Every Fall in Mosquito Lagoon redfish begin their hunt for mullet, killifish and other small fry along shorelines throughout the estuary.
They move with purpose, their intent singular, to eat. Sometimes its more rewarding to simply lay down your fly rod, show some restraint and watch them. – Larry Littrell, Salt Bum
Contrary to what we all see modeled on a daily basis in just about every facet of life, restraint can indeed be a good thing.
Even for fly fishers.
Larry Littrell’s (Florida based guru | guide | instructor – and no, I don’t know LL personally and this isn’t a plug necessarily) quote above and short vid below was the last in a series of ‘restraint reminders’ that have popped up over the past couple of weeks.
I’m sure you’ve seen it too. Occasionally as fishers we get so caught up in the chase we fail to stop, take a deep breath of clean river-side or middle-of-the-flat air, and simply soak up the incredible beauty and rich complexity of the watery world we’re standing in or floating above.
One of my fly fishing mentors made us take a ‘soak it all in’ stop twice a day to put the rods down and just appreciate the day. Never once was it time wasted.
Clearly not everyone believes restraint is a worthy virtue.
Take a stroll through the fly fishing hashtag on Instagram and you’ll see a fair number of fish that were grossly mishandled to snap the brobrah-hey-look-at-me selfie or the lens-warped, not-another-frackin’ fish porn shot. (We’ve done it in days gone by, though it’s time to push the keep ‘em wet mantra hard.)
In the past few weeks we’ve heard a tale of a couple of sh*theads high up the food chain in an international fly fishing retailer arguing that fishing to trout on redds ‘ain’t a big deal if nobody catches you’. (I’m not sure I believe in karmic retribution, but I fervently pray it’s true for those asshats, their offspring and their business.)
Or how about the pic from the weekend showing wild steelhead for sale at the Pike Place Market in Seattle?
Restraining from doing stuff you shouldn’t do is one thing, showing a bit of restraint to soak up more of a great day on the water and make your fish and fishery healthier is quite another.
Restraint can be a good thing.
