My husband suggested I take a look at this site. Not because he is needful of me to understand, accept or breathe to life his love of fishing. He suggested it so that I would have a place to learn, share and develop my new love for all things 'fishy'. I fished for trout with Velveeta and a bobber as a young girl with four older brothers. Not one out fished me. That was the only event I ever won when pitted against them. In my life since childhood, fishing has had no place. Except to ponder the origins of what I was preparing as a Chef- my occupation. One day, while sitting on the banks of the Deschutes, my husband fished and I read Marketing Manuals under the shade of a tree. I asked if I could try my hand at it. Having watched his graceful movements ... the way he commanded the line to dance and eventually lie, ever so lightly, on the water. I had to see if I had it in me. I dance. I craft. I create. I run a restaurant. I raised children. Could I command a line, lay it ever so gracefully on the water and entice a fish to believe my fly to be a dinner treat? (An attempt to be a Chef for the fishes?) I did what I had watched him do. I faltered. I tried again and again. And once I did it. I felt it. I had an inkling of what it felt like to cast correctly. The challenge was on! To learn, to fine tune, to know the full cycle of fly fishing. One day at a time. One trip. Gleaning the essence. Finding the core. By the way, I hate Bugs! We fish regularly. We see water and see fishing spots instead of 'just water'. We love it, together, alone. It is more than just fishing. It is time where we do not think of anything else. Not work. Not stresses. It is the water. The air. The mossy rocks. The rushing of the water. The journey of finding the soul in concentrating so intently on doing this one thing, so gently. So much effort to seem effortless. My husband says that I have great fish Karma. The first fish I caught was a 'redside' Rainbow Trout, being too small to keep, I gingerly unhooked him, kissed his forehead and set him free. He laughed when I wiped my lips saying *Pleck*. But, that kind of sums up my experiences with fishing. It is connecting on a level with myself. With my husband. With the world around me. I wish to be a grand Fly Fisher . . . on my own terms. Not what someone else measures me to. It is very personal. And very wonderful. ~ Shawn Poe