The Fly Fishing Enthusiast’s Online Magazine
‘The Fraternity of Fly Fishers’
January 2020
"“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink, I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains.” "
Henry David Thoreau
The Ladyfisher - The last Cast - N Travis image
I joined FAOL in 1997, just a few years after I started fly fishing. I learned a great deal from the people who wrote on this site.
Standing in the cold fall waters my attention was drawn to a fallen red maple leaf adrift on the current. The stream carried it in my direction in a lazy spin, and my eyes followed it down to my waders where it bent slightly as if it would cling to my leg, then slowly peeled away only to be drawn into the lie formed just below me. The respite was short-lived however, as two rotations later it was caught again by the main current and whisked away downstream and out of sight. Would it make it to the Chesapeake or end its journey in a lazy eddy, where it would become part of a caddis larva’s case? Did the temporary lie formed by the obstruction of my waders have an impact on the ultimate course of its travels? Or was I simply one of many obstacles it would be required to navigate along the way?
Originally published c. 2002 on Fly Anglers Online.