Restoration, Not Escape

 

Being outdoors is often referred to as an escape. An escape from the hustle and bustle; an escape from the rat race; an escape from normal life. Whether it be fly fishing, hiking, or simply standing in a wild place,  these pursuits give a diverse group of people the feeling of liberation.

It is true. And it would be foolish to deny the sentiment.

Where the escape analogy begins to fall apart is the big picture.

Although trying and seemingly confining at times, normal life isn’t bad. Vocation, relationships, and just being a part of society are good things.  Perhaps enough time has passed that contemporary man is unaware that it wasn’t so long ago that humanity was clamoring to escape from  being outdoors.  Escape from the rivers; escape from the rusticity, escape from nature red in tooth and claw.

In the big picture, it is apparent that our world is groaning. Humanity is groaning, too. The futility of fighting against nature, work, and each other propels people to escape. For aeons, those in wild places run to the cities and towns. Those in civilization flee to the water and the woods.

The desire to escape isn’t a result of modernity. It is a result of fallen humanity.

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VIDEO: Risen Fly Genesis

When I found out about the Genesis rod series from Risen Fly Fishing, I was excited to get my hands on it. What happened when I received the 9′ 5-weight and took it out to cast? My anticipation was well founded.

Reason being, the Genesis is  A) a value, and B) flexible.

In terms of value, Risen Fly continues to turn out gear at a great price. Utilizing industry-standard components and construction, their business model and philosophy allows for wallet-friendly rods and reels. At under $100, the Genesis is a fantastic buy. That price point makes getting into fly fishing or adding another rod to your quiver simple.

The Genesis is flexible in more ways than one. I prefer a moderate fast action for trout because of the delicacy it provides when it comes to presentation. Additionally, it is my “action of choice” when I am teaching people to cast and fish. The Genesis is a rod that I’ll fish, but also a rod that I won’t hesitate to hand to someone I’m introducing to the sport.

Check out my video on the Risen Fly Fishing Genesis here:

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Opening Day of Trout Season Still Matters

In modern fly fishing, the idea of an opening day of trout season doesn’t hold the same kind of mystique that it did in past generations. With many catch and release waters being open year-round, the calendar doesn’t dictate if one can fish. The conclusion to fish or not depends more on personal choice. Weather, not law, becomes a deciding factor. For the ardent angler, conservation concerns such as spawning seasons or water temperatures might be the only limiting variables.

Season-free trout fishing is a relatively new phenomenon. The purposes behind closing and opening different waters is intriguing. Learning why different states across the country adapted statutes for reasons of conservation and economics is valuable for understanding the history of resource management.

Perhaps more compelling is the change in culture. In past years a certain day in April held a special allure. Throughout the cold winter months, a date circled on the calendar represented the renewal of fishing. More than that it meant anticipation for specific rituals. Cleaning tackle, tying flies, and putting in for a few days’ vacation built up the expectation. Coordinating with friends and family to repeat the same customs on and off the water was integral and part of the fun.

These days, a significant segment of the fly fishing culture associates opening day with crowds and stocked trout. These two elements are considered antithetical to the core pursuit of fishing. Spots with easy access or holes that are known to congregate fish fill up. Unfortunately, anglers who get unruly, leave behind trash, and push the boundaries of creel limits perpetuate the negative stigma that opening day can hold.

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Last Cast of the Week, 3/23/2018

Most Fridays on Casting Across are  devoted to other people’s contributions in the fly fishing community. Articles, pictures, social media accounts, videos, podcasts, products, and more will be featured on The Last Cast of the Week.

Today, I’m sharing items from Cheeky/AFFTA, Trident Fly Fishing, &  North Arkansas Fly Fishers.

If you’d like to be featured in the Last Cast of the Week, or have seen something that others might be interested in, use my  contact form  or shoot me an email (matthew[at]castingacross[dot]com). Also, be sure to  subscribe to Casting Across to never miss a post.

Check out the links, along with my thoughts, below:

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Life Up on the Bank: Fly Fishing in Rural Appalachia

“It looks like a movie set,” Jeff said.

“It looks like the soviets just pulled out,” I added.

It was only a halfway attempt at humor. A few months earlier, I travelled to a former soviet state. I spent time in some places that had obviously felt the weight of a very, very difficult period in recent history. And here, in America, the condition of the buildings and infrastructure I was looking at was eerily familiar.

Jeff and I took a detour through this particular town on our way to some fly fishing. The river that flowed through the town and another nearby tributary are both regional hallmarks for trout. Well-to-do anglers, from a handful of metropolitan cities only a day’s-drive away, speak highly of the watershed’s beauty and challenging fish. The area around this place is a legitimate destination.

I wonder how the residents of this time-worn town think about their surroundings.

Like so many Appalachian hamlets, this little village was settled and developed in the mid-19th century with great hope and vigor. A burgeoning economy, one which capitalized on timber, coal, and railroads, led to establishing municipalities such as this. People came, thrived, and inevitably enjoyed the outdoor pursuits that the region afforded them. While the three aforementioned business interests almost always harmed fish populations, the decline wasn’t rapid enough to eliminate it altogether during those boom years.

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Fly Fishing Books, V

I live in Massachusetts. That means that for most of the fall, winter, and spring I don’t have to do pesky things like yard work or go outside. I’m usually covered in feet of snow. This affords me little opportunity for simple or mundane outdoor pursuits.

