On Taking Up A New Activity and Being Deceived

[MineralMan]

As some of you may know, I'm an avid angler. I love fishing for largemouth bass, northern pike, panfish, walleyes, and assorted rough fish. I'm also a solid devotee of the spinning reel, and have used them exclusively for many many years, with considerable success and pleasant recreation.

So, after my recent 65th birthday, with my Mills Fleet Farm gift cards in hand and despite having plenty (more than plenty) of fishing tackle already in my arsenal, I visited the store and was browsing through the fishing tackle department.

"No," I thought, "I have plenty of those, and enough of that, and more than enough of those worthless things." I was just about to head for the men's clothing department and buy something practical, like a couple of pairs of new jeans, when something caught my right eye. Now, had it been my left eye, which is the dominant eye, I might have simply walked on, but occasionally my right eye leads me astray.

What was spotted by my right eye was a fly rod and reel, with a reduced price that seemed most attractive. Fly fishing, eh? Influenced by the right eye, I allowed myself to be sucked in by the promise of gracefully casting my line and using the most conservative form of fishing to land...well...who knows what? So, deceived by the promise of prestige and respect from other anglers, I found myself grasping this fly rod and reel. Of course, there were many other things I'd have to buy if I were going to take up this oh-so-old-fashioned method of angling. So, I bought fly line, leaders, an assortment of flies, and a few other oddments I had heard were part of this traditional, yet complex way of angling.

Doing a quick calculation in my brain (the left side, not the right, which has trouble with numbers and values for some reason), I discovered that I had reached, and even exceeded the value of the gift cards in my wallet. I would have to use some of my precious cash to fully participate in fly fishing, it seemed. I almost put the equipment back on the shelves and headed for the jeans, but, once again, my right eye got the better of me and I hauled all this gear to the cash register, where I parted with the gift cards, and some folding green.

I arrived home and showed my wife my dubious treasure, and she gave me the usual, "Oh Lord, not more fishing tackle" look -- a look with which I am more than a little familiar. I dismissed this lack of enthusiasm summarily and repaired to my "office." I assembled all my birthday loot, put line on the reel, tied a perfect nail knot (after about a dozen tries) to attach the leader to the line, and sorted my assorted flies. I would go the next day and master the art of fly fishing. I reviewed some useful information on the internet and dreamed of all the leaping smallmouth bass I would catch from the Mississippi River the next day.

Well, once again, the right side of my head was a wicked deceiver. I did get to the river this morning, tied a very pretty streamer fly to the leader, and set about to master casting with a fly rod. Not so fast! My first few attempts ended in having fly line and leader falling upon my head in a tangled heap. I tried again, and again, and finally managed to put about 25' of line, plus the leader, on the water. No bites, so I did as I had seen done on the many Youtube videos of fly casting the evening before, and smartly raised my rod to lift the line and all for a backcast, then duly waited, as I had been told to do, for the line to straighten out behind me, then smartly made the forward cast.

After I had pulled the hook in that streamer fly from the back of my right earlobe, staunched the bleeding, and partly recovered my dignity, I happened to glance up the river, only to see two gentlemen who were fishing with more sensible tackle laughing and pointing in my direction. I looked farther down the riverbank, but there was nothing laughable in that direction. I knew humiliation.

Eventually, I managed to make some decent casts, but never succeeded in having any of them intersect with a hungry smallmouth bass. Finally, after breaking off the streamer fly on a sunken branch, I decided that perhaps this fly fishing thing would have to wait for another time. I packed up and returned home, my head hanging low with the shame of it all. My wife, seeing my dejected face, wisely chose not to query me on my success.

I learned something, though, today: I must never let myself be deceived again by my right eye. It lies to me and tells me that things will be much better than they turn out to be in reality. A costly lesson, that diminished both my dignity and my wallet. Hereafter, I will trust my left eye...my dominant eye...my reliable eye. Perhaps I will donate my fly fishing tackle to some fishing club of old men who would die before touching a spinning reel. Perhaps...well...perhaps I'll just put a patch over my right eye to keep it from further deceiving me, and go in the direction of efficiency, productivity, and reason in my future angling. The left eye sees things more clearly, it seems.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Wonderful, my dear MineralMan!

