The Tug Drug...

[Conor]

Carried from the "Dry Only" thread...

 

As Brian put it in that thread, "the tug is the drug."

 

I'd like to poke your brains for what keeps you heading back to the water. The "Dry Only?" thread got me curious about what part of fishing keeps people coming back.

 

Note: I'm not looking for "just getting out" or "guy time" etc. as you can do both those things without a fly rod. Also, I think avoiding a debate over what is best about fishing is a good idea, as no one will win. "Catching more than my buddy" and "the voices in my head tell me too" are both valid reasons, so lets not give anyone a hard time.

 

 

 

I may as well kick it off.

 

The part of fishing that really gets my heart thumping and is what keeps me coming back, at this point, anyway, is the thrill of the take. The point when that nose pops up, or the indie shoots down, or the line twitches and you lift your rod to find your connected. That point that defines when your skills of observation and presentation are sufficient to fool the target.

 

Sure there is the odd hot fish that really puts up an exciting effort to escape, but mostly I find myself wanting to get the fish in so I can hook another.

 

I find that when I really pin them down and have a great day, I leave the water early and easily. I don't feel the need to get out again after a day like that either. When I get stumped, or close to it, I stay to the bitter end and I will likely be out the next day or as soon as I can. That is how I figured out what keeps me coming back.

 

How about you?

[bowbuster]

Well, i know for me it is mostly the anticipation, waiting for that strike, the total concentration. Also the ability to totally block out the everyday stresses that everyone has wether it is money , the dragon at home , work, whatever. That all goes away and you go into a kind of a new dimentia a whole different world where nothing exists except u, your rod and the fish, soon to be on the end of it! I dont know if its like crack or not but it sure is an addiction. And i loooove it. Every aspect of it, well , except for the cost of course(i have high end tastes, not always a good thing) ................................my 3 cents.

[monger]

Similar thoughts for me as well Conor. It's all about the first second or two. There is rarely a fight from a fish in the Bow that is worth getting excited about for me. Mostly I haul them in to get on to the next one.

Catching picky fish on dries is very satisfying. Lake fish eating emergers have always been a challenge for me. There is nothing like fooling a big fish while trying something new...pushing your knowledge and skill. It's fun to try to do something you haven't before.

[Conor]

Good point, Eastman. The total focus of fishing is a big draw for me.

 

At one point a few seasons ago I was putting in a bunch of very long days on the river, and my wife asked me, "what do you think about when you're fishing?" I couldn't answer at first. Later that evening the answer occurred to me. I said, "remember that question you asked...I think about fishing."

[reevesr1]

Simple for me. It's the fight. While I remember many of the big fish I've caught, the ones that always leave an impression are the ones who put on a show. The "hot" fish that feels like a 30"er but turns out to be 18". The big brown that rolls on surface again and again so you can see all her colors. The rainbow that jumps 3' out of the water, then greyhounds upstream across the surface like someone shot it out of a gun. The Spanish Mackerel that pulls line off so fast it burns your fingers. The best is that feeling when you think you have a routine fish, then it jumps out of the water, your heart skips a beat, then it makes a blistering reel screaming run.

 

I like every aspect of getting out and enjoying the day, the setting, the camaraderie. But without those moments of total excitement, I'd just as soon go hiking!

[agbff]

I like the beauty of the fish, the places that they live, and the good people you chill with on the bank.

I like not having that last beer or shot o' Jack on a Friday night because i know i'm getting up early to go trick animals.

I like the weird face people make when I tell em i'm a 20 year old fly fishermen

I like when the person behind me in class pulls a big fat pink marabou feather of my shoulder at school.

I like rapala chuckers telling me to tie on a SJW.

I like walking in the middle of no where with nothing really to do.

I like sunshine,snow,rain,sleet, but I f%$^k'n hate wind.

I like tying up and trying out new fly's

I like when your cast is on and is sooooo easy.

I like finding new spots

I like being outside.

I like climbing down 15 foot ice shelves

I like fishing in the spring, summer, fall, winter, day, and night.

I straight up like all things that are fly fishing.

[Jayhad]

I like the beauty of the fish, the places that they live, and the good people you chill with on the bank.

I like not having that last beer or shot o' Jack on a Friday night because i know i'm getting up early to go trick animals.