On the positive side, this allows me to read more books. Although fly fishing books can be torturous when  stuck inside for months, they do offer some daydreaming and escapism. Having a good angling book does things that a YouTube video never will. You’re much more engaged. Even on a sensory level, an author who has a way with words will stir you  more than images ever will.

Whether you are reading this next to a roaring fire, from a temperate climate, or in the middle of summer, I encourage you to take a look at one of these solid fly fishing books!

As I’ve done for all of the entries in my “Fly Fishing Books” series, I’ve spread the selections over three rough categories:

  • Guide (regional, site specific)
  • Technical (methods, locations, fly tying)
  • Literature (novels, biographies, history)

Check out one kind of each book, why I suggest it, and a bonus read below. And follow the links in the headings to get a copy for yourself!

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Lefty, 1926-2018

On March 14th, 2018, Bernard “Lefty” Kreh passed away. He was 93.

And in his 90’s, he was still a fly fisherman, an author, and an ambassador for the sport.  His contributions to the development of tackle, the library of angling, and the community of fly fishers was inimitable. This was not a secret to anyone. At fly fishing expo shows and events, including one bearing his name, he was undeniably the biggest “celebrity.”

But you wouldn’t know it from talking to him. If you  shook his hand or told him a fishing story, he’d smile, crack a joke, and give you time. This was something that he would do over and over again, with complete strangers and with fishing buddies he’d known for decades.

In the 50-plus years that he was a face of fly fishing, he touched a diverse group of anglers. On the front end of his professional angling career, he was  a cutting edge  voice for his readers. In recent years, his casting instruction would cause fly fishing shows to come to a screeching halt – every cell phone camera aimed at him. Across that range of time, both via the written and spoken word, he captivated audiences with his mastery of rod, line, and language.

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My Friend, The Trout

I’ve known fish, personally.

Now, before you call the nice people with the straitjackets and happy pills, let me explain.

Over the years, I’ve fished in certain places with such regularity that particular fish are identifiable. Sometimes it is by where they are stationed, other times it is by their feeding activity. There have even been a few trout and bass that have distinctive patterns or shapes that make them easy to single out.

I know I’m not alone in this.

Sometimes, a fish of renown is familiar to an entire community. Everyone knows about “old one-eye” that lives by the submerged Volkswagen off the peninsula. Everyone has hooked him and brought him in close enough to see that he has (you guessed it) only one eye. But no one has landed him. Except grandpa. Apparently, he did – back in ’78.

Folklore and fables aside, aquatic acquaintances are a thing. If you are on the same beat over and over again, you’ll encounter a fish multiple times. Fish, be they brook trout or smallmouth bass, prefer to stay in one safe place rather than moving from safe place to safe place. As long as their safe place isn’t disturbed, or they aren’t edged out by nature or anglers, they’ll lay claim to their feeding lane.

This means that if you’re conscientious, you can repeatedly observe, cast to, and even catch the same fish throughout the season.

More likely, you’ll have a complex and unhealthy love-hate relationship with an animal sporting very little in the way of cognitive function.

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Killer Angles: Blue Halo on Bending Fly Fishing

 

Ten years ago, you wouldn’t see many serious anglers fishing fiberglass fly rods. Ten years ago, you wouldn’t see anyone, let alone a “serious angler” fishing a day-glow neon fly rod.

A lot can happen in ten years.

Ten years ago, Blue Halo wasn’t a company yet. At that time, cofounder and current CEO Cortney Boice was starting to become frustrated with his present rod options. “Back when the industry was going through this phase of every rod having to be fast action, I was fishing that kind of rod,” Boice says. “Then I personally went through a phase of losing fish, getting knots in my leader, and finding myself frustrated. I know it was my fault, but I didn’t think my gear was helping me.”

Fortunately, he had a friend who built bamboo rods. “I liked how they casted, and I felt like I was landing more fish.” But the cost of a bamboo fly rod, let alone multiple lengths and weights, was prohibitive. Boice went looking into his past, when he first started fly fishing, for the kind of rod that would be softer than graphite and more economical than grass.

Like many who have taken up fly fishing, his first rod was an inexpensive fiberglass model. The feel was right and the price was right. “The problem was that there weren’t a lot of (fiberglass) options outside of custom rod rollers,” says Boice. “And they had to do manually. Sometimes it would take up to six months to get a rod into your hand.” This didn’t seem reasonable to Boice and his partners. Their own desire to fish glass led to them to ask a simple question: Why shouldn’t someone who wants a fiberglass rod be able to get it as fast as they could get a graphite rod?

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Last Cast of the Week, 3/9/2018

Most Fridays on Casting Across are  devoted to other people’s contributions in the fly fishing community. Articles, pictures, social media accounts, videos, podcasts, products, and more will be featured on The Last Cast of the Week.

Today, I’m sharing items from Risen Fly Fishing, Texas Fly Fishing & Brew Festival, and Orvis.

If you’d like to be featured in the Last Cast of the Week, or have seen something that others might be interested in, use my  contact form  or shoot me an email (matthew[at]castingacross[dot]com). Also, be sure to  subscribe to Casting Across to never miss a post.

Check out the links, along with my thoughts, below:

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