We don't all get to see ourselves so clearly...

Beautifully told.

Thank you...

[MineralMan]

2. Why, thank you, Peggy!

[petersjo02]

3. What a great story-teller you are!

I'll look forward to seeing more of your work.

[MineralMan]

6. That's very kind of you. Thanks.

[nosmokes]

4. Take a class, or go w/ someone experienced in using a fly rod because,

as you say, there are many subtleties in the art of attracting a fish to your fly.

And thanks for fish tale!

[MineralMan]

7. Perhaps I will.

[Warpy]

5. Your mistake

wasn't the equipment, it was not going out in the back yard and practicing with something a little less lethal on the end of the line. A couple of large paper clips will do the trick.

Once you've mastered the art of getting it far out into the water (and not stuck in your ass), you're ready to go out in public. It's just eye/hand coordination and once you learn it, you never really forget, like riding a bicycle.

You might not hook anything the first few tries, especially in a river full of tough city fish who know all the tricks, but at least you won't look like an arse when you're trying.

[MineralMan]

8. I have a great deal of experience looking like an arse,

I can tell you. :rofl:

[DevonRex]

9. So you have a goal (catching fish) and you've decided on the most reasonable

and efficient and productive way to achieve that goal. Good for you. By the way, you're a wonderful writer. I enjoyed that story very much! And, happy birthday.

[MineralMan]

10. I catch lots of smallmouth bass at that particular location. I know

very well where they are. I'll go back tomorrow with my regular tackle, I think, and maybe my boat. That should do the trick! Thanks. It's always best to stick with the proven things, the correct things, if your goal is success. Outmoded and archaic methods just don't seem to work as well.

[H2O Man]

11. I took my

daughters and great-niece fishing over the last three days. I enjoy teaching them to catch brook trout without a pole, etc. We had an outstanding time, with great results. (We do not keep them.)

[MineralMan]

12. Good job. My favorite thing is teaching kids to fish.

I'm 100% catch and release, by the way, too.

[SeattleGirl]

13. What a great story, MM!

And what a great writer you are!

[MineralMan]

16. Now I'm all blushing and stuff.

Knock that off! :pals:

[gratuitous]

14. Sure-fire way for a man to starve to death

Give him a fly-fishing outfit. I believe the movie "Libeled Lady" explained it rather well. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlowe and Spencer Tracy. Joe Bob sez "Check it out."

[MineralMan]

15. I will check it out, for sure.

[Spazito]

17. Gosh, can I relate to your OP!

I am not great at fishing and will readily admit it but did, once, get talked into trying fly fishing much to my regret. I should have trusted my instincts (the left eye, if you will)and resisted but, noooo, I let myself be distracted by the promise that it was the ONLY way to go if one wanted to be recognized as a 'real' fisherman. It was an learning experience to be sure and, like you, ended up somewhat bloodied but much wiser in trusting my instincts and knowing the difference between 'real' and reality.

Your experience and lessons learned can be sage advice for so many situations in life!

[MineralMan]

19. Thanks. It seems like a lot of the little things we do

can make us think about other things.

As my father told me when I was just a boy, "You might as well laugh at yourself. If you don't, others will do it for you." A wise man, my father.

[Spazito]

29. A wise man indeed....

and a lesson, sadly, some have yet to learn. If one can both learn and laugh at one's own mistakes, as you did so eloquently in your OP, it keeps one grounded instead of living with their heads above the clouds.

[robdogbucky]

18. Just curious

Did you really tie your leader to the fly line? There is a butt section that is installed on the end of your line, upon which, over the course of a season, it's usually a couple of feet long, that one can tie on many different leaders to as required. What weight of rod did you buy? What weight of fly line did you buy? Was it floating line, weight forward with a rocket taper? Or was it an intermediate or some other kind of sinking line? The coordination of weight of line and weight of rod is important to casting. One must learn to hold the line with both hands for best control, and once learned it is rarely forgotten.

