To do Battle with these Magnificent Beasts

My mind has been wondering back through the pages of fly-fishing history and to the anglers who had came before, the equipment and strategy.

I had read once that Thor still holds the record for Norwegian Sea Serpent and in his day they would swim in to the mighty depths to do battle with these magnificent beasts. Now I have swum in the ocean and chased small fish trying to grab their tails. I have also come head to head with shark, which will test the medal of any man. I figured if this thing wants to eat me it is going to get cold hard steal to the head, you see like Thor I never swim in the ocean with out a knife strapped to my leg.

My heart tends to lay more with the anglers of the 19^th century. I’m drawn to the simplicity, exploration and rawness of the sport. The eloquence of the time has a romantic charm about it. Tweed jackets, hats, a creel and bamboo rods, it’s the definition of class and stream etiquette. I like to think of these characters practicing catch and release in a time when it was considered an insult and to a extent to this day it still considered a fools action.

We can learn a lot from our past and the lesson I see over and over is simplicity. We simply do not need all this junk that some marketing whiz wants us to use. Our fly boxes can be narrowed down to what works best. In fact challenge yourself to take only a few pheasant tails if your not catching fish change the depth or location of the fly, it’s really that simple. Learn how trout behave, how they eat, how they swim, where they swim and why they swim there. Fish new water it will make you better, take good notes and keep a tight line.

H.L.