Fishing is good alone. Fishing is good together. Why? Because fishing is good.

Today I’m sharing three articles from the Casting Across archives, spanning nearly the entire 8 year history of the site. Each has to do with going fly fishing and the alone/together tension that exists every time you get in the water.

Interestingly, and as I point out below, sometimes we feel the most connected when we are miles from anyone else. Whether you are a lone wolf or part of a piscatorial pack, I’m confident that these pieces will resonate with you.

Click on the image or the heading to read the entire post:

Why You Never Go Fly Fishing Alone

It is completely within the rules of fly fishing to stop, sit, and rest while on the water. Taking breaks allows you to perform the essential tasks of observation and rest. Or, there could be a conversation. Streamside chats could be purely about tactics, or they could go deeper. There is something disarming about being in nature that facilitates genuine discussion, even among the most hardened of individuals. Fishing is about more than catching fish…

Solitude Together

And although fly fishing is an escape, we’re incapable of detaching completely. Our thoughts rightly meander from fly presentation to work, family, whats next. Our present fishing is profoundly linked to how we have fished – and who has fished with us in the past. And chances are the trails we are walking, the flies we are using, and the rod we are casting were made by someone else…

Not Alone for a Moment

What I saw around a bend took me off guard. It wasn’t intrinsically jarring, but it had an unanticipated impact that I can still remember all these years later. Laid out on the northern streambank was a large semicircle of fist-sized stones. In the center was a large stick, the diameter of a broom handle, sunk into the mud and gravel. At first glance it appeared to be a pile of trash; but the neatness and order somewhat contradicted the mentality of leaving garbage in the woods. Drawing closer, it became evident that this wasn’t debris at all…