Ultimate Competition

24 Nov 2010 at 16:13

Spokane

David Morriss once again got me to thinking about competition. He is correct. The ultimate competition is between the fisher-person and the fish. And, of course, he is also correct that none of us would enter a competition within which we knew we would always win. There have been times in the "ultimate competition" however, when I have wished that I would win a little more often then I was at that particular moment in time. I recall perfect evenings when the "hatch" was on, fish were rising all around me, and I was "shooting blanks". There have been times when I have, literally, tried every fly in the arsenal ~ all to no avail. Gosh a fella's self-esteem suffers during those periods of "bad luck" ~ or should I say inaptness? The process is a lot like putting your kids' Christmas toys together. You never read/study the directions unless you're truly stuck. Oh I might subconsciously watch to see if the risers are hitting above or just beneath the surface of the water and the general size and color of the bugs in the air, but I don't truly "study the situation" until I'm in real trouble, i.e no strikes - no nothing! Then, out comes the little screen thingie. I study the screenings. I sit on the bank and observe flying things. I closely watch the fish rising, where they are rising, how, etc. By that time it is usually dark and as I head back to the pickup, I think, "if I only had a little more time I would have figured it out!" And, quietly, I think to myself, God, I hope no one was watching.

On such occasions, what I'd really like to know is, "how does some vertebrate like a fish that has as a brain a wide spot in its spinal cord consistently out smart the human vertebrate whose brain is capable of opening child proof medicine bottles?" Of course, on those rare occasions when the fish are "biting" and will rise to any thing thrown at them, including those scruffy royal coachmen you tied when you were twelve years old, you know you are catching them because you have superior intellect ~ and of course are a brilliant fly fisherman.

One thing about the human brain we tend to "over think" these things! But, I have learned one thing over the years if you encounter a guide or some such expert that states he/she has never had a "blank" day of fishing avoid em. They haven't fished. Some days you're just out there for the "experience" ~ and if you're like I am ~ loving it .

Gordon

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• 
  PrairieFlyFisher

  28 Nov 2010 at 20:31

  Gordon, When I have really hit my fly fishing zen, it stops even being a competition with the fish. I mean, sure. Most of the time I am out there to rip some lips and failing to land a few fish means I lost. But sometimes, and usually the most pleasant times, that need or urge to catch fades. It just becomes the sounds and the sights. I have even found myself sitting and watching a pod of rising trout, just to watch. Those are the times when I really get something out of fly fishing that I could get no where else.
• 
  Spokane

  29 Nov 2010 at 09:55

  Dan, I know exactly what you mean. It's somewhat like a dance ~ sometimes its just more fun to watch. Unfortunately, we do have "dancing with the stars moments of competition". lol Frankly, I'd rather just dance for the joy of dancing. I guess that was the point of my original blog on competition. I probably got a little "off track" with the ultimate competition blog/idea. Thank you for your thoughts. I think most fly fishers would agree with us.
  
  At another level, I went fly fishing with my older daughter, Jennie, last year and found that my greatest enjoyment was not in fishing but in watching my daughter fish. She had excellent technique and an excellent "feel" for the water, i.e. where to place the fly, etc. I hadn't fished with her for years. I was so impressed and had so much fun! I just sat and watched.
  
  Good to hear from you,
  
  Gordon
  
  
  
• 
  davem

  30 Nov 2010 at 06:45

  Gordon.
  Funny how we mature into different mindsets as time passes.
  Remember when I first started, any not so stellar days would send me into a tailspin. Buy more books, research hatches and tie the latest and greatest flies.
  If I got skunked I would go to my “Fly Shop” the next day to plead with the professionals as to a reason why!
  
  It has never ceased to amaze me that after all these years that watching a rising fish slurp mayflies in the surface film will bring a shit eating grin to my face, how simple is that!
  
  Perfect days now have little to do with the quantity of fish I catch in a day, as my buddy Paul says “ Catching a fish or two on a day like this is just gravy”
  
  Fly Fishing, a perfectly imperfect way to spend the day
  
  David
• 
  Spokane

  1 Dec 2010 at 09:25

  David,
  
  So true...
  
  On a good day you can even detect the sound the fish makes when it slurps!
  
  I especially like the gravy idea. I find it hard to think of Fly Fishing as anything other than perfection!
  
  Hope all is well up "North".
  
