My sport just doesn't have the pizzazz that some others exhibit.
There are usually no fireworks displays going off when I approach
the truck after a hard day on the stream. I seldom have two or three
network sports casters inquire what the winning fly of the day was
or whether my defeat at the "hands (or should I say fins) of my
opponent(s) would mark me for life. I have no stream side "dog pound"
with their painted bodies, funny masks and signs. I would really
like to have the Dallas Cowboy's cheerleaders encouraging me
from the side lines, but I would settle for a "nice fish" from a
nameless passing angler.
I need a fluorescent red shirt with Gatti Rods, Sage Rods and
Cortland lines emblazoned across the back in letters large enough
to be read from the "G" seats, and separate shirts labeled with stuff
I never use that I could change into for the three to four photo sessions
at the end of each day. I can't even get Foster's Lager to send me a
jacket and I've flogged it harder than many basketball stars did Nike.
I even have trouble talking my fishing companion Dave into buying
fifty-cent burgers at Grabills for lunch. In many ways my sport just
fails to measure up.
It's a solitary thing, my sport. Crowds of people run me off of even
the best waters. I would rather share my toothbrush than my favorite
fishing spot. The future looks bleak for fly fishing. Foster's Lager
went up twenty cents at the local store and the drought caused my
stream to run two feet lower than it has for twenty years.
The primary problem is that we have no real role models in the sport.
The real good fishermen just never get mentioned. I'm older than dirt
and I have seen most of the acts that have came down the pike. The real
good fisher persons, yes some women really fall in here, just never
get media attention. Who gets the attention and the endorsements and
the perks? Why the writers of course, most of which can't write and
don't really fish. Their interest in the sport is the twenty five cents a
word they get paid for each article. These are our role models?
I'm glad that I still retain my amateur status. I would have to drink Miller
beer and fish XXXXX rods. Maybe even endorse Power Bait. It seems
that in the endorsement business there is no level to which one will not
stoop. In my sport it seems that there aren't many endorsement dollars
even for power bait. Those that really fish just never learned to milk the
cash cow. In most cases the cow was not even available. I can remember
the two free leaders that I received from a company representative.
I appreciated the thought even though they were not designed quite
the way I would have liked.
I decided early on that I would not make fishing my business. He
who tries to live off his sport starves and losses the fun that attracted
him to the sport in the first place. I spent one summer manufacturing
lures for others to use. I lost the summer and didn't make enough to
justify my time. Never again.
What do we really need? Available pro's like those in tennis and golf
that will help a serious fly fisher improve his "game." Structured time
on the stream or at the vise addressing a fishers deficiencies. Maybe a
8-10 hour session, three hours at a time, on entomology and what really
happens when trout feed. A beginner could look at what he wanted to do
with the sport and have the means available to accomplish it. The great
thing would be to have the opportunity to change his mind as time goes
along. A casual thing could become an obsession three to four hours at
a time each month over a 5-10 year period.
The sport may need the above but I can remember the time when
I fished my river for five years and never saw another fly fisher.
I remember the time when fly fishing was old Rupe alone. Old Rupe
needs more of this isolation, but without outside participation my
sporting opportunities may be lost.
Maybe I should pass out tooth brushes to all. I have this great
spot to fish. This secret spot is just great.
Everyone needs a secret fishing spot where he can always be
successful.
Send $49.50 to old Rupe and he will mail you instructions to
this spot where trout are as long as your leg.
Fast Eddies trout stretch.
If you will buy some of the current rods and reels being marketed
and the associated necessary gear, then I will finally be able to
give up my profession.
Who says a blind hog can't find an acorn?
With a little luck we will find you a trout or two tomorrow.
Buy C-4 (for those of you in eastern block nations it's Semitex).
Never fail to appreciate modern technology.
Now you understand the game.
Cover your ears and only cast to rising fish. ~ Old Rupe
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