Many people are misled by the title of this film. That was intentional. It was done before "clickbait" was a thing. My intention was to break assumptions. Thanks for watching and letting me know what you think. I actually do read the comments.
Gone Fishin’ I’ll sometimes leave my book on the porch rail and take a fly rod on that short walk to the river to fish in my no-frills fashion wearing shorts, sneakers and a very old t-shirt I leave the fishing vest and waders hanging restless on their pegs envious of the one small box riding in my pocket containing a few hooks dressed in the feathers and fur that make up their grasshopper suits and hellgrammite capes I make it my job for awhile to be the puppeteer that animates them producing and directing small fables for a Piscean audience A favorite tale about a grasshopper, who, in the ego of youth, attempted and failed to jump too broad a span and was swept struggling too far from safety Or the one about the greedy damselfly larva unsatisfied with his position in life, crawled from under his rock to fly in the stream on wings he imagines So, I wade knee deep, careful not to stumble and slip on the bones of the river to a place where the water flows thoughtful by willow and reed Casting ersatz lunch to mostly indifferent diners But, the fishing is fine, really it’s one of the reasons I live in a shack too close to the river and a little too open to winter Another, is the solitude that allows me to disguise myself as a man nudging fish from an afternoons nap all the while, studying the physics of light Noting, that at certain times, on certain days the clear blue sky slips beneath the water enabling me to, at once, observe both fish and bird allowing me to see herons flowing in the current Or gentle Ophelia, at rest on a bed of water borne clouds no longer mad, her songs finally quieted floating slowly away through the pages of evening
I have fly fished for fifty-seven years. I prefer to cast small dry flies to large rising trout but of course am happy just being on the water even if it means nymphing for 11" stocked trout. I actually get more satisfaction out of fly fishing now than I did when I was 17 years old. At least now I know what I'm doing and the feelings are just wonderful. I'm almost 73 now and am hoping for at least another ten years of good wading and then find someone to row my drift boat for me until I can no longer cast.
thought it was the most useless thing ever, then i caught a shitty canal tuna on my 8 wt and i was hooked, one drag screaming football on a 8 wt and you will understand why we love it. i dont even need to catch fish anymore to have a good time.
As a still photographer of landscapes and fish and a fly fisherman for over five decades, I think you hit the nail square on the head. Beautiful work and thoughtful narration. I only wish I could do as well. Thank you for your gift to us.
I stumbled upon your vid only due to my work related research about fishing gears. I found no valuable information I was looking for. No list of gears to bring. No recommendations of specific brands, places to fly fish. No "dos and donts". Not even a fishing technique. Instead, your vid took me there all the way to the scenes, to the other side of my monitor. It got me really relaxing first. Then strangely, it started making me rather unsettled. I got jealous. it made me angry. It made me forget all about my research and watch it through. I will probably keep coming back to this video for years to come, hopefully watching it without feeling jealous or angry eventually. I think you woke up something deep inside me. Thank you very much for such a great video, one of the best you see on RUclips, I say.
For me, it's the entire experience! Getting out of the crowded city and as the skyscrapers fall away and the mountain rise before my eyes, I instantly, without realizing, let out a big sigh of relief. I love the drive to my fishing destination, the camping, the folks I meet, the time on the water even when I'm not catching shit, the music I listen to, the type of books I read when on my trip. The sense of peace it brings me is unmatched in anything I have experienced in life. I remember when I caught my first fish on my own tied fly and the joy it brought, but the same joy as when my son caught his first at 6 years of age. I live in British Columbia and while the elitists are definitely still around, it has become so popular with your everyday, blue collar, easy going man and woman up here who are less judgemental than many others in different sporting types. Thank you for the video, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I came across this video 6 or 7 years ago and find myself returning to it often. It is powerful and moving -- underscores and reinforces everything a fly fisherperson experiences, consciously or subconsciously. Something in this video (more likely many things) will stick in your head forever -- a reflection of your experience, your joy, your passion. I expect that something is different for everyone, but I promise you it is there. This is pure art on many, many levels. Thank you.