  Gordon

Good Manners / Ethics

3 Dec 2010 at 10:23

Spokane

There has been a lot of talk on this site recently with regard to being alone with nature, why I love fly fishing, competition, at oneness with nature, happiness, solitude and so on ~ a lot of esoteric, touchy feely and really important stuff.

Speaking for myself, I enjoy being with my friends while fishing. I honestly do. But to be perfectly honest, it’s the solitude that I enjoy most. An interesting dimension relative to my fly fishing experience is that my friends understand this and share my beliefs ~ we can be alone together. For the most part we stay out of each other’s way and give each other physical space. Oh, as I have grown older I have to admit that I enjoy more being with my friends while I fish and will even upon occasion whilst in the mist of a really good run step aside and say, “why don’t you give it a shot?” Once again, it is just fun to watch. At 30 years of age this was not possible for me.

Occasionally, I will venture out on fishing trips “by myself” usually by necessity because friends have other things to do. Being retired, I often find this to be the case. But, as I’ve said before I enjoy the solitude. Last fall on one of my solo trips I arrived at my destination fishing spot a little early and was taking my time rigging up when a Jeep SUV pulled up behind me. A fellow of a certain type gets out and commences talking with/to/at me. “Have you fished here before? Is it any good? What fly do you usually use? etc.” I politely responded as best I could under the circumstances. The guy walks back to his SUV, quickly rigs up, and begins walking down to the river. I said, “you are not walking in on me are you?” To which he replies, “yes, I guess I am. I got down here first.” Now in my younger days that response might have begun as we say one of those “teachable moments”. Fortunately, this particular river has about seventy miles of paved road running next to it ~ access is not a problem and the “good spots” are many. I was irritated to say the least, but I calmed down and thought, “well, I guess he needs the solitude more than I do” and drove on up the river. As a kid growing up in Montana you never messed with a fellow’s girl, and you never ever stepped in on a fellow while he was fly fishing. Gentlemen just didn’t do that sorta thing.

As a retired accounting professor I realize the important of ethics and how difficult it can be to teach ethics. I also understand the concept of situational ethics. I also grew to appreciate that with young people, simple ignorance was often the basis of poor manners, i.e. they simply didn't know what was expected of them. Fortunately, most of the fly fishers I have met have been highly ethical and thoughtful people. Unfortunately as with most things in life it’s the exception to the rule that we dwell on. Worst thing I could think of was, “he must have been a lawyer and a small claims one at that!” lol ~ just kidding!!

~~

Because I exceeded the maximum number of symbols allowed for a comment I decided to paste this response on to the original blog. ~ gordon

David,

The thought occurred to me that some of our friends on this site might consider us to be somewhat "snobbish". We have the luxury of fishing in some fairly remote places where the chance of human encounter is slight ~ well at least small. In turn we consider our privacy ~space~ to be a "right". As our population increases the chance of encounter with other folks obviously increases. I was reminded of this while fishing with a good friend in Wisconsin where he lives. The area we were in was sparsely populated but the interaction with other humans was definitely greater than it was in Northern Idaho. There definitely was a slightly different set of ethics regarding our fishing conduct.

A close friend of mine had the opportunity to fish in England last Spring. It was interesting to learn of their customs and of the environment in which they fished. Good manners are certainly influenced by the sociological environment within which they exist. More people ~ more chance of personal encounters ~ more rules ~ I am sure.

Would be interesting to hear from our UK friends on this topic. As an example, is the old saying attributed to the English true that "good form" requires that you cast only to a rising fish. Are there rules of conduct that we should be aware of as pressure increases on our favorite fishing sites?

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• 
  davem

  4 Dec 2010 at 06:29

  Gordon..
  What can I say, some people get this and some don’t, fortunately most do though.
  Last season on the Oldman I witnessed something that I thought was just ridiculous, but it did appeal to my sense of humour.....
  I could see a guy upstream slowly working his way down to a really good pool, another guy downstream walking the bank, heading to the same pool....
  When the downstream guy spotted the upstream guy he started running, these 2 characters are about 500 m apart, to lay claim on the pool, to get there he needed to cross the river, and the moron fell in.
  Even after all this he verbalized his claim to the pool!
  
