- You are here:
- FAOL Home >>
- Articles >>
- Ladyfisher
 |
from Deanna Travis FlyAnglers Online Publisher & Owner |
FEEDBACK
“...the folks who discover large fish and give up on small ones weren't really fishing in the first place, methinks... “
“I try to live every moment of every day with nothing more on my agenda than to wring the best out of what is right there in front of me. This isn't quite so hard of a paradigm shift to achieve once you've been flattened and tenderized by 3+ years of severe neurological meltdown and a decade or so of severe chronic pain. But it still flies against all of the influences and pressures placed on "civilized" people. I'm always saddened when I run into folks who are still chasing that elusive "high"...some perceived goal...that is always just over the next ridge. I like the image of someone running through a rose garden to get to the marigolds on the other side.
I am very outcome oriented by nature and philosophy. But I have learned not to neglect the process. A good parallel exists in fly casting. Many basic fly casters do pretty well with their stroke fundamentals on grass and false casting and such. Put a target out there or take them fishing, and their skills deteriorate by about 50%...sometimes more. Their focus shifts away from controlling slack, smooth acceleration, well-defined stops, good timing, and a straight-line path of the rod tip to willing the fly to hit that target. And they subconsciously begin trying to "push" the fly to the target. This truly is like trying to push a cooked spaghetti noodle uphill. It's not going to yield much besides frustrated effort. Instead, if the angler remains focused on the process (the part they can control, by the way) instead of the result, the result will naturally follow. They will not have to work at it and they will achieve success.
I've had people ask me many times what my favorite quarry, type of fly fishing, or place to fish is. When I am completely honest (some folks don't want true honesty, but a short and polite answer) I have to say that I don't truly have a favorite fish, fishery, or fly fishing style. I have a grand time standing at a farm pond catching bluegill and small bass on a switch rod that I can cast all the way across using a single spey. I have fun using a Tenkara rod on a small stream in the backcountry. I have a blast fishing throwing big ole bass bugs to shallow largemouth. I love wading streams and walking banks hunting smallies and trout. And I thrill for all types of saltwater fly fishing from walking a beach for snook, or paddling the flats in a kayak or canoe casting to tailing redfish, to chasing tarpon in a flats boat. And I would hate to give up one for the other, or even to declare one superior to the others.
Fisheries are what they are. Some have big fish and some have smaller fish. Some have a lot of fish and some have a few. There are a lot of other features to a fishery as well. I approach each one for what it has to offer. And my goal is to experience it for what it is, not to compare it to something it is not. I love to fish a few trout streams where I rarely see anyone else and there really aren't that many fish. But what is there are wild trout...in an unusual place or now‑rare native habitat. I can fish these all day and catch one fish under 12" and have a fantastic time! I also fish places so over‑stocked with large trout that you can catch 50 trout over 15" in 3 hours or so. These places tend to be somewhat crowded. Socializing becomes a bit more important and I truly would wonder what was wrong with me if I only caught one fish in a whole day!
Fishing close to home is convenient and I can do it often. That is what makes it fantastic! Fishing trips to faraway places? Well, let's be serious: it's not usually that the fishing is so much better than any other good fishing locale. It's just the change of scenery, routine, and doing something "different" that makes it special. Experiencing something new to you is fun for most of us.
So I applaud you for writing this column this week. I meet far too many people in general who are always seeking fulfillment from something that lies just beyond the horizon of their lives. And this is most disturbing to me when I encounter it among anglers and hunters.”
“No matter where my last fling took me or how long I lingered there, it's always welcomed me home and I've been as glad to see it as it was to see me. After thirty‑odd years the thrill has never left. There's no place like home. And nothing has spoiled the feel of a nice gill tugging on a light rod. “
“I agree. Your observations/assessments are spot on. The "American Dream" probably does more to make us miserable/dissatisfied, then it does to make us content. When we get used to having it all, anything less becomes unacceptable.”
“Ever since Homo erectus walked out of Africa we have been searching. It is a survival mechanism that even if we were to no longer need it, it would take us a very long time to escape from the hold it has on us. Every day I see people who are hell bent on getting one more car ahead of everyone else. Where are we all going really! Unless you’re trying to catch the next space shuttle to some far flung planet you’re not going anywhere. But yet people drive like their life depends on them getting to the stop sign first. And what's scary is that they appear as if they will take you out if they have to. I'm not so sure that the human race doesn't have some kind of planned obsolescence built into its DNA! We do need to stop and smell the roses from time to time and also take the time to reflect on what is really important and more so, why it is important. OUCH, NOW MY BRAIN HURTS! Hope I haven't gone too far on a tangent here! LOL!!!”
“There is, of course, nothing wrong with searching ‑ so long as one learns to enjoy the quest! What I cannot help but pity is the happiness lost of all of those who, while spending a perfectly splendid day on a quiet little stream catching beautiful 12" trout, are wishing they could be somewhere else...somewhere with bigger fish, more spectacular scenery, etc.
And I really get tired of fishing with people on world-class fisheries who can speak of nothing all day other than to compare lists of who has fished more of the famous destinations advertised in magazines and on TV. They're just buzz kills. They usually don't understand why I am so quiet. They also end up thinking I am some sort of fly fishing wizard because I caught a lot more and bigger fish than they did even though it was my first time fishing there. It's not very often a matter of being more skilled. It's usually just that I'm living in the moment. They're using all sorts of measuring constructs to judge everything with: size and numbers of fish, whose gear cost more money, whose cost LESS money (this is also a common competition), who has what sponsors, who has fished the most famous destinations, who knows the most "celebrity anglers" (that's a funny phrase if ever there was one), etc. Frankly, fishing is not a competition for me...not against other people, against the natural environs, against some ethereal construct in my imagination, against something I saw in a movie, against law enforcement, or against the fish. I go to cooperate. And I go to find the magic in what each day has to offer. The only competition is with my own folly ‑ those things that could rob me of the happiness available to me there.”
These previous quoted comments are responses to my column,
BONEFISH AND CREDIT CARDS [OR LOVE THE ONES YOU’VE GOT] and are pretty self-explanatory. Which brings us to the point of why aren’t these folks writing columns of their own? Very good thoughts and much too valuable to be lost in time on the Bulletin Board. In case you have missed them, (or didn’t realize such a thing exists, these are from the Reader’s Voice section of our Bulletin Board. It is a place for our readers to comment on each of the articles in each issue of Fly Anglers OnLine.
See what you’ve been missing?