One of the first lessons I received when learning to fly fish was confidence. "You've got to have confidence in that fly, in yourself," Jacob's words have remained with me all these years. It's why I fish certain patterns, choose long casts over short rolls and why I move through the water the way I do. It's all about where my confidence lies.
It's a funny thing when you lose your confidence. Perhaps you've spent some time off the water or had one too many bad trips. Maybe it was caused by a harsh word or unfounded judgment by a fellow angler. Then again it may have just disappeared and you have no idea how it happened.
For a while now my life has been filled with surgery, doctor's visits, high water, and more doctor's visits, with strict orders to stay out of the rivers and off the mountains. My body became fatigued during the process and my mind weak, resulting in a catastrophic lack of confidence.
Remember, It's Not All About the Fish
*Not a picture of a fish
When you're staring at a computer screen for multiple hours straight you begin to get dull ache behind eyes that are strained and on the verge of crossing. I had just reached that point. January 2017, sub-folder, Davidson, sub-folder, 1-23-17; then on to 2016, 2015, and so forth. Some part of me had no idea how many photographs I had acquired over the years, another part was fully aware, which is why I'd been putting this project off for so long.
I was asked by the Carolina Cane Gathering to give a talk on photography and fly fishing, and I needed to pull all my thoughts together in a visually interesting way. Look for triangles. Avoid direct sunlight; remember, all things on the river are reflective. Don't hold a tout with dry hands. Don't hold a trout with gloved hands. "Banking" fish is bad. Etc, etc, etc...
Remember, it's not all about the fish.
Read moreFishing Small Streams
"I guess it's the size of the trout (or, should I say, the suspected size of the trout) that keeps many serious fly fishermen off the small streams. To be perfectly honest, if the deal being proposed was that you get the best of all the good things fly fishing offers in return for catching smaller trout, I'd take it. Actually, I did make that very deal with myself once and was perfectly happy with it."
Read moreOdd Ways
On Thanksgiving morning Jacob got a phone call from a fellow rod builder, just to say "hi," happy thanksgiving, and to see if he'd gotten some supplies that were recently dropped in the mail. The conversation turned, inevitably, to what our dinner plans were for the day.
"We're gonna go fishing."
"That's kind of an odd way to spend the day..."
That comment stuck with me all day. Mostly because I wondered if our "odd" ways were possibly a bit too odd.
We spent the entire day, knee deep in cold water, throwing wet flies and catching an array of football shaped brookies and rainbows. We were basically the only two on the water, and it was pretty great. We finished up the day eating frozen pizza, Jacob heading downstairs to plane out a rod and I found my way to the sewing room to pop out some "hurry up" orders.
It wasn't what you'd call a conventional Thanksgiving. We didn't have any turkey or watch any football. We didn't pull dressy clothes out of the back corner of the closet. We didn't spend the day with relatives we rarely talk to out of obligation. Instead, we spent the day doing what we're most thankful for with the one we're most thankful for.
I'd say that's a pretty good day.
Role Reversal
The other day Jacob and I took an adventure to a stretch of water we hadn't fished before. It was a long drive up and around the mountain, ending in a small town; not even big enough for one stop light.
Somehow Jacob wound up with the camera this trip and we ended up reversing our normal roles.
Being the one who's typically behind the camera this was more than a little strange for me, being the "subject" is strange and uncomfortable for me. Probably as awkward as it is for Jacob using a bulky DSLR. Overall, I think he did pretty well, and adjusted better than I.
I'm looking forward to our next trip, back behind the camera, where all is well with the world.
