WRITING ON THE FLY
By GEORGE LISETGeorge Liset

    I have always had a romantic ideal of fly fishing. A man alone in the wilderness with a map and compass and a fly rod fighting the elements in search of the elusive trout. There are times when I am fly fishing a secluded stream that I can imagine myself being out west or northern Maine, yet I am twenty minutes from the nearest fast food restaurant. Civilization and technology have hemmed me in. It started gradually, so it seems, and then it hits you in the face like a backcast gone wrong.

     I will add that I am complicit in this. There are technological advances in equipment. I enjoy fishing my composite fly rods that are lighter and stronger than bamboo. I have begun fishing my bamboo rods and I can appreciate their beauty and history and their style, but after a day of use your arm gets a little heavy and your casts sloppy.

    The same goes for fly reels. The new reels are lighter and seem to be more efficient than the older reels. A new reel on a light rod is like a hot knife through butter. So much easier to cast and can be a little more forgiving for an average caster.

    Then there is Gore Tex. Waders and jackets that are lightweight and breathable. An Angler doesn’t have to sweat in neoprene in the summer. I just purchased a pair of waders that have a zipper. This is technology that has taken a while to perfect, but for older, more mature fly fishers a real home run. This is technology that has happened gradually. I also appreciate the new lightweight wading boots that are easier on older knees and save younger ones.

    New technology is introduced every day. I just received my new “Trout” magazine put out by Trout Unlimited. I will say that Editor Kirk Deeter has done a great job. The last few magazines have featured stories by John Gireach and a number of other talented writers as well as some great fly fishing information. The latest edition featured two apps that caught my attention.

    The first app was TroutRoutes. This app has been out awhile but continually expands its information. TroutRoutes is a mapping app that shows the angler every river, stream and in some cases brooks that hold trout. The app shows water access points and can save a fly fisher time sorting through maps and driving.

    The next app is new to me. TroutSpotter is more of a science project. This project is a collaboration between the United States Geological Survey, Trout Unlimited and Wild Me, a non-profit. This app allows you to take a picture of the trout, download it and keep track of your fish. The premise is that the spot pattern on a fish is like the fingerprints of a human, so one is able to identify individual fish.

So if someone else catches the same fish the app will notify you where and when it was recaught.

     This sounds like a fun app, especially for a middle/ high school science project. Then I got to thinking. If the fish you caught gets caught four or five times after you catch it, does it mean there are a number of great anglers out there, or one near sighted or not so bright fish. What happens if I say the trout is six inches and the next fisher says it was eight? Can I claim the extra two inches? Technology in its early stages can be convoluted.

     As I am trying to process this, I just received notification from Google about my past months whereabouts. As I carefully check it out I notice that it shows all my secret fishing spots. Now it has only been in the last few years that I carry a cell phone with me. This is for a couple of reasons. The first is that I take pictures of the fish I catch to prove that I don’t stink at fishing. The second is that if I lose track of time on the river and it begins to get dark, my wife knows where to send the Silver Alert crew.

    While all this technology can be fun and helpful, I can’t help but think of James Fenimore Cooper’s character from the Leatherstocking series, Natty Bumpo, aka Hawkeye. Hawkeye tries to flee civilization, in order to keep his native American ways, by slowly moving from upstate New York to the west. Hawkeye finally realizes it is futile when civilization moves from the west to slowly meet him. Technology, admittedly, has made my life easier, but as long as I can, I will embrace the old ways.

 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.