 Savoring Every Striper - ME
Posted by jeremy on June 03, 2003
I never get bored of the hit. I never get bored of that feeling when my flyline goes from slack to tight. I never get bored of arching my back and having my rod doubled over. I never get bored of flyfishing. It truly amazes me that I have not changed much since I was a little boy trying to entice the trout, stripers or any fish for that matter. One might think that the enthusiasm, anticipation and excitement would wear off. What is it about flyfishing that keeps us hooked? Why do we drive hundreds of miles, throw thousands of casts, tie/buy hundreds of flies, stand in the cold, stand in the heat and stand in the rain. Why are we so satisfied when we hook into that fish we are chasing. What is the satisfaction in doing something as repetitive as flyfishing. What do we gain? The answer, for me, is nothing and everything. On one hand we actually lose things. From a monetary perspective, we pay for rods, reals, all sorts of crazy accessories. We also pay in terms of time. We all have a bank account of time and with every passing second we are making withdrawls from that account. Unfortunately, our lifes bank accounts do not accept time deposists. In other words, we all have a finite amount of time and we are all withdrawing from our accounts with every passing second. That being the case, we have all made serious investments into flyfishing. All of those investments are non-refundable. For me, there is no better investment to make. The money is going to come and go anyway. Some guys gamble it away, some guys drink it away and some guys just sit on it until they die and then their inheritors do the spending. As far as spending my time, I can not imagine a better way to spend my alloted time. I have and stood and will continue to stand in the most pristine places the world can offer. I have been humbled by the Alaskan Mountain Ranges and soothed by the carribean winds. I have made life long friends, and very rarely do we ever engage in useless small talk. Flyfishing, for me, is a reflection of life. I firmly believe that all flyfisherman are of the same breed and that is why we never get bored. Flyfishing confirms for us, the realites of day to day living. We understand that life is not easy and the good things in life are attained through perserverance and hard work. Look how much effort goes into catching that one fish and getting to those pristine locations. Look how many casts we have to take for the relatively small reward. Look how many miles we travel and how much time we invest. All of this for the hope that one fish will take our fly. So it does not surprise me that us flyfishermen love what we do and have a generally good appreciation for life. It does not surprise me that we never get bored, because it is not just about catching our fish. It is about all of the hard work and perserverance that we invest into the chase. So, for all these reasons, I savor every striper I catch.
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Re: Savoring Every Striper - ME
by slarteebartfast on April 08, 2008 | | mr. jeremy. thank you for your words. that feeling of life connecting with the far end of your line, something with which any potential is possible, that monent is beautiful. the novelty of another living creature is very resistant to wearing thin... |
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