• 
  davem

  4 Dec 2010 at 10:59

  Gordon
  You make an excellent point.
  On the post I made on My Home Water “alant” made a comment “Fantastic, you sure are lucky to have that on your doorstep”
  
  Have really wanted to respond to that comment, but wasn’t sure on as to how.
  
  I think that being in Canada and the US we share a common rule in that we are allowed to fish any stream or body of water if we gain access and stay within the high water mark?
  Which makes us more lucky than just having this water close at hand.....
  
  Have to admit that the water I have seen and read about in the UK looks fabulous, even more tempting than some of the freestone water I have on my doorstep.
  For some reason though, I think that good trout water in the UK is privately owned?
  
• 
  Spokane

  5 Dec 2010 at 08:05

  I too look at the UK water with "lustful" eyes. Much of what I have viewed reminds me of the spring creek water that I was familiar with as a youth in the Livingston Montana area. When I visited the U.K. in the early 90's I saw creeks in Wales that reminded me a lot of our free stone creeks. I did not have the opportunity to fish, however. Like you, I had the impression that assess was a definite problem, i.e. private ownership. My friend who fished in the lakes region last spring had a guide who had purchased the right to fish the stream on Thursday afternoons. He enjoy the experience but admitted it was "different". Hope all is well "up North". Cold here. ~ Gordon
• 
  Tomeo

  5 Dec 2010 at 20:45

  I very much enjoy being by my self when I fish, even when I am with others. I am in my pram they are in theirs. Early last season I had the pleasure of taking a young 8 year old boy fishing at a local lake. After about 15 minutes and a bit of impatience on my part I realized it was more important to let the boy fish than it was for me to fish. We both had an enjoyable day. I asked him today if he wants to go again he and about 3 other boys that heard us talking expressed a desire to go. I think I will be busy this next season. Hopefully I can get other dads to go along. Fishing is a wonderful way to create memories for children and dads.
• 
  Spokane

  6 Dec 2010 at 08:46

  Hi Jerry,
  
  I know what you mean about fishing with children. I really enjoy fishing with my grand kids, but it takes patience. After boat fishing with my older grandson, John ~ he is about 10 years old ~ I decided it was time I got him started on the fine art of fly casting. I rigged up an old fly rod with a old reel. I took off the fly and started him casting, i.e. one o'clock high, back forth, etc. etc. It took him about 3 minutes to figure out if he did it fast enough the fly line made a popping sound like a bull whip. I couldn't convince him that the sound wasn't what we were after. We went back to trolling. Even as a professor of approximately 30 years, I'm not known for my patience. Maybe next year.

Idenification Process

I have a fishing buddy who happens to be a devoted canoeist as well as an excellent fly fisherman. He hails from Edmonton Alberta where he taught at the University of Alberta for twenty years. While in Edmonton he was more of a canoeist than fly fisherman. I am not much of a canoeist so our shared adventures have mostly been fly fishing trips. Many of the streams/rivers that we fish he also canoes with his canoeing friends. Interestingly, on our first trip together he had names for the "runs" we fished ~ names that didn't correspond with the names that my fishing friends and I had for the same runs! Canoeists, as it turns out, are notorious for naming their "waters" ~ the "devil's toenail" is one of my favorites. He has a "ton" of names.

He and I now share names of fishing runs that we have come up with. Paul's hole, Skip's hole, and Ed's run are some of the more nondescript and less exciting names we have handed out. But, we also have "the sewer hole" (it is just below the drain field for the ranger station septic system), the horse camp hole, and the meadows that are more interesting names. We, of course, have many others. But, when we mention the name to our circle of fly fishers, they immediately know the hole to which we refer.

Just as interesting, when we encounter new fishing friends they usually will have a name to describe a particular fishing hole as well. However, their name will seldom correspond to our name. Oh, a few are universal. But few are the same. The one exception, in my experience, is the "sewer hole". Most everyone immediately identifies that spot.

Canoeists, on the other hand, seem to me to have a universal naming system. Perhaps, they are smaller in number and are more closely organized. As a result. they have more universality in identifying their rapids. I really don't know. But find it interesting.

It's also interesting to compare the names given by different groups. Some names are obvious such as names of persons, physical attributes, or locations. Others seem to be the result of personal experiences, i.e. dead man's run.