I can sympathize with you, as we all started out catching crawdads with our hands and dropping hooks with worms into fishy looking places. Some folks catch on with the fly fishing and others don't. The big difference is the casting, the presentation and the fact that in fly fishing you become proactive, not passive, you make things happen, you don't sit and wait. You learn about fish habits, their habitats, the local environment and reduce much of the "luck," of fishing to observation and application of real information. Oh, yeah, and the much-cited "match the hatch." Of course there are times when there is no hatch yet you want to fish. Those are the times one uses a search pattern as you described, a streamer. That is a method to find out where in the water column the fish are holding.

Remember, they always have to eat, whether you see them or not. There are methods of fishing with a fly rod that do not involve much casting. Those are "dapping," which is essentially easing the fly into the water next to the bank of a moving stream, letting the current pull the line, and letting the fly float downstream on its own accord, mostly hugging the bank. This is one way to coax brown trout out of those holes and inducing a strike on a meal that just passed under their nose. Other ways are the roll cast, in which one learns to simply slowly bring the rod back and up, then flipping the line back forward. This is a method to use when there are obstructions behind you, like trees. Another method is just drift fishing, either from a boat or a float tube, wherein you mimic the activity of trolling in a boat like those with bait and leadcore do.

In fly fishing you are casting the line, not a weighted lure at the end of monofilamnent that does not require anything more than being able to throw something. Once you get the feel of elevating that line, using the rod as a whip to propel the line, both on the backcast and then pause and forward with a thrust, you will see what we mean. It is a beautiful feeling to silently watch a fish rising to a hatching insect across the river under a branch. Even more beautiful to have tied the fly that you then place directly upstream from that sighted fish and then mend the fly line so as not to unnaturally drag the "insect," into the fish's line of sight. Just learning what their line of sight is and the fact that fish see the ultra-violet color spectrum and that they cannot regulate their body temperature like a mammal can, allows one to "think," like that fish. At least to substantially increase the odds that you might fool it into striking. By searching the water column, and knowing the local temps and what bugs hatch and what fish in that location eat, the rest is simply repetition and searching.

Keep trying and please just get some minimum instruction from an experienced caster.




Jsut my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[MineralMan]

20. Thanks for that excellent advice.

[robdogbucky]

24. Where in Minnie are you?

MM, I grew up in Wisconsin, so I know from smallmouth, largemouth, northerns, walleyes, etc. I have friends that annually take a canoe trip for a week or so into the Boundary Waters area of your state. They have had a rough go of it for the last few years, as I believe fires one recent year and excessive rain/water the next, have put the kaibosh on successfully doing that trip. They plan and save and then take a week and if it is unproductive, their year is shot. But, there are brookies and northerns up the ying-yang, according to them. Sometimes though I think their trip is more about cheap cigars, and drunken nights telling lies around the campfire.

Boundary Waters has always looked interesting to me: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/canoeing/bwca/index.html

There is a boat-in only camping area here in Cal, near a volcanic area that is rich in history and a lot of fun fishing and camping in. It is the Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park: http://www.primitiveways.com/ajumawi_fish_traps.html As the link shows, this is an ancient fishing village from the Pit Indian Tribe of ages past.

I take my 16-foot Coleman canoe, load it up, and paddle out to one of the islands and set up camp. You can check availability of campsites at the Ranger Station at Lake Britton/Burney Falls. Once out on the water and those islands, there is nothing but you and the wilderness.

I went fishing in a float tube at Lake Almanor 10 days ago and ended up taking two huge smallmouth for the pan. Took them on hexagenia nymphs on a floating line with a 12-foot leader. They were 17 and 20 inches respectively. They are wonderful eating.


Happy fishing!




rdb

[MineralMan]

32. I live in Saint Paul. There are so many fishing possibilities here

that it blows my mind. I fish the Mississippi mostly in Saint Paul itself. There's a park called Hidden Falls that is a hot spot for smallmouths and just about everything else. Another favorite spot is a dock that is actually right in the heart of downtown Saint Paul, I've caught 25+ lb. channel catfish and carp from that dock. It blows my mind. Within a 30 minute drive from my house are at least 100 lakes, where everything from bluegills to muskies are part of the catch. Last year, in a lake just 15 minutes from my house, I caught a 40" muskie on light tackle I was using for bass and nothern pike.

