Pursuing Moments of Perfection

Fly fishing represents a myriad of facets which touch each individual differently, that’s exactly the attraction of the sport. I have been fly fishing for thirty six years already and feel the journey has only just begun. Fly fishing provides the tools for the examination of your character whilst pursuing moments of perfection. It is like a CSI investigation, combining the constantly changing clues offered by nature with your character traits and reflecting on them.

Fly fishing is not just standing on the edge of a stretch of water going through the motions of trying to fling a fly that weighs almost nothing and hooking that fish of your dreams. Regrettably it is not instant gratification and hence does not necessarily appeal to everybody.

In life we constantly strive to improve as individuals and fly fishing offers us these opportunities. Let me explain. The art of fly fishing requires that you master many skills. Yes, for the men out there that doesn’t necessarily mean multi tasking but rather that you execute each element competently. Fly fishing is a personal challenge as we eliminate the sense of smell, one of the fish’s strongest attributes for survival. We use flies generally made from fur and feathers that hardly smell to fool fish. It is an active sport, where your success depends on your ability to make things happen. If you consider that Salmon in Canada for example, that breed naturally in their rivers, swim out thousands of kilometres to sea to grow out to those monster fish people travel the world to catch, come back to that exact same spot where they were born to spawn, purely through their sense of smell, one can appreciate the challenge. Add to this, the fact that flies weigh next to nothing, should be presented as naturally as possible to fish cruising in the water, the challenge becomes even more difficult. Understanding the principals of physics to use your rod to transfer energy to the line to propel the fly, and acquiring the timing to achieve this successfully, is an art in itself. This is where your personality is tested. The frustration with yourself not being able to achieve the hand to eye co-ordination and sense of timing to keep your fly out of the bush behind you or whipping the water to a foam in front of you, sending any fish in the area skeltering for cover. It requires tenacity, an understanding of your own capabilities, your willingness to adapt and learn and an avenue for success through feeling the presentation. The precision of presenting the fly on the proverbial tickey, considering the wind, the vegetation and the fact that your line must be in the air for the shortest time possible at a moment’s notice, at any given distance in any given direction where a fish has just moved, is a skill that requires hours of practice, boosting your self confidence.

Owning one of the many off road vehicles that promise a lifestyle that takes you to the ends of the earth on the road less travelled is definitely an advantage. However, it is the areas where fish live that transport you to that outdoor corridor of nature’s bounty. This is exactly where one can break out from the exoskeleton of everyday life. When one looks at a piece of water, where do you start fishing and with what fly? Well, the way a fish feeds will tell you what insect the fish is eating at what stage of its life cycle. This giudes you to select the most appropriate fly, in other words, match the hatch, increasing your chances of being consistently successful. Whilst many people say that catching a fish is not that important but a bonus as you are always in magnificent surroundings, this is true, but catching fish consistently is very gratifying. By becoming totally absorbed in the immediate environment, observing insect behaviour both in and out of the water, you arm yourself with ammunition to strategize the fish’s demise. Aspiring to become a more knowledgeable entomologist, slowing yourself down to the pace of the bugs, seducing your soul into feeling your surroundings your physiology pulsing to the beat of mother nature, you do walk away rejuvenated. The dynamics of the environment are constantly changing; in order to succeed you too need to change your fishing tactics. The life cycle of an insect generally transforms within twenty four hours to twelve months and progresses from an egg which has been laid by an adult, attached to structure under the water, to a crawling nymph, to a swimming nymph, to an emerging nymph where it starts to develop wings and legs just below the water’s surface or in the meniscus, before hatching into an adult, mating and starting the cycle all over again. Although man has landed on the moon and discovered many more things than atoms and phytoplankton’s we have yet to discover nature’s trigger that causes insects to hatch. Whether that be the sun moving behind a cloud, a change in wind direction or a drop in pressure, what causes an insect to hatch from a crawling nymph to a swimming nymph? At each stage of its life cycle the insect is vulnerable to fish. It is these hatches that induce certain behavioural patterns of the fish. Find the food and you’ll find the fish. Understanding what to do elevates your fishing to the next level. This determines your strategy, are you going to fish a floating line, at what depth should your fly be, what shape, size and colour should it be? How does the insect move? Can you piece together the evidence before you to solve the mystery? This is what makes you think and stimulates such a fascinating challenge around fly fishing; the dynamics of the environment surrounding you, the flowers and plants, the beauty of the water reflecting your mood, the setting sun and the sound of the birds coming to roost.

Whilst you connect your soul with Mother Nature you notice mosquitoes hovering closer now that they have picked up your scent, you tie on a suspender buzzer. As if you’ve turned natures key, a fish breaks the mirror of the reflection of the mauve water as it porpoises at one o’ clock, ten meters in front of you. Calmly, you pick up your line, majestically moving it through the air, stopping your rod it straightens with purpose, presenting your buzzer gently! The fish hears the fly land, turns and devours your offering. Piecing together nature’s clues, choosing the correct fly,(even more rewarding if you have tied the fly yourself), casting and presenting the fly precisely on the spot, the fish fooled taking your fly, THAT, is a moment of perfection! That is why we fly fish. The more you fish, the more frequently you achieve those moments of perfection the more addicted you become, as the sense of achievement in the success of that moment is enormously satisfying.

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