|
Last sunday there were two older (may be 60-70 years)
and "experienced" fishers along the same bank I was
fishing from, they were the commonly seen here "spinners,"
using, what I have always seen as excessive, triple
hooked spoons in sizes well suited to land a big
salmon or something. They kept on casting all over
and most of all to the little rises that bubbled
on the other shore 50 feet away. When I saw that
I corrected my first impression and realized they
were no experienced fishers or at least they are
not the kind that tries to read the water and fish
accordingly but to my impression, dangerously close
to a species of fishermen I happen to almost hate:
They use spoons cause for highland rivers trout,
the ones we have here, they are almost unfailing;
they never release what they land; keep even the
very little ones to make the long story short
they are just what we DON'T need in terms of
conservation. But worst of all they never
really care about learning about the multiple
sides of fishing: what trout eat, why, when,
where.... they just rely on their almighty spoons.
After 20-25 mins sitting by the water, trying
to get clues on what to tie to the tip of the
leader, of course also watching the air-ground
attack the "cuchareros" (a spanish word for
spooners; a little despective term used to
define this kind of predators) were putting
the trouts under, and a few casts after the
first rainbow was safely landed and released,
in the mean time the spinner guys were making
every possible joke about a young man and his
fly fishing gear... that was me of course. But
they never managed to catch anything.
That kept on for about 2 hours. Fishing was
good, nor were the river sides, so walking
to another spot was out of my mind. When in
despair after no strikes, the spoons began to
fall over the exact spots I was getting my
line to. So I decided to walk the few feet
that separated the two worlds and talk to
them. I greeted and smiled to them asking
what they were using and how luck works a
great deal when fishing. Their answer: two
"aha" followed by both of them casting (they
were more likely bombarding) to the same rise!
I thought a little help may be of any good and
told them to quit casting to the rises, "trout
that rise are not after any metal running in
front of their noses," in other, more friendly,
words of course. I added that I thought they'll
do better just casting away from them, across
or down. They didn't replied to my comments so
I withdrew and kept on enjoying the rest of the
day until one of their triple hooks landed just
on top of my fly. Spinners can cast very far!
I decided it was time to leave. As I was walking
to my car they approached and asked me how it
ended, I told them that I managed to catch 4
big rainbows, and some bla bla about the weather,
the trouts behavior, etc etc. They showed me their
empty buckets and long faces.
I drove back thinking about patience, concentration
but most of all about how important it is to learn
about your field, whatever it is. Patience to stop,
think about the situation, try to find a solution
and keep on going. Concentration to help you
accomplish that task using your mind not brute
force. But most important learning. I am a self
taught photographer, fly fisher and rock and
mountain climber. All of which I have managed
to learn by carefully reading any literature
available, watching others, listening to what
they had to say and of course putting it in
practice to see if it will work OK for me.
That's why your words (Paying Forward)
hit a very sensitive fiber inside me. I watched,
listened and practiced. I keep on doing it, I
will do it forever. I am thankful to the people
that have helped me in my task. That's why I try
to pass it on. But I have to say I hate it when
people don't listen just because they are envious
or think you are to young or too whatever to teach
them something. ~ Dave Marin
Publisher's Note:
Dave is the person who has translated Al Campbell's
Fly Tying Instructional series which are now here
on FAOL. Dave is a professional photographer in
Columbia who translated Al's series into Spanish for
his mother who wanted to learn to tie flies. He
contacted us and asked if we would like the
translations for use here on FAOL! Obviously
the answer was YES!
|