Kudos! This is the best film about fly fishing I've watched in a very long time. Beautiful footage and intelligent commentary. It captures the true spirit and nature of our sport which to me is the reason why I have been a fly angler for way longer than I now care to admit. Let's keep on smiling...
This makes me think about one of my favorite poems. It's about how if you overanalyze something, you take the fun away. The romanticism, the magic is gone. It becomes sterile. It happens with everything, and this video is a good example of that. When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer by Walt Whitman When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars
Beautiful. Words can't describe how true fly fishing is portrayed in this video. Being an avid fly fisherman I smile when casting a line for different reasons than that of my family. Thank you for sharing.
Your comparison of analyzing a joke vs hearing a joke and observing but not participating in fly fishing is well done! You have skills as a videographer as well as a wordsmith. " . . . and as I fished, I experienced the simple joy of losing myself in actuality. And then . . . I smiled!" You put into words exactly what I experience. I've smiled . . . and, yes, even laughed after a perfect cast. Thank you!
Dude, poetry. This is alluding to the soul. Preach man, SING! I LOVED THIS! Don't stop doing this man. This is wonderful, too many synonyms of the same word; beautiful, gorgeous! I'm no elitist, and I'm younger and poorer that the "younger, less financially secure" crowd you presented in the video, but you better believe you persuaded me to try this and take it home. Thank you. Almost felt like crying at the end. Almost.
Wow. I feel the same way. When you get stressed, go fly fishing. I find that joy when I get a fish, and let it go, and the water wacking your hand. Wow, great film.
It IS a joke, one you get to craft in a myriad different ways and depths. You can tie yourself, you can buy the most expensive or the least expensive gear possible, you can write the punchline as you go. It's a wonderful joke to be a part of. Keeps me coming back for more every time. Throwing line versus throwing lures. Presentation. Bad presentations still somehow getting a huge trout to hit. It's wonderful, and I love your video.
Beautiful .... Fishing has been a part of my life , all my life. I am 59 years old. Now more than ever I treasure the moments that I can get away even if it's for just an hour or two and cast a line, read some water, and get lost in the Stoke. I thoroughly enjoyed Your JOKE!
Loved your film. Fished yesterday, January 27, on a Colorado tail water in 55 degree sunshine. Although I got skunked it was still a great day of serenity and scenery with friends and the river.
You hit the nail on the head, no matter who you are, what you believe or how you fish... it's about that smile :) The reason and method may differ between each person, but the end result is all that matters. Great film, thanks for sharing
I grew up in far-northern New England near Canada. My entire family and I fished, trapped and hunted. Then, no one thought fly fishing was an elitist sport. It does have a calming effect on the soul as a respite from today's frenetic activities. And, it's poetic but not elitist. However, maybe the further you live from fishing locations, the more likely fly fishing becomes elitist due to equipment costs, place to maintain/store equipment, and travel/time/distance costs. Living near the source is much simpler.
I was going to make some smart remark about fly fishing a joke at the beginning of this clip. After finishing, I could not agree with you more. Great Job!
I love to fish and intend to try fly fishing. I have always loved being on the Water fishing for a variety of species and your words and photography brought back many memories. I think you have captured beautifully the essence of fly fishing.I couldn't help but feel grateful for having experienced moments like these. Beautifully written and filmed.
Started fly fishing recently after a lifetime of coarse fishing (I am 40 this year). Oh how foolish I have been... Hopefully fishing the River Dove in Derbyshire soon (Izaak Walton and Charles Cottons stomping ground!)... The peace, craft and simplicity is tempered joy... Loved this film!
