Things to Say and Know to be a Fly Fisherman!
The sports world is steeped in cliches. ESPN
and its associates hand out a constant tirade of them daily. Some cliches reach across the spectrum of sports,
while others apply primarily
to our "genteel sport of fly fishing". So, "let's step up to the plate", "focus on the job at hand", and remember, "we only
play 'em one at a time!" To be a
"team player, a leader on and off the field", one should add these sayings and thoughts to his
"entire repertoire of skills". Remember, "be an impact player",
"keep your powder dry", and "give one hunnerd and ten percent" in adding the whole "lock, stock, and barrel" to
your vocabulary!
Cliches
- Ten, two, ten, two, ten,two.....(Ever throw a sidearm cast low and into the wind!)
- Tight lines!
- ...being caressed by nature's beauty!
- ...fishing with my cane stick!
- That's just part of the intangibles of fly fishing! (What?)
- Catching fish isn't important. It's just being there! (Baloney!)
- I let the desire to get in the water cloud my judgement. (aka: What Lightning?)
- Match the hatch. (Ever look for a sowbug hatch?)
- I'm an adrenaline junkie!
- He has a nose for fish! (Yep, I use this one sometimes!)
- To be an effective fly fisherman you must think outside the box.
- Do not remove a fly from a friend's forehead with a chopstick.(Who thought that one up?)
- We had the experience of a lifetime! (Might as well quit! No more for you, buddy!)
Things to Know
- If you are fishing with a graphite rod, make fun of
the "wanna be sophisticated jerks" who fish with
those heavy wood sticks.
- If you are fishing with a bamboo rod, make fun of the yuppies who fish with
those hi-tech plastic production rods.
- Make up at least one good "location name dropping" story, such
as "Did I ever tell you
about the time I caught all the cutts on lime trudes up on Henry's Fork?"
or "Did I tell you about having to flush the bears away from our hoppers while on the Madison?"
- Keep a Green Highlander salmon fly handy. If someone approaches you, tie it
on quickly and tell them it's what's working for you. You only need one of them!
- If you see a person with a bamboo rod walking the banks, check his tip.
If there's no set to one side or the other, he's not catching fish!
- Have a story to tell about your $972 "insert rod name here" rod that you bought on e-Bay for $47.50
but left at home because you only use it on western guided trips.
- In education, the higher your degree, the more ridiculous your graduation
gown is. Likewise, in fly fishing, as you progress, the tendancy is to be adorned with an abundance of silly
looking clothing and jingling hardware. Like golf, it allows a person to look ridiculous!
As John Gierach so skillfully elucidated
"I don't know exactly what fly fishing teaches us, but I think it's something we need to know."
If you have any good fly fishing cliches or funny thoughts, put "your game face on" and
email them to me!
thoughts by Johnny McJunkins.
email: jmcjunki@texarkanacollege.edu
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