Lake Almanor is an old haunt of mine. When I was a kid, and through high school my parents took us there many times. I've caught just about everything that exists in that great lake.

Enjoy your fishing!

[CBR]

21. Great story! Thanks for sharing it with us. nt

[MineralMan]

22. That looks like some kind of Dr. Seuss character there in

your signature. I'm not familiar with that one, though...

Oh, and thanks for the compliment.

[Electric Monk]

68. The Sneetches

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMeDJyoH8qc&feature=related
pt 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqr_-j-jpac&feature=related
pt 2


Good luck with your fishing

[cbdo2007]

23. Been there many times......don't give up just yet. It may take a few trips

to get things figured out but you'll get the hang of it.

I'm not a fisherman myself, but my eyes and wallet are deceived all the time by my latest hobby.

Playing guitar - I've got 7 guitars, and only play one of them for maybe an hour a week.

Rock polishing - I have bought/found probably a hundred pounds of rock over the past few years and have only polished up maybe 5 pounds worth.

the list goes on and on....

Sure, the rod and lures may just sit in your garage for a few months/years but one day that urge is going to come along and maybe the stars will align and you'll throw your line in some lazy Saturday and bam....you'll get a nice 7 inch bass for a good ole'fashion fish fry. :)

[MineralMan]

25. You could be right, but I can use my good old spinning tackle

and catch really nice smallies by the dozen. Like I said, my right eye deceived me badly, so I think I'll stick with what I've been doing for so long. It works.

[Poboy]

26. Dude, did you really think you'd just pick up a fly rod and go out

and cast it the next day? Love the writing style, very entertaining, but you're naive to think that.
Casting fly is much different than reel. You need to practice for weeks in the back yard, just as you probibly did as a child when learning to reel cast. Nothing to do with either 'eye' or impulse, just impatience and practice.

Personally, I still have not mastered fly casting. Its hard to get the hang of. If you ever learn to do it though, its great to have as a fishing option, as some people who I go out with switch to fly when no one is catching anything on reels. It seems you always catch something with a fly rod.

From one fly casting incompetent to another, good luck!

[MineralMan]

33. Sure. Why not? Despite what I wrote, I also got the hang of casting

while I was there. Tomorrow, I'll take the fly rod to my favorite lake, and can guarantee that I'll catch as many panfish as I want with it. The story was for the humor. It was my first day with a flyrod, but I did my research. Sure, I had a few mishaps, but, by the end of the time I was there, I was laying out decent casts. Did I think I was going to catch a bunch of fish? Nah, but I did figure out the casting process. Next spring, I'll be trout fishing on the rivers in Southeast Minnesota.

Sometimes the humor is more important than accuracy, and all the things I mentioned did happen. That I learned to cast with a fly rod is boring. It's also not all that difficult. I studied the process. It was just a matter of getting my timing down and that sort of thing.

I haven't mastered it, of course. But, I can lay a 50' cast to the spot I want now. It's not really that difficult. It was just a funny story, and I did hook myself in the earlobe. I laughed.

[Poboy]

49. Oh good story, no doubt. And 50 feet is damned good!

30 is tops for me. I suck. Timing is key, and my uncle suggests 'its all in the wrist'. I don't own a fly rod, so my limited experience is that of borrowing someone elses, making a fool of myself, then giving up in frustration.
Accuracy and precision? Forget about it.

Thanks for the story.

[Jackpine Radical]

55. One of my favorite ways to spend an evening

is to take my canoe out to a little lake north of Chippewa Falls & fly fish for bluegills. You generally get more & bigger fish than the people using more conventional tackle. There's just something about a big bluegill on light fly tackle. Smallmouth are nice too.

[MineralMan]

62. I have a unique strategy for bluegills and other sunfish, using

spinning tackle. It always produces the largest fish in the area. You can read about it on my infrequently updated fishing blog at: www.osomin.com/fishing.htm

I always have an ultralight spinning rod in my boat, and there's one in both of our cars, too. No matter what day it is, there's something overwhelmingly enjoyable about catching and releasing panfish. They don't seem to mind, either. I caught a bluegill with a particular injury to its tail four times in about half an hour once. Either bluegills are not clever, or it enjoyed the adventure. I'm never sure.

