Really liked your article this week. Drives home the point that “practice makes perfect”, … or at least, Practice make good enough to have fun
You ever notice that you don’t “think” about casting while you’re actually fishing now.
It’s a wonderful feeling eh?. … You’re all strung up and ready, … you see a rise off about 50 feet, … You already have that much line stripped out. You time the next rise, … look 3 feet up stream from there and your fly just goes there!
Same thing with mending and line control… You know what you want the fly to do, … and the line just does it!.
I guess it’s like being “in the zone” … Makes it fun … After all … if it weren’t fun … may as well be at the office
Very good article. I really related to it from my former athletic days. My college football team was pretty decent, and one of the opposing coaches stated that we had some kind of magic up there. Our two-a-day t-shirts had the quote “no magic, just hard work”. I also think of a quote that goes with what you said about “practice makes perfect”, we were always told that practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect, which is true. If you are practicing the wrong techniques (batting practice, football practice, fly casting, fly tying, etc…) then all of the practice in the world will not improve your skills, only if you are practicing the proper techniques will you gain skill. I just went back a few years there to when sports were my life.
A bum-legged old man and a drunk. That’s all you got?
That’s WHAT I got.
JC, While I like the idea of bettering oneself with practice. I don’t really think that it should be the determining factor for deciding on where, when or with whom to fish. I think I may have seen the same show you reference, if so I was struck by the sheer joy and reverence displayed by the “Guest” angler.
Who would decide before we booked our trip if we were “up to snuff” and therefore deserving of the guides best effort? I’ll bet the guest will return to the locale again, and with the knowledge of his own limitations will improve. BUT until you go how do you know? Would he have been better off sticking to small trout streams forever? Or did the humbling but joyous experience lead him to become a more skilled angler? RC
I’m going to stand close to C33 on this one. I am one to those fisherman (both fly and spin) that fishes for the joy of fishing. If I catch a few that’s great, but if I don’t that’s OK too. I do not cast that well. I can, though not consistently put the fly or lure pretty close to my intended target. I even manage to do very well sometimes but not all of the time. HOWEVER, unlike the fellow in the article, I don’t blame anyone for my shortcomings. I paid a guide once, and after a few hours he started to apologize for the rotten luck we had experienced. I had a hard time convincing him that it was OK because I was there for the fishing not the fish. I don’t have the money to fly to Montana and fish the legendary streams, or go to Miami and fish the flats for Bone fish (we called them Lady Fish when I was younger and we caught them on spin gear and shrimp) but I will travel 2 hours to a small stream and try for the fresh from the hatchery truck trout that the great Commonwealth of Kentucky release. If I catch some, that will be wonderful but if I don’t that will be wonderful also.
Clint ( please excuse my rambling )
edited to correct my terrible spelling
Wise men still seek HIM…
[This message has been edited by Bluegill Budd (edited 08 August 2005).]
Right on! … imho, … in many situations, … we cast too far.
Much better to reposition one’s self and get a better presentation.
There are however those places when the DH is handy/needed.
Scott Nivens going to the other side on a nice short presentation.
There is no way to get to the other side without walking about 2 klicks in the brush
Tight Lines …
p.s. … I realize that the slant of this thread isn’t exactly all the article spoke of, … just don’t need to go over the fine points that JC already made
It is like all things, a matter of importance. The very reason some (most) are very happy with less than the very best in equipment. Even though fishing is one of there things they do not live only to fish and catch fish. Evry fisherman i ever met tells me it is about geting out and not the fish. I wonder how many would go fishing if there were no fish? It is to me about catching fish or at least the chance of getting one the outing is second. The better I am at casting the better my odds at getting one. for me that is the name of the game.
There’s an old saying, “If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” I feel like I’ll insult the sport and all those who’ve gone before me if I don’t make an attempt to be good, and getting better, at this.
There’s almost nothin’ wrong with the first lie, it’s the weight of all the others holdin’ it up that gets ya’! - Tim
Good article but. . . yikes, if you can’t cast 40 feet without double hauling that’s something I’d be worried about more than whether you can double haul or not!
JC was on, but a point to add
but if you’re going with a guide, talk to him, let him know where you stand a fisherman and a caster, and get him to work with your abilities/shortcomings
i know my remark will make people angry-but i have fished 60yrs-round about and believe how technical people have made it??sorry but if i have too worry about all this stuff i might as well be golfing??
bob faorite past-times winter steelie fishing-fall bow-hunting-would write more but with my typing i would be here for wks.??
Hi Rich. Hope you’re having a great summer - with lots of big old trout on the end of your line.
Is “best” in the eye of the beholder? In my days of better eyesight, I was a hobby silhouette shooter. What I quickly noticed was the top guns had the crappiest LOOKING rifles. Perfectly tuned for accuracy, but chopped up, roughed, sanded, Bondo’ed and otherwise custom shaped and fitted to them personally. With little regard to aesthetics or cost. And the actions they chose to build around were readily available and affordable, not Kimber or even Sako.
I know I have a different outlook than you, and we’ve been around this tree a few times.
I feel I need to say I don’t believe the gear one chooses has much bearing on the level of commitment or dedication or serves as a reliable measure of the importance a fisherman places on the activity.
I’m absolutely convinced that choosing mid priced gear that pleases and perfectly suits the individual then spending the time and effort to learn how to use it well, shows infinitely more respect for the sport than acquiring the “best” and trotting it out for display.
IMHO, it’s the actions and capabilities of the individual that most embodies the attributes you seem to feel are somehow inherit in hardware.
Funny about your “just goes there” comment. I have been casting very well as of late and catching my share of big fish.
I am self taught and have never had formal instruction. Just today however I had my first casing lesson. Oh my. All of a sudden I am thinking about this and thinking about that and I can no longer cast. (Thumb up…back…stop…not too much power…drop the rod…)It is awful. Probably will be good for me in the long run but now I am all messed up.
