anywhere to fish, and I started at around 10 or 12 years old.

I have to agree with krauseb. I didn't fish for forty years and only started fly fishing in my late fifties. Cancer (survivor) at 59 brought home the relevance of fly fishing. I went to a pond and caught a dozen bluegills the day I was diagnosed. Most of us will not be famous or rich. We will not solve the world’s problems. The relevance of our existence is in the joy we share with our family and friends and that is very important.

I could trade the time I spent fishing for a task that would provide me with money of which the government would take a portion and give part of that to someone who did nothing to deserve it and who does not greatly value it. So rather than become a slave for a short period of time to someone I do not know or care to know I will take my time, which I now know is probably more than 2/3rds used up and go fishing. I will return a more pleasant person, enjoy the sounds around me and the scenes and be glad to out in fresh air. I will exercise my body and my mind a little, neither too strenously and be glad God made bream and bass and trout and the others I do not necessarily pursue.

Your honor, I reject your premise and think fishing is quite important.

Uncle Jesse, et al

I think you need to reread my article, especially the last paragraph. And Krauseb, I'm not trying to 'pat myself on the back' and I do beleive that it is a valid question.

"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates said that at his trial for heresy. He was on trial for encouraging his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time and think for themselves.
While Socartes' view may have been extreme, I do believe that examing what we do and why we do it is a valid and important question.

If only we all could be like a P-Diddy.