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Riley Copeland Senior Project Research Paper November 17, 2009 Knight The Aspects of Fly Fishing “The essence of Fly Fishing is deception. Perhaps that's why it appeals to so many people. It's a benign sort of trickery. As Shakespeare says in __Much Ado About Nothing__: //'Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more.// //Men were deceivers ever;// //One foot in the sea, and one on shore;// //To one thing constant never.”// //(Mort 2)// Anglers are constantly changing flies to try to trick the fish into biting the fly. If one doesn't do the trick, then they put on a new one to try and deceive the fish. Fly fishing is all about casting the fly where you want it, getting it to act the right way while it’s in the water. It is much different from the “everyday” lure fishing where you just throw the lure out there and reel it back in. this is similar to the original idea of fly fishing because you’re trying to trick the fish into biting the hook. But, it is still the fish’s choice to bite the hook. “When a trout chooses to prey upon what he thinks is weaker than himself, the angler ought not to be blamed for it – George Washington Bethune” (The Drake magazine 12). There are many people who think fishing in general is horrible because it harms the fish, what they don’t know is that most of the time it is the handling of the fish that harms or kills it and not the hook.. The angler is still deceiving the fish, but as Bethune said, it is the fish’s choice to bite the hook or not. However, a good knowledge of what types of bugs are hatching and how they act on the what, is what enables an angler to successfully deceive the fish in most cases. When fly fishing, you have to “play” the fish. You can not just tug on the fish as hard as you can until you land it. You need to let the rod do all the work and wear the fish down without breaking the fish off. Fly rods are unique tools designed to give without breaking, cast accurately, and make long distance casts according to the weight of the rod. As Tom Rosenbauer says in his book; “A fly rod is a tool for casting and repositioning line and playing fish. But because it seems to have a personality of its own, you might think of a fly rod as an extension of your own anatomy – a long, skinny finger” (Rosenbauer 9). Also, Rosenbauer wrote; “Describing your fly rod weight alone is like describing someone by saying he weighs 190 pounds. Giving a rod's length, line size, and material, however, is like describing his personality, his purpose in life, his faults, and his strong points, as well as all his physical dimensions” (Rosenbauer 10). Obviously, a 190 pound guy is going to be able to withstand more than a 90 pound guy. In fly rods, an 8 weight rod is going to be able to take on a bigger fish than a 1 weight rod. When you talk about the length of the rod, you’re talking about the faults, strong points, and physical dimensions of a man. If he is really tall, then he might be hitting his head on things, but he will have a much longer reach than a shorter man. However, the shorter man might be a little more mobile in smaller areas just like fly rods. A longer rod will have a much longer reach so it will cast further, but will not be good in tight places. A short rod, on the other hand, will be easy to get in tight places, but will not cast as far. The line size relates to the man’s purpose in life. If his purpose is to take on big things, then he will need bigger line to fight through and come out on top. If he is just going to “go with the flow,” then he will not need a very big line to accomplish his goal. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">The material of a fly rod is like the strengths as well as the personality of a man. If a man has a strong personality and is bigger and stronger, he will be able to stand up to bigger things and withstand more. If a fly rod is built out of graphite, it will be able to take on a bigger and stronger fish than if it is built out of bamboo. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">The fly rod and fly line are obviously two essentials of fly fishing. There are a few more items an angler would have to have in order to catch a fish on a fly. Two more essentials are a reel and of course a fly. However, an angler can’t just have any fly and expect to catch a fish on it. He must have a variety of different flies to be successful in catching fish. Flies are made from many different materials that are a combination of natural and man-made materials. Natural materials include feathers, fur, hair, etc. Man-made materials include lead, thread, foam, beads, flashabou, which is a tinsel like material, and many others. Wet flies and nymphs can be used all year round and are the number one choice for catching fish because fish feed underwater most of the time. Dry flies, in my opinion, are the most entertaining and exciting flies to use. This is because you get to see the fish come to the surface and just devour the fly which can be very dramatic. Also, it is easier to catch a fish on a dry fly because you can see the fly and when the fish takes it. An angler also needs a good reel with a good drag. The reel holds the line while the drag allows the angler to fight