"First thing's first. There's always exceptions." - Sam Galt
Those early successes in fly fishing can be good and bad. I remember catching fish on the fly while working on the ranch in Montana as a teenager. The memories are sunny days, dry flies, and beautiful trout, without much thought to how or how many. Certainly "tactics" weren't discussed. But then, that was thirty years ago...
It’s easy for us to forget the thought that goes into how we will fish. Every next cast could be that special memory that keeps us coming back. Our minds tell us to Wade Out There. Get fishing. Start working that water. Kiki reminds us that just as we are problem solving through different water types during the day, we should also problem solve before those first steps in the water.
I laughed when he asked. "Seriously man. Should I be nymphing?" There was a frustrated chuckle in his voice. I think he knew the answer, but it is a fair question.
For many of us, tying flies comes after the fishing part. It's the next step, or at least, another step. If we enjoy it, embrace it, and continue tying, fly tying becomes just another aspect of fly fishing. Like learning how to tight line or chasing a new species. Tying, then, becomes part of the progress we seek, and as we learn new tactics and techniques for fishing, our tying evolves as well.
Wrapping, snapping, rubbing, busting. Fighting fish around structure is difficult. You have to do all the other things correct, PLUS apply the tactics that will keep your fish from breaking off. The logs and branches, boulders and rocks add a whole new dimension to landing fish, and a big trout that’s been around the block knows these obstacles and will use them to frustrate your endeavors to net them. My new home waters have forced some serious reflection on how to minimize the heartache of a lost fish (especially those nice ones) when that line finds something besides water to slice against. I’ve landed on four techniques that help me when fighting trout around structure. Fight fish fast. Fight fish close. Move your body. Move your rod. We’ll cover each…
Podcast
Streamer Fishing on the North Platte River and the Importance of Community with Jennings Hester
Fly fishing brings with it the idea of solitude. Alone with your thoughts on the river. Just you and the fish. Many people fall in love with fly fishing because of that time away from everything else in their lives that clutters their brain. I admit, I seek that same state of mind in fly fishing. That focus and clarity that comes from wading through cold, flowing water and getting lost in the problem solving. That focus we find in fly fishing, when everything else disappears is special, but even in our solitude, we are part of a community of others who seek the same thing. And that makes the fly fishing community unique... and valuable.
I’m proud to announce that WadeOutThere hats are now available. This hat has been an ongoing project for me since I built the WadeOutThere website and published my first blog post almost four years ago. If you want to know how the WadeOutThere Hat came to be, or why it's been so long in the making, you'll have to follow me back to Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan, 2018. Maybe you're thinking, it’s just a hat Jason. Fair enough. I'm grateful you're here either way. But if you’re interested in what makes this hat so special for me, here’s the story…