A Little Bit of Knowledge

The first time I went fly fishing by myself was not a successful experience. I got my equipment set up and then couldn’t remember how to tie a perfection loop on the end of a new leader. It took me 45 minutes just to start heading to the stream. And once I hit the stream it didn’t get any better. I only spent about 30 minutes fishing. Not only did I come nowhere near to catching a fish I got my line tangled in trees about half a dozen time, lost 4 flies, and got stuck in mud at least
twice. To add to the injustice my waders sprung a leak… at my crotch.

Despite all of this I still didn’t look on the trip as a failure.  I did take an important piece of knowledge away from the trip.  No matter how long you've been fishing you can always encounter a situation that you're not prepared for.  So what do you do?

Learn about where you're going to fish ahead of time.  Initially I had planned on going fishing at Montauk State Park.  I researched the park online and got as much information as I could and was ready to go.  Then I got a late start.  And as I was driving I realized that I wasn't going to have enough time to drive to Montauk and back and still have time to fish.  And as I was coming to the realization I remembered that Maramec was on the way.  And that's how instead of fishing at Montauk, the place I had information about, I ended up at Maramec Springs State Park, a place that I knew nothing about.

Before I got my equipment together I drove around to check out the fishing areas.  Everywhere I looked there was somebody fishing.  It seemed like every piece of stream bank was staked out.  When I finally got my equipment together I headed out to find a spot to fish.  After walking for a while I found a spot with enough room to cast.  I waded into the water and SQUELCH!  I was expecting something a little more solid than the mud my foot landed in.  I worked myself free and began to cast.  And promptly got my line stuck in a tree.  The comedy of errors continued until the crotch-leaking waders and then I was done.

Now, I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have had a similar experience at Mountauk that day.  But I had to some extent prepared for fishing at Montauk.  I hadn’t prepared for Maramec.  And this leads me to my second point.  Don’t go fishing alone.

If it were just for the safety aspect this advice it would be good advice, especially if you’re hiking out to a remote location.  Yes, we are in the days of cell phones that seem to have service to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  But most of these wonderful devices with GPS Navigation and the Orvis Fishing Podcast have a little difficulty working under water.  And when you get in trouble while fishing it most like will involve some part of your person, if not all of it, going under water.  Even a wading stick doesn’t help too much if your waders are filling up in a fast moving current.

But even if you never come close to danger on your fishing trip your fishing partner will have something that you don’t, their fishing knowledge.  Never get so high and mighty that you completely discount a piece of advice because you want to catch fish on your own.  This is particularly important if you are just starting to fly fish.  We all tend to be a little prideful; this is markedly true regarding catching fish.  Otherwise why would we tell fish stories?   But in order to have the basis for your fish story you have to have caught a fish.  And there will be times that you can’t get a nibble on what you’re trying.  It’s good to have someone to recommend something new.  Any fishing partner will have fishing knowledge that you don’t.  They may know which fly to use on that stream.  They may know a technique to get your fly in a spot you thought unreachable.  Even if you’ve been fishing for eternity while they’re a novice, there will be some bit of knowledge that they have that you don’t.

Or in the worst case scenario, you’ll have someone to commiserate with if they’re not catching anything either.