About Fishing and Catching Fish...

The desire of fishermen to catch fish is unbounded. During time, catching fish was the primary goal of this occupation but is it still the primary goal for us? The answer is yes and no.

Spring shown to be generous with somewhat higher temperatures, blue sky and sun. For nearly a week I studied the section of a river on the google earth maps. The water was promising from what I have seen on the Internet. Without to waste time we got into the car and went fishing.

Arriving at the scene we were fascinated by the beauty of those places. A wide river with gin clear water and almost black ground delighted our eyes. After preparing our rods, we sat down on a bench by the river and looked for signs of activity on the water surface. Tiny flies swarmed but fish didn’t showed up.

Hard hours followed in which we tried to fool fish with dry flies. Then we changed to nymphs and streamers without any take. We took a break and thought about how we can turn score in our favour. We chilled our thirsty throats with great beer and smoked cigar enjoying the warm sun rays.

Before we started again fishing, we turned around some rocks to see what kind of candy was hiding behind them. There were plenty of dark mayfly larvae and gammarus. We changed on dark PT and gammarus imitations but our efforts were unsuccessful. Frustration grew larger and time was passing in our detriment. Later, my friend had a briefly contact with a nice fish who broke the line and won the fight.

We returned on the bench where we started, we sat down and meditated a few minutes about the fly fishing day that just ended. The fly fishing God wasn’t too generous to us but we were happy cause we had a great time outside and a deep gratitude filled our hearts.

For us the purpose of fly fishing is to spend as much time as possible in nature, to meditate, to forget about our worries, to get out of the daily routine, to relax, to observe and enjoy everything around us. Fish are just the cherries on the cake. 

Friday the 13th...Story About Withdrawal

After the winter abstinence, withdrawal has become increasingly evident. Itchy fingers, restlessness and ever longer periods of daydreaming of fish and waters plagued me. Nothing else left to do but to get my medicine. I chose a Friday 13^th for the treatment. Temperature went slightly over 0 degrees Celsius in the morning. No barrier of mother nature could stop me. I passed the point of no return and the desire to feel my opponent on the the other side of the line was unbounded. 

Water with semi-urban location, quite covered with branches and bushes on both sides, the shallow and clear water made every presentation extremely difficult. The cloudy sky was a pain in the ass and I could barely view some fish. The probability of catching some trout tended more and more towards the values of water temperature. Fish were inactive. No surface activity and not even nymphs seemed to be interesting. I changed five flies casting on a sighted fish but the trout was giving a shit about my nymphs and presentation. Frustrated, I went into the water to see if it is alive. Water was still very cold and the fish swam slowly away without to care too much about me.

After several hours without results, I found a deeper part of the river where to my surprise I managed to fool two quite fatty fish. The drill was unspectacular but I was happy. They were the first fish caught this year. I caught another two on the way to where I parked my car.  There shown signs that winter lost match this year. Snowdrops flourished on the river banks. Happy that I received the much needed piece of heaven, I warmed up with a cup of tea from the thermos bottle and drove home with a big smile on my face.