Fly fishing is a game of moments. That moment when a fish that has been following your fly for ten feet decides to stick its nose up and sip it down. That moment after days of standing hip deep in the river with nothing to show for it when you finally feel that big grab. That moment when you catch the first fish on a fly you tied yourself. Or that moment when you finally put hands on a species or size that you have been chasing for years. We live for the take, the grab, the rise, the fish.
There are so many more moments than those that just involve fish or fishing. Moments with friends or family that you would never otherwise have. Like throwing rocks at sticks floating by from a sandbar during a lunch break as a kid. Or sitting around a camp fire on a carp fishing trip, drinking and laughing until well into the night.
Fishing puts you in places that are special. They’re special because they are beautiful and wild and not many people get to see or experience the things we do. Sunday morning, for example, I was driving to the Upper Madison before dawn and happened to look back in the rearview and see this:
Trying to get the perfect picture while driving 70 down highway 89 while still half asleep was probably not the best idea, but in the moment it seemed like a good one. You just never know what you are going to see out there.
Moments turn into memories which we can keep with us and look back at always. And, if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll run into that moment again sometime. Every moment is different and even if almost everything is the same the next time around, it never will truly be exactly the same. For instance, you could catch a fish on a certain rod with a certain fly in a certain place and go back and catch the same fish with the same gear in the same place and it still wouldn’t be quite the same.
So savor each moment as it comes. Enjoy it, and then let it go. There will be more. Many, many more. Some better and some worse. But that’s just part of the game. And in the end it’s worth playing. See you on the water.