I like the weird face people make when I tell em i'm a 20 year old fly fishermen

I like when the person behind me in class pulls a big fat pink marabou feather of my shoulder at school.

I like rapala chuckers telling me to tie on a SJW.

I like walking in the middle of no where with nothing really to do.

I like sunshine,snow,rain,sleet, but I f%$^k'n hate wind.

I like tying up and trying out new fly's

I like when your cast is on and is sooooo easy.

I like finding new spots

I like being outside.

I like climbing down 15 foot ice shelves

I like fishing in the spring, summer, fall, winter, day, and night.

I straight up like all things that are fly fishing.

 

 

Bravo Andy, that's it.

[SilverDoctor]

I could not be so impetuous to try to comment on such a personal and special thing. I choose to instead post the words of others that sum it up so eloquently.

-------------------

"If fishing is like religion, then fly-fishing is high church."

~by Tom Brokaw~

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"Some go to church and think about fishing, others go fishing and think about God."

~by Tony Blake~

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"In my family, there was no clear division between religion and fly fishing."

~by Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It, 1976~

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"Of course, now I am too old to be much of a fisherman, and now of course I usually fish the big waters alone, although some friends think I shouldn't. Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise."

~by Norman Fitzroy Maclean, A River Runs Through It~

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"My wife wonders why all women do not seek anglers for husbands. She has come in contact with many in her life with me and she claims that they all have a sweetness in their nature which others lack."

~by Ray Bergman, author of Trout, and Just Fishing~

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"There is certainly something in angling that tends to produce a serenity of the mind."

~by Washington Irving~

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"In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing. We lived at the junction of great trout rivers in western Montana, and our father was a Presbyterian minister and a fly fisherman who tied his own flies and taught others. He told us about Christ's disciples being fishermen, and we were to assume, as my brother and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman."

~by Norman Fitzroy Maclean, A River Runs Through It~

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"Unless one can enjoy himself fishing with the fly, even when his efforts are unrewarded, he loses much real pleasure. More than half the intense enjoyment of fly-fishing is derived from the beautiful surroundings, the satisfaction felt from being in the open air, the new lease of life secured thereby, and the many, many pleasant recollections of all one has seen, heard and done."

~by Charles F. Orvis, 1886~

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"My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it."

~by Koos Brandt~

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"The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing."

~Babylonian Proverb~

-------------------

 

"Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish."

~by Roderick Haig-Brown, about modern fishing, A River Never Sleeps, 1946~

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"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."

~by Henry David Thoreau~

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How could I possibly best that

 

[Hawgstoppah]

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."

~by Henry David Thoreau~

 

I live by this one. In going fishing, at least to me, is found the refreshment of one's soul. How many of us have gone fishing an entire day to realize that not once have we thought about work, school, problems or stresses... and all we have thought about was "how do I fool this fish" or " I wonder what's around the next bend".

 

I know Conor put at the beginnning of this thread not to.... but I really do go out "Just to get out" in that exact escape sort of way that Thoreau implies. I could give a rats behind wether or not fish are caught. What I do care about are meeting new people and enjoying being on the water TRYING to trick a fish.

 

I guess all the fun for me is in the "thrill of the hunt" and that magical moment of hooking up. Days are not toally lost without it, as days were nothing happens are almost "fuel" to get you back out again and solve the puzzle.

 

Well that's a lot of random rambling on. Good thread Conor. It's a hard thing to define.

[Teck71]

1st i do go out to escape life's crap. andfishing provides that escape, fly fishing is consuming and takes so many small thoughts to produce 1 fish:

finding the fish

finding what the fish is eating

finding the right imatation of that

the cast

mend

drift

set

fight

release

 

with all this running through your mind every few minutes how do you have time to stress. sure hiking gets you out there, but forme it is just left foot, right foot, repeat.

 

I also live for the moments of perfection.

you know them. wehn you see a big'un sitting in a tough spot sipping from the surface. you watch his prey, find a close imitationin your box, select where to cast, mend and then SLURP fish on. if that happens once in a day I can go home grinnin like a 4 year old. but iwill always leave a river satisfied.

 

That is why I will wake at 4 on a Saturday.

 

 

[dude1125]

I find the river/creek tugs me a little harder than still water.