What are the most interesting names you have come up with or heard? Or do you even attempt to name your favorite runs? I have acquaintances who simply use the mile markers to identify the stretch of water to which they refer. I always thought that to be a pretty unromantic way to approach life! At the other extreme, I know certain fly shops in my experience that seem to take special joy in unusual and sometimes cheesy names.

Gordon

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• 
  davem

  20 Dec 2010 at 06:45

  Good post.
  Most “Holes” that I name usually have something to do with meeting somebody or some other memorable occasion while there for the first Time.
  “Bow Island Jeff’s Pool”, met a guy at this pool on the Oldman, Jeff, that lived in a small town “Bow Island”
  “Bear Shit Run” stepped in some bear shit while I was fishing this run for the first time.
  Have never changed these names, my buddy calls em the same thing and we know exactly where they are. It has become all part of the “confidential reporting system”!
  
• 
  Spokane

  20 Dec 2010 at 09:35

  David,
  
  Your bear shit experience reminded me of an adventure my dog "moose", an Australian Shepard, and I had last summer. We were huckleberry picking ~ just the two of us. I'd been picking for quite a while when I missed moose. I started yelling for him and here he comes. He was completely covered with bear shit. He had obviously rolled in it. He had to ride home in the back of the pickup. I called him a traitor when we got back to the cabin. If a bear showed up he wanted to be considered more bear than human. The coward!! By the way he was a kinda pretty purple color!

If a Doctor were to say...

So..the doctor says,
You're out of shape.
Here's what I want
you to do.

Find a stream
with various sized
rocks covered with
green slimy moss ~
the slippier the better.

The ideal river
will have varying
degrees of depth
and varying degrees
of current speed.

Unbelievably steep
and rocky banks
are a plus.

What I am handing
you are called
waders.
When you get to the
river put these on and
wade into the river.

Before entering the stream
put these boots on
to add to the overall
weight of the outfit.

Attempt to wade
with the current and
against the current at
random.
Wade across the
stream at random
as well.

At all times maintain
your balance.
You may fall a few
times ~ but that is OK.

Remember the feeling
of "pushing water"
is good. Leg cramps
at night after a full
day of doing this is
indication of "success'!

For a change of pace,
attempt several crossings
with the water lapping
as close as possible to
top of your waders.

Oh yes,
upon occasion
fall in.


While doing this
exercise
swing this stick
above your head.

Follow this routine
as often as is possible
and report back to me.

To which the average
person would say
"Are you crazy? You
could get killed doing
that ~ drown or have
a heart attack or simply
get really tired.

And yet a fly fisherman
does the routine
as often as is possible.

And gladly!

Gordon

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• 
  davem

  14 Nov 2010 at 11:09

  To funny, for a guy like me at 5’ 11’ 250 lbs (just slightly overweight), a pack a day smoker, the very thought of getting up at the crack of dawn to travel 2 ½ hours to my sacred fishing hole and then hiking in for another hour to find my “happy place” has more than once made me question this pastime.
  Is it a passion or an addiction?
  
• 
  Spokane

  14 Nov 2010 at 14:00

  Hi David,
  
  I don't know about you, but for me it is a strange mixture of addiction and passion. I know I start to twitch and get moody as Hell if I'm away from it for any period of time (kinda like when you're first in love). In the Spring I can hardly wait to get "back at it" and usually end up freezing my buns off as a result. But, I love it even when I'm freezing!
  
  I should have included the added exercise of slapping mosquitoes to the original blog!! In Northern Idaho and Montana their presence always adds to the experience and add exercise for the small and large muscle groups.
• 
  FLYFISHINGDOJO

  14 Nov 2010 at 15:31

  A great story. Perhaps there should be a sequel where a psychiatrist advises a patient to engage in fly fishing for stress reduction & good mental health. How many would be better off if they desired to cast little feathery objects at magnificent fish? For now, let it be our mutual little secret while the rest simply wonder, "Why, do they do it?"
  Thanks for the good read. --- Sensei John, Director of Fly Fishing Dojo.
• 
  Spokane

  16 Nov 2010 at 06:45

  Hi John,
  
  Glad you enjoyed it. I've had this reoccurring theme/thought several times during my fly-fishing life, i.e. if a physician asked me to do this I would refuse! One night in particular after a hard day of "pushing water", I had cramps in both of my legs in both the quads and the calves. I thought I was going to die! The next morning I was back on the stream. I thought at the time this is complete craziness.
  
  Gordon