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No matter how hard I try to explain my passion for “fly fishing” and all of the reasons why I spend so much time on the rivers and oceans; it seems that non-fishing friends and family never really truly “get it.” I have been a “fish head” and totally consumed with fishing for as long as I can remember. Like many other “fish heads” I have basically been addicted to “all” forms of fishing at one time or another. Bobbers and worms, artificial lures, clamming, spear fishing, crabbing, trolling, fly fishing, dragging giant off shore nets for cod, long lining in the Gulf Stream for swordfish, gillnetting salmon, etc. These days, and for the past 12 years or so, I have been totally immersed and spend all of my fishing time fly fishing. Why? Because, for me, fly fishing offers a “total fishing package” that other forms of fishing do not. First and foremost, the environments that fly fishing brings me are nothing short of awe inspiring. Whether it be a small remote trout stream tumbling down the Blue Ridge Mountains or an ocean reef 20 miles off-shore; these types of fly fishing locations provide me with an escape from the hype and hectic nature of modern day life. Fly fishing is also very simple. No tackle box or bait is required, just a little box of feathers and a fly rod that stays strung up in my car or packs easily into a suitcase. Theoretically speaking, I can fly fish a local stocked stream during lunch or go on a week long fly fishing adventure to Australia. Either way, I get my fix of beautiful natural imagery and an escape from everything. Fly fishing, for me, is definitely not about catching big fish, lots of fish or keeping fish. I release all the fish I catch and a 12” brook trout, relatively speaking, can be just as big of a fish as a 300 pound bluefin tuna. I can go fly fishing alone and find extreme solitude or with a bunch of close fly fishing friends and find comradery. I can and do fly fish for every species of fish imaginable in tiny streams, giant rivers, saltwater flats and way off-shore in the oceans “blue water.” Fly fishing is about traveling and exploring new towns, cities, states and countries. Fly fishing is about meeting new people and learning the traditions of new and sometimes exotic cultures. The fish and the act of fly fishing are simply the reason for going in the first place, but the memories often have less to do with fishing and more to do with the people and the cultures and the natural wonders that I experience. Fly fishing is also an individual game and sport and much like other individual sports, the only competition is with myself. If it were just about catching fish “any old way” than I would simply hop back on a commercial dragger and catch 10’s of thousands of pounds of fish per trip. These days, I enjoy “the dance” between fish and fly. I love the concept of being surrounded by some of the most beautiful natural wonders that the earth has to offer while trying to trick fish with nothing more than some feathers on a hook. Oh ya, and how could I forget the fish! More often than not, I am drawn to fish that peak my interest in terms of their beauty and/or their unique nature. Brook trout, for example, are some of the most beautiful species of fish I have ever seen. I thoroughly enjoy seeing a picture of a fish that I have never caught or seen and making that my next “target.” With something like 26,000 species of fish in both fresh and saltwater, it’s a game that I can never truly win. I will be long gone before catching or even having a chance to cast flies to all of those fish; but I will try my best to explore as much as humanly possible and experience as many of those fish as I can in my lifetime. Anyway, the point of this story is that I still can’t believe that my so many of my non-fishing friends and family members still ask me, “What do you do out there all day?” I recently realized that fly fishing is much like golf in certain respects. Both sports are ultimately individual sports. Both sports can be enjoyed alone or with friends and I know some guys that are equally as obsessed and addicted to golf as I am with fly fishing. So, what is the difference? How come nobody asks the golf addict, “What do you do out there all day?” I think I recently realized a partial answer to this question. The golf course is in plain view, often right across from the shopping mall. So, even though non-golfers don’t spend time golfing or on the golf course it is still very easy for them to comprehend because the course and their “golf addict” can always be found right down the road at the clubhouse. Fly fishing is more of a niche sport and part of the allure of fly fishing is the fact that it involves going to places that are often far away from “plain view.” Generally speaking, fly fisherman do not seek out places with lots of development and “club houses” and those types of things. Fly fisherman tend to dream about and seek out environments with very few (if any) people, no development and nothing but vast amounts of natural wonders. So, I spent a lot of time putting this article and video together as a means to, once again, try to explain to my non-fishing friends and family “what we do out there all day.” I know that they will never really “get it” but perhaps this little 4 minute video will stop them from bugging me and asking me (as though I had three heads) “why are you going fly fishing again?” I tried to piece together this video in a way that tries to convey all of the amazing imagery we see while fly fishing on the rivers and oceans. I also tried to use only pieces of film with the best light and intertwine pieces of film that capture the essence and the feeling of “what we do out there.” I also tried to make this little video less about the actual people who are fishing in the video and more about using certain video shots as a means to transfer the actual feeling of fly fishing to those that do and don’t fly fish. This little 4 minute video includes some of the best of the best shots that me and my fly fishing buddies captured throughout the course of 2009. The clips are strung together in a way that aim to make the viewer (you) feel like you are the one on the bow or in the river fly fishing. I hope all of you as fly fisherman are able to feel at least a little something when viewing the video because if you can feel it, there’s a good chance that non-fly-fishing folks will feel it too and finally stop asking me, “what do you do out there?”