You see the water burble over the logjams, and the leaves sliding through the riffle, caressed by the slippery rocks as they float downstream. The life below the surface is so different and unapparent from above the stream. The bustle below the ripples is an organized chaos. Everything has its place, and when it doesn’t there are consequences. At that very moment you see those very dire consequences play out before your eyes. A mayfly is creating a ruckus on the surface and a trout comes to inspect. The rainbow sips the mayfly from the surface and you see the fish’s tail swirl as that consequence you witnessed is under the veil of beauty.
That interaction would happen with or without you noticing. Though you wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t.
As you’ve come to take on fly fishing, milestones will mark your journey from beginner to becoming an expert angler. There are many techniques, how’s and why’s, that you will need to master while you get to enjoy your time on the water. As you master these you may find you’ll enjoy the time more. Learning these techniques and tactics will help take you from fishing to catching. And from paint by numbers to the Rockwell of the cast. This is part of the allure of fly fishing, the beauty of placing an imitation fly so gently, so accurately, and with perfect anticipation of the drift, the take is a foregone conclusion. Fly fishing is an art.
Understanding this structure will allow us to grab your hand and guide you down the path of catching fish on a fly. This structure of technique or skill followed by how it is implemented and the reason and timing you would use it. In the corporate world, untold sums of money are spent on the delivery of the why’s and how’s and as far away from the hustle and bustle as a trout stream can be; this method of delivery is still the way we should be thinking about our fishing.
If we draw back from the more esoteric aspects of enjoying nature, which pains me to write, fly fishing can be broken down into small manageable chunks. As we unpack those chunks and apply the learned skills with the appropriate coinciding knowledge we can use these fundamentals to become consistent anglers.
We will be covering:
- Casting with a fly rod
- Fishing with a dry fly
- Fishing with top water flies
- Fishing with nymphs
- Fishing with streamers
- All about mending
- Reading Water and Finding Fish
- Selecting the right fly
All of your aspirations in angling start from these eight principles. Well, those eight and a ninth intangible: the desire to spend time in the outdoors, taking in the sights, sounds, smells, and learning a new art form. Without that desire, to spend time on the water, this whole adventure is moot. Those Eight principles matter not without the enjoyment of wild things and places. You may fish alone or with a group but every person you see on the water will have that desire to some degree. This is your adventure, you may choose your level of commitment, but if you master these skills all you have to do is add water and watch your horizons grow.
