I experienced a relieving moment this last weekend. This feeling left me feeling so alive and grateful walking back to the truck. I want you to experience it too.
Maybe this quick story helps you better understand what fly fishing means to you.
I explored a section of river this last weekend that I have fished many times before but at different times of the year. I was excited to see this fishery in different flow, hatches, and weather.
I packed in two rods, something I often do. It can be a great way to fish multiple techniques without spending time rigging the same rod over and over again.
It has its downsides though, especially when I’m looking to cover lots of water. It wastes time walking back and forth picking up my extra rod. I’m also the guy that leaves his rod on the bank only to have to come back for it later that night or the following morning.
One rod was rigged with a long leader and a dry fly. The other was rigged with a streamer on a mono rig. My Helios 3f is a relatively new rod to me and is my go-to dry fly rod. I have had a blast fishing dry flies with it and am looking forward to my first full summer with the rod.
Going into the day I had expectations of seeing PMD and caddis hatches, as well as the chance to catch fish on the salmon fly.
I brought my Echo along as I have been playing around with a mono-rig setup. Casting heavily weighted streamers and jigging them along the bottom has led to some of the biggest fish I’ve caught here in MT. It is a new technique to me, and I feel like it gives me the greatest chance of catching a big fish. This is where I went wrong…
An hour into fishing, I came up with this “genius” idea on how to fish while carrying my other rod. I slid the rod I wasn’t using under the waist strap of my backpack, so it was positioned straight in the air while attached to my left hip. I figured this would allow me to cast over my right shoulder with no problems of my other rod being in the way.
If you have ever cast a mono rig, you know it isn’t pretty. Especially with a heavily weighted streamer. Sure enough, I hit my Helios with the streamer when trying to cast. Not thinking much of it, I kept fishing. Ten minutes later when I saw a fish rise to a PMD, I went to switch to my dry fly rod.
Come to find out the last two inches of the tip section had been broken from the collision. My great idea of carrying two rods was not so great after all.
My initial reaction was pure disappointment. My favorite dry fly rod broke at the beginning of what was lining up to be a stellar day of hatches. Not ideal, but that was not why I was upset. I’ve done many dumb things on the water that result in broken rods and lost gear. This wasn’t new to me.
I was dissatisfied with the way I approached the day.
If you know me, you know I love fishing dry flies. Catching a wild trout on a dry fly I tied is what I live for in this sport. No need to justify why, I just love it. It makes me who I am as an angler.
I was disappointed as I was not fishing true to myself. I felt pressure to fish a different way than what I wanted to. I thought catching a big fish is what I needed to have a good day on the water and fishing a streamer was the only way to do that. This is far from the truth.
I felt the need to fish streamers because of a combination of external pressures. The people I have surrounded myself with in my small fly fishing community enjoy fishing big streamers. I see big fish caught on social media and compare myself to those pictures. I also had this fear of missing out on a big fish eating a streamer. The fear of asking myself at the end of the day, “What if I would have fished a streamer.”
I refuse to be led by these insecurities and fears in fly fishing and life.
Days fishing with these thoughts looming in my head are not fun for me, nor will they ever be. I fly fish to have fun. It makes me feel free and in my most present state. On this day, dry fly fishing sounded fun to me and in line with my goals.
After this realization, I packed up my gear and made the long walk back to the truck. I rigged up my spare 9ft 5wt with a dry fly leader. I went back to the river with a different mindset. The goal is to have a fun afternoon throwing dry flies to rising trout. Fishing the way I wanted to. Fishing for myself. Fishing true to who I am as an angler.
It led to an epic day on the water. I walked back to the truck hollering, talking through some epic dry fly eats, and fist-pumping. No need to yell “Hey bear” on this walk back. I felt as alive and free as I ever have.
I want you to experience the same feeling I had when walking back to my truck this weekend.
We all fly fish for the fun of it, whatever fun looks like to you. Find out what that looks like to you and pursue it with passion. Leave your worries, judgments, and expectations behind and fish for yourself.
We only get so many days to fish, we owe it to ourselves to have fun on these special days.
Next time you head out fishing, ask yourself if your fishing aligned with your values and how you define yourself as an angler. Does it align with why you fly fish in the first place?
