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Well, well, well. Here we are, it's time to 'go get
'em,' and you're not ready. The weather is starting
to settle, the pages of the old calendar on the wall
finally say it's here. You are going fishing,
rather, make that 'fly fishing.' And this will
be your first year.
Oh boy. Remember when you decided to give fly
fishing a shot? "Hey, how hard can it be? Tie
a bit of fluff on instead of bait and slide 'er
downstream." You thought you would give yourself
a head start, you wandered into that fly shop,
ambled about and nonchalantly began thumbing
through, 'Fly Fishing for real beginners.'
Figured you could steal a few ideas right there
in the shop. Problem was, you had no idea what
they were talking about. You bought the book.
And three more over the winter, attended five
local meetings, one auction, two pot-lucks and
a spring tune-up by one of the area fly shops.
And... man, could that guy cast! Oh well, here
you are now. All by yourself. Getting your gear
in a pile. Making sure you have everything you
need. Your wife thinks you are a nut case for
sure. That mumbling about nymphs in your sleep
was not a real high point either.
You will hit the water with more than you need
and without some things you need. At the end of
the day you will know the answer to both of those.
You will learn a lot about fly fishing from a
great teacher (teaching yourself is always the
best way). Things about knots, leaders, tippets,
flies, fly lines, fly rods, casting, mending,
playing a fish, landing a fish, releasing a
fish, losing a fish, and probably getting some
part of you wet that was not intentional.
You will do many things right and a few wrong.
Win a few and lose a couple. You will have found
a way to step off this old whirling globe we are
stuck on and let 'er take a couple of spins
without you aboard. Surprise, she can get along
just swell without you, and you survived in fine
shape. A feeling of exhale seems to hit sometime
late on Friday afternoons when we are on our way.
Our sky seems bigger, wider, freer. These are good
things, we should do them often.
After a couple of days of fishing you will
decide that you probably need a few little
fly fishing things, at least enough that you
really should stop into that fly shop again.
And oh yes, be sure to check your fly-fishing
web sites too. Heck, you don't want to miss
anything, right?
First year, brand new, newby, neo-phyte? You
are a seasoned vet now. Been there, done that.
You did just fine. Congratulations, you are
now a fly fisherman. No better nor any worse
than any of the rest of them.
"Let me tell you about the one I was casting to.
He was just up ..." ~ JC
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