09-23 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 24
anyone to the art of the fly rod.
It is everything you expect and
look forward to with a fishing
experience like this.
Of course, this all assumes you can
get yourself on the dance floor.
The level of technique required to
fly fish isn’t so much that a novice
couldn’t figure it out. I certainly
was able to with some pointers.
But it requires a fine enough skill
that one can’t simply have a “set it
and forget it” kind of mindset.
There is consideration of how
much line you’ll need to strip out
in order to cast to the required
distance. Judging the flow of the
river and feeding line. Looking at
your fly relative to the fish relative
to the line and mending it to
make for an attractive lure. All this
even assumes that you’ve gotten
the cast down. Too much power
or not enough time to let the
24 | NWFISHING.net
line get behind you on your cast
and you look more like Indiana
Jones with a whip than anything
else. Rod tip out of position on
the cast? Your fly isn’t going
anywhere. Chris’ dedication to
the craft of fly fishing stood out
in two comments, one practical
and one funny. An analogy
regarding golfers. Say you’ve got
an opportunity to golf at Augusta.
Would you fly down there without
having practiced and hope to
do well on the course? Or would
you expect to work on your short
game and try to cut down on
slicing your drive before the trip?
The same practice goes into the
technique when casting a fly rod.
To the funny story - when talking
about other techniques or ways
to target fish - think bottom
bouncing for walleye or using a
downrigger for salmon, he said
something to the effect of
“Well if I wanted to do any of
those things, I’d have to buy a
spinning rod” with a grin and a
chuckle. If you want to hone up
your fly fishing skills, see some
beautiful scenery and catch some
awesome fish, there is no better
place to do so than Craig, MT.
And CrossCurrents Fly Shop in
Craig, Montana can help make it
happen. A word to the wise, leave
the dancing shoes at home when
you go.