[grantcart]

27. I say this time its better to follow Rabbi Jesus - pluck out that eye!

[MineralMan]

35. I dunno. I only have two of those things. Sometimes, looking out of

the right eye gives me a different picture of things. An ugly picture, but it helps me understand what's going on for people who have a dominant right eye. :rofl:

[dionysus]

28. ROFL, you sure have a way with words!

[MineralMan]

36. Thankee kindly, ya Greek god ya....

[Political_Junkie]

30. Wonderful story, Mineral Man.

:rofl:

[MineralMan]

37. Haha! Very funny...

Actually, I always laugh at myself. Sometimes, I do funny stuff that even cracks me up.

But, my earlobe bled like crazy. Too bad the hook didn't go all the way through, though. I could have worn an earring. :rofl:

[Political_Junkie]

41. No, that wasn't funny.

The way you tell a story makes it funny. You're very good!

[MineralMan]

43. Thanks. It was funny to me, though. I've had more hooks in me over

the 50+ years I've been fishing that it must be funny. Certainly, lots of people have had a good laugh at some of them. The earlobe is a popular target for fish hooks. Had one in my eyebrow once. That was a laugh riot, according to my brother-in-law. :rofl:

[Political_Junkie]

46. I had a cousin who stepped on one once.

Had to have it removed from his foot. I've been a bit leery of them ever since. Maybe that's why I never took to fishing.
Still, I suppose the do it yourself way is cheaper than getting a professional piercing. :)

[Berry Cool]

31. I don't know anything about fishing, but I know this.

You wrote a great story here, Mineral Man, but the worst thing you could possibly do is give up on yourself now.

OK, so you didn't become a master of fly fishing on your first try. So you're going to give up? Well, that's a sure way never to get better at something--try it once, decide you're embarrassingly bad at it, and stop. But that is not how you learn.

You learn by going back out there and trying again, and allowing yourself to make mistakes. True, you don't want them all to end with a hook in your ear. But how else can you learn?

Take the advice of some more experienced folks here. Try, try again. Yes, you'll have more "YouTube blooper reel moments" (hopefully no one around will have a camera), but eventually you just might catch some fish. And they'll be better trophies because of how hard they were won.

I recently read a book that said Ted Williams didn't become such a great hitter just because he was some natural baseball genius. Did he have a certain amount of inborn physical knack for it? Maybe. But he became a legend by, from the time he was a kid, going out to the local lot with some old baseballs and a kid willing to pitch to him, and smacking the crap out of balls, day after day after day.

Maybe you'll never be a great fly fisher, and maybe you won't do it forever, but you could still have a lot of fun trying. And by all means, don't stop looking out of that right eye of yours. It's providing you with a view of some stuff in life that you never before seriously considered but that now seems like it might be interesting to try. And that's part of what gives our lives their spice and joy: retaining the willingness to learn something new.

And if you don't believe me, try digging up something you wrote many years ago, and see if it reads as well as your OP does.

[MineralMan]

38. Thanks! I won't really give up on fly fishing. It's just a funny story,

and accurately depicted what happened most of the day today while I was fishing. Actually, I did get the hang of it after a while, and will probably keep messing with this different method of fishing. I just like to poke fun at my foibles.

[MadHound]

34. Good God Man, the first mistake you made was fishing out of the Mississippi

Do you realize just what crap goes into that river? I mean literally, crap, and chemicals and fertilizers and such. I hope you don't eat those fish.

Second of all, small mouth bass aren't the best at rising to fly fishing. Go find a nice trout stream and you'll have all kinds of fun.

Don't forget the Norman Rockwell wicker creel;)

[MineralMan]

40. Actually, you're quite mistaken, as many people are. The Mississippi

in Minnesota is surprisingly clean, even in the heart of the cities. A lot of work went into that, and it worked. The river now, again, supports species of fish, like the redhorse, that are extremely sensitive to water quality. Minnesota has been working for over 40 years to clean up the river. That effort has been led by environmentalists and Democrats who fund these programs like clockwork in our legislature. Forty years ago, what you say WAS true, but no longer. I caught a trophy-sized walleye in the river, within sight of downtown St. Paul. It qualified me for a Master Angler certificate from the state. I released it, as I do all the fish I catch, and catch and release is the law in that part of the river. People catch trophy fish in downtown St. Paul all the time. All species of fish have rebounded in number, and even species that were almost extinct are now plentiful. You have no idea. In a single day, fishing from a single spot on the Mississippi, I once caught ten different species of fish, some you wouldn't even recognize.

