Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my fishing life. Forty-some years with a fishing rod, twenty some with a fly rod tied to an obsession, and about a decade with fishing as an occupation.

Before my fishing life became a career, I played guitar and saxophone with some of the finest musicians in the area. My friend, Ted McCloskey, seemed to have a mainline from his own creativity and soul, down through his fingers and connected into the fretboard. He was the best guitar player I’ve ever seen. And Ted dedicated his life to just one thing — the music. I always admired that.

I remember seeing a small black and white paper cutout that Ted had taped to a mirror in his home.

“I’ve played so much guitar, it’d make your ass hurt!” – Guitar Gabriel Source:https://industrydocuments.uscf.edu

Gabriel also said he could “do more with a guitar than a monkey can do with a peanut.”

That’s how I looked at Ted, like he had full command over the instrument. But I’m certain that’s not how he saw himself. Those who take on a dedication in life, who work specifically in the arts or athletics, are resigned to realize that their end goal is unattainable. There’s no true finish line. And for the best in the craft, their moments of satisfaction don’t last long, because the next improvement is staring them in the face.

I’ve met a few other anglers who’ve approached fishing this way too.

I’ve surely gone through every tactic for presenting a fly to a trout, spending years with each discipline: dry flies, wets, streamers and nymphs in every possible way. I’ve cycled back through to tackle my deficiencies. I’ve failed and struck out so many times it’d make your ass hurt.

I’ve also come to realize that how a fisherman covers water is a strategy in itself. Pace and rhythm are a choice. Beyond the basics of selecting the best pockets to land a fly, the wade angler also chooses a tempo.

Much like a musician might play the same song Largo or Allegro, an angler can fish methodically, even and calm, or he can fish the same meandering series of undercuts with earnest intensity, cutting through water at twice the pace and delivering the fly with acute precision.

Both have their beauty. Elegance is found in either approach, if an angler is on their mark.

Fish hard, friends.

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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com