WRITING ON THE FLY,
By GEORGE LISET
Fly fishing protocol states that the fly fishing experience should be serene and almost cathartic. Fly fishing and relaxing are supposed to be one in the same. A fly fisher arrives at the destination, takes a number of deep breaths, assembles their fly rod and takes a leisurely walk down to the water, taking in the scenery and enjoying the beauty.
When they reach the water they look for fish rising and what insects might be hatching. They choose a fly and begin casting. So why is it that I still approach every trip like the first day of summer vacation at the beach, when as soon as you arrive you run to the water and jump in?
I get that way every time I fish. I feel like a kid in the candy store. The only exception is when I wake up early and my coffee hasn’t kicked in. But usually, without exception, I am what I would call an anxious angler. My wife knows this about me. She knows that if I am going to go fishing that it is pretty useless to try and have any type of conversation with me. My attention span is about that of a gnat.
Being an anxious angler often comes back to bite me in the butt. This spring I was fishing on my local river when I reeled in a nice Brook Trout. Fly fishing protocol would say that you need to check your knot on the fly to make sure it’s strong. However, I was too anxious to get my fly back in the water. I soon got into another nice Brook Trout when he broke the water, looked at me and smiled, and took off with my fly leaving me with the proverbial pig tail at the end of my tippett.
Then there was the time I had to change my tippett. I used a quick knot because I could see a couple of nice fish rising behind a rock mid river. On the third cast one of the bigger fish sipped my fly and he was off down river. I had him almost to the net when my line went slack. My knot from the leader to the tippett let go. After I called myself a few names, I tied on another tippett with a better knot.
I am a little better if I am teaching another person to fly fish. Operative words “A little” better. I took my friend Ray to Mad Beaver Pond to work on his casting. Once I got Ray set up and his cast looked pretty good, I cast out a line myself. I could see fish rising and started to get excited. I mentioned to Ray that this was a finicky pond and that we might not have much luck since we would only be there an hour or so.
All the while I was casting I was keeping an eye on Ray. I was pretty proud of his casting. I could see the rising fish and changed my fly a couple of times. I was having no luck. It was getting dark and I figured I was good for another five minutes when I heard Ray yell “I got one!” I look over and I see a nice ten inch trout dancing on the shore. Ray had got his first Mad Beaver Pond trout. I said to Ray, “isn’t this relaxing,” as I am whipping the water into a froth trying to get one of the rising trout to bite. On the way back to the truck Ray mentioned that he couldn’t wait to come back again. “Yeah”, I replied, “I’m anxious to get back too!’”
George Liset of Dover is an award-winning outdoor writer and avid fly fisherman who shares insights of his time on the water exploring New Hampshire streams and rivers as well of those around New England. George is a graduate of Wheaton College, Illinois, and the University of New Hampshire. His column Writing on the Fly has been honored by the New England Press Association and the New Hampshire Press Association.