As for smallmouths, I've caught hundreds of them in the metro area of the Mississippi, and I wasn't fishing with dry flies today. I was fishing with a streamer, which is an excellent smallmouth fly. I just don't have all the skills needed to be successful with a fly rod yet. Give me my spinning rod, and I would have caught dozens of them today, and up to 3 lb., which are not uncommon in the Mississipi in that area.

Trout, on the other hand, are a bit harder to come by in central Minnesota. We have a number of excellent trout streams, though, both in the northern part of the state, and in the trout streams of southeastern Minnesota. A trout stream recovery project has been running for decades here, and has restored dozens of streams, which now produce native trout in good numbers. This happened through cooperation with the state DNR, fishing organizations, and cooperation by farmers whose land these streams flow through. Funding is generous, since we have a Democratic legislature here and a couple million avid anglers. I enjoy trout fishing in the early spring in those southeastern streams.

I don't need a creel, though, since I release every fish I catch, from a 4" sunfish to a 30 lb. channel catfish.

Don't mistake my humorous story for something it is not. When I said I was an avid angler, I meant it. I've caught over 30 species here in Minnesota, using a wide variety of techniques. I'm sure I'll manage to master fly fishing, although it'll never be my mainstay. This was a funny story about my first outing with a flyrod. Take it for what it is. Or, look deeper for even more meaning.

[janx]

56. True!

I know how surprised I was when I saw the Mississippi in Minnesota. And Mineral Man, keep the fly rod. I had a similar experience with fly fishing and still have two fly rods out in the shed. I'm going to get at least one of them out in the next month or so and try again.

My parents were great at fly fishing, especially my mother.

[Denzil_DC]

39. Loved the story

Long-time trout flyfisher here. Good advice upthread, but I'd chip in another bit.

If you don't already wear glasses, wear some when you're flyfishing (you can get clear plain glass ones if you don't need correction). Otherwise you'll risk having a problem with one of those eyes of yours. Even us seasoned flyfishers can throw a bum cast from time to time.

A hat also helps, peaked if that's the way you roll.

[MineralMan]

42. Thanks! I always wear polarized sunglasses when I fish, both

for better vision and safety. You just never know. Today, I made all the bonehead beginner errors, even though I understand the principles. I actually was doing pretty well after about three hours. The story was about the disasters, and was written for the humor of getting a hook in your earlobe and finding your line all over your shoulders through bad timing.

I like to tell funny stories on myself. It's important to laugh at yourself, I think.

[Denzil_DC]

44. Right on!

There's some fantastic literature round angling, some of it hilarious, in a similar vein to your story.

You don't want to know some of the crazy situations and weird and wonderful scrapes I've gotten myself into over the years, let alone when I was starting out.

Sometimes a sense of humor will get you a lot further than all the fancy tackle and technique in the world. And sometimes the fish laugh at you too.

[MineralMan]

45. Actually, I'd love to know some of your crazy situations and such.

I've been reading fishing writing for many years, and the humor of the angler is always fun, if a bit warped at times. I do a little of that kind of writing myself, for my infrequently updated fishing blog. If you'd like so see some more, you can find it at:

www.osomin.com/fishing.htm

[Denzil_DC]

47. Sadly, I don't have time right now,

and this is your post, which there's no way I'll compete with, but here's one that was scary at the time but makes me hoot when I think back.

I was fishing a small, remote mountain lake, and waded into the shallows to get a better cast at some rising fish.

After a couple of minutes standing there, I realized I was sinking. Fast. Quicksand! The mud had a tight grip on my legs, and there's no way I could get my waders off to escape as I use a wading boot system.

So I was stood there, rod in hand, nobody for miles, wondering what the heck to do. Could I manage to bend over and guddle around in the mud and untie my bootlaces? No chance.