the fish better and not break off his fly. Leaders and tippet are another essential to fly fishing. The leader is a tapered piece of monofilament that attaches to the fly line. Tippet is a smaller piece of monofilament that is tied to the fly and the leader. It comes in different pound test to be used in different fishing situations. The reason for these two items is that the fly line is heavy and splashes the water which could spook the fish, but the tippet and leader lightly lay the fly on the water away from the fly line. Another item that anglers often carry is a vest, which has multiple pockets to easily carry fly boxes, tippet, leaders, nippers, forceps, sunglasses, raincoat, water, and many other items. Fly fishermen are famous for carrying “everything but the kitchen sink.” Their vests are so full that many of them look like the Michelin Man, and may look like they can’t even cast their line. Many people pay for a guide to take them out on the water. The guide provides and carries a lot of these items so the client can easily hike and move around without being weighed down by so much equipment. The guide provides expert advice on areas to fish that the client may not be familiar with and can be a great asset when fishing unfamiliar waters. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Having a fly fishing guide business, as with any other fishing guide business, has many attributes, such as knowledge of where the fish are, what they eat at different times of the year, techniques like how to fish up stream, mid stream, and downstream, etc. But, there is one thing that goes above all these, the clients. Brad Highstreet, along with a lot of other guides such as Leon Sanderson and Butch Burdick, says that “Guiding is more about people than it is about fishing” (Highstreet). Also, Will Dornan says a guide has to enjoy seeing others catch fish as much or more than catching one yourself, because the “golden rule” of guiding is to never fish while you are guiding. These two things are very true. There are always going to be those days where the fish just are not biting and you may only catch one fish or not catch anything at all. Guides need to be trying their hardest to get their clients some fish, but they also need to pay more attention to their clients and talk with them, tell some jokes and just have a good time. If a guide does not really say much, is just concentrating on the fish, and gets angry because the people aren't catching anything, then the people probably aren't going to have a very good time. Therefore, they might not ever use that guide again and give a bad report to other people in the community. Then they might not want to use that guide, either. Also, Dornan, who owns a guide business on the Snake River, says that guides need to go above just catching fish and help their clients “learn how to respect the wondrous natural world,” (Dornan) to insure fishing in the far future. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Guides should also know that fish feed underwater over 60% of the time. Obviously a person’s chance of catching a fish is a lot greater when using a wet fly rather than a dry fly. However, it is also a lot more difficult to fish underwater than it is on top of the water, because you can see the fly on top of the water when the fish comes up to eat it. Also, Jim McLennan says in his book “...the two best times to fish dry flies are when the trout are rising and when they ain't. The obvious time to use dry flies is when the trout are already rising to natural insects, but dry flies are not limited to those times. Trout that aren't rising can also often be caught on dry flies. My theory is that there are times when conditions are right and the fish are willing, but there just aren't any bugs up there to eat. The fish are all dressed up but there's no place to go” (McLennan 96). Another important thing McLennan says is that “it's important to remember that a fish that's rising steadily in moving water is essentially a stationary target” (McLennan 95). When a fish is constantly rising in the same spot on a river it is an easy fish to catch. The only hard part is getting the fly in the right spot to attract the fish. When fishing underwater, you have to keep your line even tighter so you can feel the fish strike right away and be able to set the hook. It is important for guides to know the skill level of their clients. This is important because they don't want to get out on the water and have the clients using wet flies when they aren't able to tell when the fish strikes so that they miss a bunch of fish and have a bad day. