Maybe you’ve never had a fly fishing injury. But there is a good chance that if you’ve had an injury, it has impacted your fly fishing.

Today I’m sharing three articles that deal with a relatively obscure, but certainly important, aspect of fly fishing. Physical health is a necessary part of fly fishing. While you don’t need to be a performance athlete to be skilled at casting or finding fish, there are real benefits to having a baseline of fitness. Here are the three things I’m sharing today:

• Sometimes you need to not fish today so that you can be healthy when the time comes to fish tomorrow.
• There might be a day when you’re forced to stop fishing… so appreciate what you can do when you can do it.
• Consider taking steps to prepare yourself a little bit now to set up a future full of fishing.

Click on the picture or title for each article below to be taken to the  full post:

You Need Your Casting Arm to Fish

Two weeks ago, while moving chairs, I felt a twinge in my elbow. Using one arm, I was moving two chairs in order to pick them up. There was a table in between me and the stack of chairs. Consequently, my arm was fully extended. Immediately before grabbing them with my other hand, I felt the sharp pain on the top of my elbow. The elbow of my right arm. Which just so happens to be my casting arm.

Falling into Fly Fishing Perspective

Falling and hurting my ankle changed a lot of things in small ways. Obviously, fly fishing has been impacted. I’ve been hurt before. But for whatever reason (maybe age, maybe being humbled) this time I feel like I’ve gained some perspective. Lord willing I’ll heal quickly and get back to doing what I want how I want to do it before this summer wraps us. Not everyone who fishes has a  temporary limitation. It isn’t as easy as “cross the river to cast” or “head down that hillside.”

Living & Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing & Living

Moving requires exertion. Exertion, as you are well aware, gets progressively more difficult as it adds up. That happens over the course of an afternoon, a week, and a lifetime. Climbing up one more hill and down one more steep bank becomes a chore, rather than an adventure. The arm and shoulder motions needed for casting become more painful than the deficits in skill. A little ice turns into a big deal… or even a mortal threat.