I rocked backwards and forwards, but the mud just gripped tighter and I was still sinking.

Clarity often comes on these occasions. I rejected the idea that I would just disappear, and my poor wife and family might never know what had happened to me till some other unfortunate angler someday maybe stumbled across something bony underfoot in the shallows.

What to do?

I figured that if the worst came to the worst, as my head disappeared under the mud, I'd stick my hand in the air and hold my rod up as a marker, so it'd be easier to find my remains.

Of course, this flash of realism unleashed my survival instincts, and I recalled advice about trying to swim out of quicksand, so I threw my rod to the shore (it would still act as a marker) and lunged backward and forward, and somehow after an almighty struggle I managed to free myself and lived to tell the tale, albeit extremely grubbily.

But the image of just my hand holding my rod aloft like the Lady of the Lake endures.

[malaise]

48. Super post

A leftist fisherman's tale. :D

[Liberal_in_LA]

50. lol, nice post

[sandnsea]

51. Or bring your left eye and fly rod to Oregon

We'll help you put it to proper use out here.

http://www.fish-works.com

[MineralMan]

53. Sounds mighty nice to me!

[LaStrega]

52. I'm sorry for your less-than-fabulous

foray into fly fishing. But happy birthday and thank you for sharing your tale. Well told! k&r :thumbsup:

[JNelson6563]

54. Clever.

;-)

[Edweird]

57. Your right eye is connected to your left brain.

[MineralMan]

63. Perhaps my brain is mis-wired. Many have suggested that.

:rofl:

[LWolf]

58. I haven't fished in 15 years or so,

but I was once married to an avid fisherman, and have spent countless hours fishing, and cleaning, and cooking.

I always had a completely different philosophy about fishing than either of my fishing exes. They had large, well-filled tackle boxes full of pricey lures. They spent hour after hour casting and reeling, casting and reeling, moving up and down the shore, taking the boat out, casting, reeling, casting, reeling, trolling....

While I, having found what I deemed a likely spot from the shore, put on a worm and a weight and/or a bobber, cast it out, settled down in my lawn chair in the shade with book and refreshment, and read and napped. I caught fish. Or I didn't. Either way, it was a wonderful way to spend some hours.

I, too, have never gone fly-fishing. It doesn't suit my style, lol. I did have someone volunteer to teach a group of my students to cast last year. He took them for an hour once a week until they'd mastered casting on the field, then met them, and their parents, at the river one Saturday to try their hand at real fishing. Only a few fish were caught, but a good time was had by all.

[MineralMan]

59. There's more than one way to skin a catfish...it's true.

[LWolf]

60. The Zen of fishing:

[MineralMan]

61. Yes. Fishing can be many things. It can be a very active sport,

requiring lots of physical activity, or it can be a contemplative activity. It can be both at once, too. I know that getting in my boat (a very small, cheap old boat) and getting on the water removes all stress from my life for the hours I am on the water. I'm not an aggressive angler. Instead, I try to be a smart angler, who catches fish by out-thinking them, not by thrashing the water in hopes of catching as many fish as possible.

Isaak Walton, one of the first writers about fishing, emphasized that aspect of the avocation. Dame Julianna Berners, who predates Walton, was more interested in the techniques and equipment of angling, but also stressed the psychological effects of angling, even though that term was not known in the 15th century, when it was written.

Fishing is good for humans.

[LWolf]

66. While I don't fish any more,

I get the same kind of experience with my horses. Whether I'm doing barn chores, or just hanging out listening to them munch, or out wandering around on one or the other in the forest, or going on a hiking trail with the filly that's too young to ride yet, it's always contemplative, and also quite physical much of the time.

I've been on a life-long journey to balance "being" and "doing," and the closest I ever come are in outdoor activities: gardening, fishing, hiking, riding.

My grandson would like to learn to fish. We've hesitated to make the investment in licenses and equipment, because he's so impulsive and so physical, is impatient and has such a short attention span, that we didn't really think he'd "get" it. When I think of him fishing, I imagine him thrashing the water in hopes of immediate, and constant, gratification.

