this weekend is my last for the summer with two fully functional arms. i go in for surgery a week from today, and will be slinged and immobile for 6 weeks, followed by 3 months or more of PT.
i am very hopeful that during the PT i should be able to fish and possibly tie flies. but what about the 6 weeks prior? these 6 weeks happen to encompass the best of the fishing sesaon near me with very reliable caddis hatches and very willing fish everywhere.
so how can i fish? ive healed enough from the injury to tie up a bunch of flies before i go under, but how can i fish successfully with 1 working arm? any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated.
the best advise i can give you is to do exactly what your surgeon and physical therapists tell you to or you could wind up messing up the surgery and it is a lot worse if they have to do it again. figure the first six weeks as dead time and perhaps it will speed your therapy progress and they can allow you to fish some.
If the doc lets you fish, you could try the longest rod you got with a fixed amount of line for dappling. keep it short enough that you can retreive the fish without reeling and have your partner do the releasing for you.
Rick
Best to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Something I seldom remember to do.
tyflier,
Sorry I can’t tell you how to fish w/ one arm, I haven’t figured out the two armed thing yet.
Excellant advice grumps.
Do what the good doctor tells you and you will be fine. Good luck, hope all goes well.
Chris,
If I were in your shoes, I’d head to a local park pond or small public water, watch kids fishing, talk with some young parents, then offer the use of some of my equipment & some instruction in it’s use. If YOU can’t fish, why not get someone else started? I am fortunate as there is a dandy park pond about an hour from me that has a walking track around it. Many families are there fishing & playing. Nice folks…wouldn’t be a problem at all getting a youngster or even their parents interested. Always a positive to perpetuate our sport IMHO.
Mike
“TENKARA”! Tenkara is fly fishing without the fly line or reel.
Attach a Tapered Leader, that is the same length as the fly rod, to the “Tip-Top” guide on the Fly Rod.
Then attach the an appropriate length of tippet then the fly.
Now just sit down on dock on the bay, watching the tide pull away…
You will be fly fishing, catching fish, and not messing up the repaired arm.
~ Parnelli
Down in the meadow in a little bitty pool
Swam three little fishies and a mama fishie too
“Swim” said the mama fishie, “Swim if you can”
And they swam and they swam all over the dam
[This message has been edited by Steven H. McGarthwaite (edited 15 June 2005).]
Take a kid fishing and do it vicariously through him or her. It’ll be some of the best times you’ll ever have and I’ve realized lately they never forget it either.
Lisenring or High Stick Nymphing. Uses only about 8’ of line and 8’ Tippet. No casting skill needed. Stand next to a riffle, ast upstream, raise the rod as the line approaches you and lower it as it goes past, always keeping about 2" of line in the water. This allows for a very free drift and you are never in need or reeling in or casting.
You can do everything easily, except take a fish off the line. For that you might need to drag a fish towards shore.
Search eBay and your local antiques shop for “The Angler’s Third Arm” for one armed anglers sold by Hardy once long ago. It is basically a gizmo that straps across your chest to hold the rod.
There is a picture of one on page 246 in my 1951 edition of the Hardy’s Angler’s Guide. Of course the tricky part is finding the correct handed model you need.
Many years ago I asked a dealer to find me one. He looked at me like I was nuts when I told him the reason why: “so in case I ever lose an arm I can still go fishing”!
This may be contrary to your desire but here’s how I see it. I notice from your profile you are 32 years old. If the anticipated recovery will get you back to full strength but the time includes a ban on fishing and therefore you’ll miss this fishing season, well that’s tough.
Let’s see:
a) Miss this season and have a lifetime to catch up,
OR
b) Fish (however that may be possible) this season and possibly reinjure, or create a permanent and persistent problem that you may suffer with for a lifetime.
Go tie flies, read books, visit and build a ‘wish list’ of the rivers you will fish in years to come, take photos, guide some friends to some places, etc. Go through and endure what it takes to fully recover. Next year and in the years to come you’ll be healthy and appreciate fly fishing even more.
Chris, my advice is to cool it until you have full recovery. I assume the operation is to repair the damage done by the rock climbing. Tendons are funny things and you don’t wanna mess with the recoup time IMHO.
Hey, take some time off in July and enjoy the Jazz Festival in Mammoth…I’m going to. (You’ll see me behind the cash register in the souvenier stand with the ol’ Silvertop abouncing to the time of the music.)
Snow on the roof but with fire still in the hearth
I agree with flyties and silvertop. My dad has had 3 operations on 1 shoulder cuz’ he did not follow the doctors advice. He can only lift his arm up only about 3/4 of the way. I also think blanphar has the right idea. If you are married, try teaching your spouse to fish. Use the sympathy card to get her hooked.
good luck with the surgery. Remember, the fish will still be there after you heal.
Sounds identical to what I went through with rotator cuff surgery during the summer 5 years ago. My doctor was one of the best surgeons in this town. He told me the extent of my recovery would depend on how much I put in to PT. After 6 weeks in a sling I put in 4 months of PT (the theropists and I got to be on first name basis, I even knew their kids names). I went to PT 3 days a week and did home excercises for 20 min 4 times a day.
The doc gave me a rating of 100% recovery.
My point - do what the doc says, to hell with fishing your health is more important.
yea, buzz. tore the rotator cuff and the labrum. so not only is the movement limited, when i do move it, it tends to fall out of place really easily. hurts, too.
sounds to me like i need to take it easy, listen to the doctor, and wait til fall/winter to fish.
chewydog, i actually scheduled it. it was now or the end of october, with recovery through most of the winter. being in the propane industry, winter is my busiest time, and my boss would have pitched a fit, and probably fired me for doing it then. at least i can be close to 100% by winter this way…
silvertop–actually, no. its a recurrence of an old injury. originally from snowboarding, recently aggravated from a fall. rockclimbing is probably the best thing i ever did for the original injury, because it strengthened the muscles in the shoulder enough that i never noticed it, until now…
[This message has been edited by tyflier (edited 16 June 2005).]
1- Follow your doctor’s orders.
2- Time to be mature about this.
Chalk this up as a season-ender.
3- IF all goes well, fall-fishing is it.
I KNOW how rough that seems but I also had a bad fall - in a stream during June 2003, rupturing my right knee’s cruciate ligaments and tearing up some cartilage that required major surgery.
( falling backwards in the stream and almost drowning - but I did manage to recover the XP ).
Don’t take the chance by rushing recovery times - you COULD possibly make it a “career-ender”.
Good Luck
Knowledge is power ? Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
? Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Good Morning tyeflier,
I can clearly identify with the issues you have posed. However,I am 100% in agreement with what Grumps has advised and can add what I did last summer when I had a major surgery as well. Knowing that I had to take it very easy for 8 weeks post surgery, I prepared a list of all flyfishing books that I wanted to read and all the ffing videos that would help me improve my fishing and or tying. I made lists of new fly patterns that I wanted to tie and try when I could get out. However, when I was able to get on stream, I started slowly at the community blugill pond. I clearly remember the day we were in WVa visiting our place up there during the later part of my recuperation and I was walking along a stream “just looking” and seeing what was there . I was so busy sighting fish that I did not watch where I was stepping and fell. The worry about what I might have done to myself was such that we cut our trip short and came home. My Doc was not happy about the risk I had placed myself in and I resolved from that point on to follow instructions to the letter. I also used the time to organize my tying desk and supplies and yes, I did go fondle my gear regularly. I guess what the important thing here is take it easy means exactly that and no less. Good luck and speedy recovery to you It will only hurt for a while.