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Using wet flies or nymphing is far from impossible once you understand the basics of it, although it can take a long time to understand nymphing completely. As Jim McLennan says in his fly fishing book, “For decades, nymphing has been described in the outdoor press as difficult and even mysterious, requiring zenlike skills and a lifetime of dedication and practice on the part of the angler. But recent refinements in tackle and technique have helped us burst that bubble, and nymphing is now a method used successfully by both veterans and newcomers to fly fishing” (McLennan 106). <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Fishing isn't all about catching the big fish. There are many people who just like to catch little fish just for the enjoyment and to say they caught a fish and got it in by themselves. Then they can always look back on that and the enjoyment of it, even if they never fish again. As Terry Mort put it, “Non-anglers who are mystified about why catching such a small and biologically unsophisticated creature can create so much pleasure miss the point that the enjoyment comes not so much from the substance of the event – the acquisition of a fish – but from the form, from the drama in which the angler is not only the actor but also the director and play write. And the pleasure comes not only from the event itself, but also from the recollection of the event, as in any good art” (Mort 4). Also, fishing is not all about catching fish either, because we all know you may not catch a fish every single time you go out. That's why they call it fishing and not catching. There are some people that do not have a good day because they didn't catch a fish. However, if they look on the optimistic side of things and consider things like just getting outdoors and getting some fresh air instead of being cooped up indoors all day like most of us are, then the attitude changes. Like Leon Sanderson says, “I have the best office in the whole world.” Just getting outside and enjoying the natural world is good enough for a lot of people. You are never going to become a fly fisherman if you never fly fish. According to Izaak Walton “No man is born an artist, so no man is born an angler ” (Mort 1). You are not going to learn how to fish over night. Nor can you expect to learn how to by sitting inside watching fishing shows. Fishing requires you to get outdoors and practice, just like an artist. An artist doesn't necessarily have to get outdoors, but they aren't going to just grab a paint brush and a canvas and then paint some great painting. It's just like everything in life really, “practice makes perfect.” If you don't practice at anything, you are not going to get any better at it. There is a lot more to fly fishing than just swinging a rod back and forth then waiting for a fish to bite the hook. It requires accuracy, patience, and a “connection” between your hand and the rod. That's why you need to get out and practice on the water, or even in your backyard. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">You also have to have a basic knowledge of the fish. Where they are, what they eat, and how they act in their environment. “I don't suppose trout have a 'culture' in the usual sense of the world, though there's no way to tell for sure, since there's a lot about trout that humans don't know. But certainly the idea that creatures are products of their surroundings applies to fish as well as humans” (Mort 1). The characteristics of humans depend partly on their surroundings. If they live in a cold environment then they are going to wear warmer clothes. If they live near the beach then they are probably going to wear sandals instead of boots, and shorts and tank tops instead of jeans and sweat shirts. As for fish, if they live in a really open pool, they are going to be near the bottom so they are protected from their predators. However, if they live in a more shallow rocky area they can simply live close to and under the rocks to protect themselves from the “outside world.” “There have been many books written on fly fishing. Time does not allow me to expand more on the subject, because it would take many volumes and lots of time to completely describe this hobby. As you can see in this paper, there are many aspects to fly fishing that could take a life time to learn and understand. A person can put as much as he/she wants to into fly fishing, but just like many other things in life “you get out what you put in.” Fly fishing is a great sport that gives many benefits other than catching fish. Many people like the solitude, the sounds of nature, relaxing, and just getting out for the day. In 1886 Charles Orvis said, "Unless one can enjoy himself fishing with the fly, even when his efforts are unrewarded, he loses much real pleasure. More than half the intense enjoyment of fly-fishing is derived from the beautiful surroundings, the satisfaction felt from being in the open air, the new lease of life secured thereby, and the many, many pleasant recollections of all one has seen, heard and done" (Fly Fishing Joy). Or as Zenna Schaffer says, "Give a man a fish and he has food for a day; teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend” (Fly Fishing Joy).

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Works Consulted Dornan, Will. Personal Interview. 27 November 2009. Dornan, Will. “Will Dornan's Snake River Angler.” 8 Sep. 2009. < __[]__ > Highstreet, Brad. Personal Interview. 11 November 2009. Mclennan, Jim. __Fly Fishing Western Trout Streams.__ Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2003. Mort, Terry. __The Reasonable Art of Fly Fishing.__ Bennington: Abenaki Publishers, Inc, 1998. Rosenbauer, Tom. __The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide.__ Guildford, CT: Orvis Company, 2007. “Quotes on Fishing and Fly Fishing.” Fly Fishing Tips Website. 2009. < __[]__ >