He's gaining a little balance each year, although he's behind the curve as far as his age peers go. He likes hiking the best, because it allows him to spend a lot of that excess energy and explore all the fascinating, tiny and large details the planet offers along the way. He's seen the picture of his dad, about age 6, with a catfish almost as tall as he was on a little Snoopy fishing pole. He's heard the story about his dad, sitting patiently on the bank for well over an hour before that fish bit. He's also heard the end of the story. He wanted to try for another: cast his line out, laid the pole on the bank next to him, and, like young boys do, got distracted by something else. He didn't see the first jerk; the second took the whole pole to the bottom of the pond, and that was the end of his fishing adventures on that camping trip.

Ready or not, though, often when we're hiking I wish we had a pole along with us.

[MineralMan]

69. Well, I wouldn't miss the opportunity with your grandson. Even if

he doesn't immediately take to fishing, it's worth the effort. If you can take him to a place where he can catch one little sunfish or bullhead after another, he'll enjoy the experience and want to do it again. That's easy to find.

As for the equipment and licence, you can find inexpensive fishing combos at any sporting goods store or even Walmart, and the fees for the fishing license go to maintain water quality in streams and rivers and to keep the fish populations healthy. It's an environmentally sound purchase, overall, even if you don't fish a lot. BTW, they still sell those Snoopy fishing poles, along with other tackle for kids, and they're still inexpensive.

I hope you enjoy your outing with the grandson.

[XOKCowboy]

64. I was coerced by my elitist flyfishing buddies last year into buying a rod/reel combo....

plus the waders, flies, leaders, tippet and all the other accoutrement that goes with fly fishing. Hate to say it but I got hooked hard when I hooked that first 14" rainbow on Rock Creek in Montana right after that. Now my mailbox is filled with Cabelas catelogs, I have 2 rods and 4 reels, 4 fly boxes, a float tube and am saving for a FishCat personal pontoon boat and have my eye on a nice large arbor Simms.

Count yourself lucky you only got nicked by the bug. Otherwise there goes the retirement! It is a pleasant way to go broke though! :)

[bertman]

65. I think this whole story is just one big excuse to explain why you got skunked!

You can't fool another fisherman, dude.

Right eye!!

Now that's a good one.


Rec.

[hayu_lol]

67. My dad was a fly fisherman to the core...

when he figured I was old enough to start, he got me a nice flyrod(his was genuine Calcutta split bamboo)and reel and the other starter materials. Took me out for some extensive backyard casting experience and I gradually began to get better at it.

Went on our first fishing trip together. Tried a creek at Tom's Place south of Mammoth CA. Well, it wasn't like casting on the back lawn...managed to catch every tree and bush along the sides of the creek. Had a mess on the reel. Worse thing was that he wasn't catching anything edible either. Finally gave up on the day and planned for the next day on our way back to our tent.

We were going to try a lake next(forget the name). Stopped by the lodge at Tom's Place to look over locally tied flies. Did some talking with the owner and determined that no flies were working at the moment...but hamburger was(hamburger was fishery food). So I got a quarter pound of burger and made that into little balls that you could put the hooks into. Worked like a charm. I got my limit very quickly while my dad displayed his artistry in casting and working his flies. Sort of quiet that day on the way back to the tent. The burger worked in the lake as well with the same result. Later in life I learned how to design and make flies...quite a hobby for a few years.

By the way, before you practice casting from a boat...practice standing first. Be a shame to end up overside.

Good luck.

[bertman]

70. Good story, hayu-lol. On my twelfth birthday my dad told me he'd get

me whatever I wanted. I asked for a fly rod.

He was a hunter and knew nothing about fishing except for how to use a cane pole. So he took me to a friend's store and I selected a Shakespeare 9 weight fiberglass fly rod with an automatic (spring-loaded) reel. That was early June. Almost every day for the next month I rode my bike to the local lakes and river and pounded the water with poppers and bream bugs. That skinny little 12 year-old got damn good at casting with that big. long rod and floating fly line. I even caught some nice bass and bream and even a crappie. Some of the fondest memories I have of childhood are when I was fishing with that fly rod.

Learning to fly cast while sitting in a boat is also an excellent skill to have. Particularly when in a canoe.

I never tried the burger, but I'll keep that in mind--just in case.