Fly Fishing & Frustration

[RabbiEE]

From my article this week:

Fly fishing is filled with times of frustration: getting rained out on the stream, losing a fly in a low hanging branch, being unable to thread your thin tippet line through the hole of a tiny little hook because your hands are too cold. One time I drove an hour from home to fish a new river. When I opened the trunk to put on my gear, I discovered that I had left my fly fishing rod at home. I had my vest and my net, but no rod. I sat by the car and called myself an idiot repeatedly.

Perhaps the ultimate frustration of fly fishing is not catching any fish. Sometimes no matter how advanced your casting skills, or how perfectly tied your flies, the fish simply will not rise. Trout are picky. And the task we set before ourselves is difficult: to attract a fish to bite a hook wrapped in thread and wool.

When I am on the river, and nothing is happening, no matter what fly I use or where I cast, I get frustrated. I try to rationalize the situation. I say to myself: ?I?ll just use this time to practice my casting.? That usually does not work for long. The sport is called fly fishing, not fly casting.

Over the years, I realized that frustration from not catching fish usually has to do with expectations. As my skills developed and my casting improved and I could catch many more fish in an afternoon, my expectations began to rise. Today, a few hours on the stream that do not yield a single bite might cause some serious frustration.

But expectations on the fly fishing stream are probably a waste of time. Not too long ago, someone asked me for the most important tip in fly fishing. I said to him: ?Be sure to look up from the river every once in a while, take a breath of air, hear the soft sound of the flowing water, and appreciate the beauty of all that surrounds you.? In fly fishing, when I expect to catch trout, I am guaranteed to be frustrated sometimes. When I expect to be out in nature, to soak in the solitude of the stream and to leave behind the stress of the world, I find fulfillment. An afternoon of fly fishing always provides me with solace and a sense of peace.

I may still get frustrated when not a single fish rises. When that happens, I will try to remember the time I went fly fishing and left my rod behind. After I discovered that I could not fish, I decided to go hiking along the stream. I saw deer and ducks. I got stuck in ?sinking mud,? almost becoming a permanent resident of the stream. I spent time outside, in nature, and I was able to look around, to relax and to appreciate the beauty of our world. And I learned that sometimes you do not need a rod and reel to have a great fly fishing trip.

[Lotech]

Eric,
I think you nailed it. The creator of the universe and everything in it has truly gifted us with the most beautiful places in creation to spend our time. Just a look around and a whiff of the cedar scented air in the early morning. Just the site of a slow moving stream with the occaissional circle of the rise appearing in a pool. The feel of your sore muscles loosening as you sit and watch the mist rise from and early morning river with a cup of campfire coffee in your hand. Wondering why nobody else has risen from their sleeping bag to see this beauty, and then, the cat nap till sunrise.
I'll fish with you any time you want.

[RabbiEE]

Joe

Thanks for your well-written and powerful comment!

Eric

Eric,
I think you nailed it. The creator of the universe and everything in it has truly gifted us with the most beautiful places in creation to spend our time. Just a look around and a whiff of the cedar scented air in the early morning. Just the site of a slow moving stream with the occaissional circle of the rise appearing in a pool. The feel of your sore muscles loosening as you sit and watch the mist rise from and early morning river with a cup of campfire coffee in your hand. Wondering why nobody else has risen from their sleeping bag to see this beauty, and then, the cat nap till sunrise.
I'll fish with you any time you want.

[Marco]

Hey Rabbi,
Nicely writ. I have experienced some of what you describe although not for the same reason ( forgetting my fly rod). To me , fly fishing is a total experience made up of individual and sometimes minute components. Many of these "components" could easily be enjoyed unattached to the others. Kind of like fishing the Snake River in Grand Teton or Yellowstone National Parks.


Mark

[ohiotuber]

My frustration is my (too often) lousy casting! Whether or not I'm catching is offset by my surroundings. Fly fishing is great that way...it's an experience that extends far beyond the catching....at least for me.
Mike

[Jed]

It is good to remember these things.

If fishing were only about fish then many of us would be finding other persuits. I think that these experiences are there to teach us humility and force us to see beyond what is myopically in front of us. I took a trip last week and the big thrill was not the large Brook trout I caught, but rather the small 8" Brookies that were native in a place as close to pristine as you could find.

What does the talmud have to say? Is fishing and swimming the same (reference your blog)? I must wonder how many of those great Rabbis ever got to spend an afternoon on the water. It would have done them good.

jed