WRITING ON THE FLY
By GEORGE LISET
I was a reader growing up and I still am. Rainy days and vacations were always a cause to read. Reading was a great way to escape and use your imagination. Reading was also a way to learn.
My love for words grew the more I read. Reading helped me when I took my SATs in high school. I couldn’t do math for a lick but my language skills saved me. Then technology came along and I fell down the Rabbit Hole.
I am not that “Old School” that I would say technology is the devil, but there are times. Nothing can burn up more time than watching YouTube videos. I’ll get on my phone or IPad to check my mail or messages and then it happens; a fly fishing video pops up. “Fly fishing New Hampshire Small Streams” or “ Fly fishing giant brookies on the Magalloway,” I mean, how could you pass that one up?
I’ve already spent an hour on the porch while my grass has grown another inch. But giant brookies! Then I noticed “The five top flies for nymphing.” So I go to the other room and get my pen and paper and take notes. I note that I don’t have two of the five in my fly box. That would be surprising to my son who knows I can’t walk by a fly shop without getting the newest or current “Brookie Buster.”
Then pops up ”How you should fish streamers.” I love to fish streamers. I enjoy the tug when the fish slams the fly. So I watch a few more videos on streamer fishing when I notice one titled “Ten must-have streamer flies.” I again realize that I am only missing three streamer flies so I duly note that on my pad of paper when another title pops up.
“The five hottest flies every fly fisher should have in their fly box.” Wooly buggers, Prince Nymph, Blue wing Olive, Caddis and San Juan worm” San Juan worm? That’s a junk fly. No true fly fisher would fish that fly. You might as well use live bait. Really? Well, maybe I’ll get one in case. I don’t want to get shut out. I just won’t tell my son.
I’m probably a good two hours in by now. Then I saw “Fly fishing Pittsburg, New Hampshire.” My son and I are going to make our annual trip up in a week or so and it is always good to get another perspective on fishing the area. As I am watching, I realize that they are fishing an area that is unfamiliar to me and they’re into fish. I get out my map of the river and try to figure out where they are by using landmarks.
I am noting what flies they are using and adding a couple to my list. A few more videos pop up about fishing Pittsburg and the Connecticut River. Again I make a list of flies I might need. When you head out for a few days of fishing one wants to make sure they have everything they might need for every situation encountered. At this point I’ve been on the screen for three hours. My eyes are tired and the lawn is calling me.
The next day I head out to the local fly shop to pick up a few flies. I drop the flies and a fly box on the counter and my buddy gives me the look. I tell him I’m heading up north to fish with my son. He rings me up at $147. Then he asks, “Have you been watching YouTube again?” I replied “Maybe?”
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.