[Brunsie]

It's the voices in my head telling me...................

[beedhead]

I would have to say, I can pretty much relate to what everyone has said.... Although I also really enjoy the end of a fishing day, good day, bad day, solo, or with a buddy...I like to sit on the tailgate, relax, unwind from fishing mode, have a beer with a buddy and talk about the day, or sit alone and reflect on what happened, Look at the big picture and try to figure out why they were hittin good, or why they were not...Talk about Entomology, water levels, the barometer, wind directions, cloud cover, different tactics, why or why not the fish were there, look at the days pictures taken, and so on and so on...Sometimes we come up with some good ideas for the next day...The end of the day is far from my favorite part of a fishing day, However I do enjoy it, especially when a lot has happened that day, and have lots to talk, laugh and joke about... ...

 

Cheers...Jeff..

[bhurt]

Rub and tug what????????

 

For me, its that chance to put things on the shelf and enjoy something weather its the challenge, beauty, size, fight I find something to enjoy.

 

When Life gives you leamons Paint that *hit Gold - Loop Troop

[brownonbow]

I enjoy all the aspects of fishing already mentioned. Everyone seems to derive common experiences from getting out and doing what we all love to do.

 

For me one of my favorite times comes at the end of the day when your driving home from down south with some good friends and all is quiet. No words need to be spoken, everyone is just reflecting on the things just experienced, be it scenery, wildlife, weather, or fish...

[lamponius]

For me, I wouldn t say it s just to be outside, even if it s enjoyable...Because when I get skunked it sucks!! And I can tell others "it s always nice to get out, enjoying the sun even if you dont catch anything...blabla...", it s not all the truth.

 

I need at least a take...I need to feel the fish fighting for is freedom, to know that I ve been able to find it and fool it...

Landing it it s not really optional but not as important. Just to be sure of the size (otherwise, I d just have missed a monster...), colours...

 

The other day, it was so perfect (almost in fact)...The trout (a good size) came from the dark (it was lake fishing on dries) very slowly and a few centimeters before taking it (il lasted forever...), she changed her mind and went back to the dark...I think more about it than a lot of landed fish I did...I can stop thinking "what was wrong ? The fly tying ? The fly choice ? Presentation ? Did the trout see me (I was up on a rock) ? Leader too thick ?..."

 

Just to get at the point that it s not only about catching fish or getting aoutside...It s all about fishing.

 

My point of view anyway.

[Shaner]

I fish because nothing else makes me feel as good as when im fishing.

 

there is no one reason. even the worst windy cold fishless tear in waders forgotten flys truck broke day...is just so god dam perfect

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

its that big fish that got away that brings be back to lakes ponds and rivers. There are a few fish that still haunt me from a great fight and a tinny rod.

[nebc]

For me the take and the fight are what I crave the most.

 

There is also something breathtaking to watch a steelhead rise through 6 feet of clear water and grab a skated fly on the surface, or a trout rise from he depths in a clear lake to take a surface fly.

[slingshotz]

It's the total zen focus you can attain where you can feel time stopping. For me its when trying to do the perfect presentation to stubborn fish or getting into the perfect flow of a downhill singletrack, all about getting into the mental "zone".

[Hawgstoppah]

There is also something breathtaking to watch a steelhead rise through 6 feet of clear water and grab a skated fly on the surface

 

Ooooh yeah!!!!!!!

 

I'm getting the itch already..!!

[leachman]

almost getting the rod pulled out of your hand!!!!

 

 

[reevesr1]

I was out the other evening. Saw a little seam I hadn't really noticed before. Made the first cast into it, and just didn't like the look of the drift. Made another cast and just knew the drift was perfect, then the indi bobbled, rod came up, and a few minutes later a nice brown was in my hand. I love that feeling!

[Guest BigSky]

i'm new to the sport and caught my first fish on a dry, seeing that rainbow slurp up my fly and then watching him jump 3 feet out of the water was pretty unforgettable!

[ÜberFly]

Nice work! Let's hope this is the 1st of many!!

 

Cheers,

 

P

 

i'm new to the sport and caught my first fish on a dry, seeing that rainbow slurp up my fly and then watching him jump 3 feet out of the water was pretty unforgettable!