If ever there was a trope in commentary, it is to riff on a State of the Union speech. Without fail, in the days immediately preceding and following the actual address and the resultant coverage you’ll see something wherever you may look. The State of Baseball. The State of the Church. The State of Knitting in Eastern Kentucky. Someone, somewhere is writing every one of those headlines as I write mine.

But I’m not writing The State of Fly Fishing Address. Obviously. You can scroll up and see the title of the article for yourself. I’m riffing on the riff. And I’m putting the onus on you.

How do you think fly fishing is going?

Let’s start with your time on the water.

• How many times did you get out last year?
• Was it more or less than last year?
• Do you plan on ramping it up this year or do you anticipate dialing things back?
• Where did you go?
• Were you going back to the same water over and over, or did you diversify your experience?
• Did you fish somewhere new?
• Do you plan on fishing somewhere new?

How did you do?

• Did you catch fish?
• Did you catch a lot of fish?
• Did you catch any big fish?
• Did you catch any memorable fish?
• Did you get skunked a lot?
• Did you have a good time, even when you were getting skunked?

That said, how did you do it?

• Were you using your tried and true techniques, or did you experiment?
• Are you satisfied with your casting ability, or do you need to practice?
• Was there one aspect of fishing that you really did well with?
• Was there something that you struggled with?

Now, on to some tougher questions.

• Did you spend too much on fly fishing?
• Did you respect the resource?
• Are you involved with what your local water might need, from a conservation perspective?
• Were you a solitary angler, or were you a part of a community?
• Do you still enjoy fly fishing as much as you used to?
• Why do you go fly fishing?

These are simple questions. But answering might be the harder part. While quick and trite responses might get the job done, a little introspection might reveal the state of things for you as an angler. Of course, that is not the most essential aspect of you. But it is an aspect, so it is worth thinking about. And even if you’re only addressing yourself in your head, it is certainly worth thinking about.