Fly Fishing: Times You Remember & Try To Forget

Everyone has bad memories, whether related to childhood, a death in the family, war, or a myriad of other things that occur during the course of one’s life. Whatever these things are, they seem to intrude, in aggregate, just as you have reached your stress limit. When you are stressed out, your mind tends to wander and dwell on things in your past equally as distressing, making worse your state of being. In this state, there is no rest, no quiet, no splashing fish, just a growing ulcer, grinding headache and lower backache, not to mention those drooping shoulders from the weight of the world! When you try and understand all of these things and separate them, you lose sight of your present responsibilities, and the snowball effect begins. As this ball grows larger, it seems like you can see the gates of Hell!! What do you do? Quickly grab your rod and step out of the way! Is this a cure for your problems? No, it is your default position, the position you go to when things are out of control. You go to the stream, river or ocean to fish. You go to fish for your rightfully deserved peace and to repair your quality of life before it becomes so tattered there is nothing left but to slam the lid and get lowered into your final resting place. You slip into your waders and the first good feeling you have had all week begins. Your mind is taken up with lines, flies and fish, pushing out the crap that builds up in life. The water is cool sliding past your legs and a small hatch starts, you notice fish sipping in the seam and then the big one in the pool rises! You cast perfectly just above him, some how get the perfect dead drift and bang!! He’s on!! Penny for your thoughts.