Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Fishing the Russian



Steelhead fishing with is a card game. Your opponent is the river. You are dealt a hand which includes, the weather, time of year and specifically the hole you are fishing. Your cards are the flies, the lines and the casts you make.
You pick a day because you know your river. You know what time of year it is, how much it has rained and how fast your river clears and drops. You know if you have a shot at catching a fish, at winning the game. You know much of this without even going fishing , because in fact, you are always fishing.
On those days when you decide to go fishing, depending on how much time you have, you may have a number of holes you will fish. Each hole is a hand. When you look back at the game with the knowledge of all that had passed that day , you consider : Was there a better way to play that hand? Should I have used this fly or that line? Put more time at that lie. Was that a trout or a bump? At the end if you can say , “I played well”, you are satisfied. If you continue to play well you will catch fish and that will be nice but, in the mean time ….. In those “Mean Times”, you'll hold you winnings - the images of light reflected on moving water, the echos of the current in you mind and the smell of the river in you hands.

Monday, February 14, 2011