I first fly fished while a teenager in the late 1950's. I caught a few RB trout and had a lot of fun but mainly I spin fished. I moved to Southern Idaho in 1975. Between there and the surrounding states I experienced Fly Fishing that was almost unbelievable. I had days on Silver Creek south of Hailey Idaho that taught me to fish midges, days fishing the Green Drake hatch on the Henrys Fork Of the Snake at Island Park Idaho but some of the funnest days were on the Madison River Montana during the Stone Fly Hatch where at times the trout had their mouths so gorged with the real thing and still taking my Sofa Pillow, and are those Madison fish wild. One September four of us went to fish summer run steelhead on the Deschutes in Oregon...I am here to tell you if you have never fly fished wait no longer, get a rod and some flies some where and go do it, you will never be the same.
That was beautiful. I'm thrilled that you felt it. Its a rhythm, not your rhythm, natures rhythm. You cannot dictate the pace and sometimes it takes a little while to find it, but, when you do your in tune with it, it's like...your in tune with God.
on the dry I just watched now and season opened today on my local rivers ..I'm also from Ireland and heading out first thing in the morning..can't wait to wet a line again
Wonderful ending shot at 8:45...beautiful sunrise/smile! Question, where is the location setting at :45...I want a photgraph of me casting there. Thanks!
+David Krupa Hi David, if you mean the river with the cliff in the background, that is in the Gallatin river between Bozeman and Big Sky. Great river to fish and absolutely stunning. Same area they filmed "A River Runs Through It"
WOW! I love the intro and the sound track. We just subscribe to your channel. As always happy fishing and tight lines. Fish On! Can't wait to see this channel grow.
Great video. I love fly fishing and its part of me. I enjoy spending time in the nature, taking long hikes even spraining my ankle to get to that wild trout stream that no one has been to in years. Fly fishing is what makes me alive. Living in NYC where everything is crowded fly fishing gives me an opportunity to enjoy one day in nature and come back to the city feeling fresh like I just came back from 15 day vacation in Aruba, and I am not exagurating
The mindset of fly fishing and the joy is just like a Pitcher throwing a Strike or even a No-Hitter. It's the art, the complexities, the focus on perfection and in all this, it's just being outside and getting lost in nature. I too am a photographer who just got bitten by the Fly.
Very nice, this brings back memories of my Montana fishing trip many years ago! I fished the exact location in your film on the Gallatin. I was told by my guide, that this is the location that they filmed the River Runs through it, and if you watch closely near the end of the movie you will see this location. Each person gets something different from fly fishing, however I agree, they all laugh, and it seems like a joke. Thank you for sharing.
Really well narrated Being a fly fisherman for nearly 15 years I must admit it's a real addiction Just started tying flies, well that's another store on its own Thanks for the fantastic dry fly strike
+Richard Cox I'm not sure they were Impressed Richard, but they gave me my degree which at that point was all I (and my patient wife) really wanted. :-) Thanks for your kind words.
+The Weekly Fly I would have awarded you a Masters Degree for sure ... but as I am a geology prof I'm not sure I would have been qualified to sit on your examination committee. :) But I will show my students your video as an example of why geology, and indeed any outdoor career, is worth the effort of gaining that degree.
I'm never going to give up my spin rod, because I can fish with every fly,lure,bait I want to and catch more fish doing it. But I enjoy the art of making flies, fly fishing and this video. Well done.
Thanks for the props. We all have to find where our pleasure in the sport lies and pursue it unapologetically. Time spent on the water is what helps keep us all sane.
how lovely, how insightful, how true. We all fish for different reasons. I used to spin cast and now I teach fly casting and guide occasionally. I dream, I think, I meditate, I observe and I don't always fish!
All the challenges of fly fishing, the rare moments out in nature, the study and tradition of the sport are all wonderful. The only jokes we see are when pretentious people try to turn fly fishing into some sort of status statement. It's not all the expensive equipment - we fully understand a gear fetish for the lifestyle one loves - it's the down right holier than thou statements from undeserving pretentious people who are decades short of the knowledge to support their attitudes. Actually the true gurus of the water are usually friendly people who simply smile when pretense rears is ornately adorned waders. Go out and just enjoy being in the woods.
I have been fly fishing for nearly 60 years and am still hooked. Your film and its sentiment is wonderful but the best thing is you were smitten like the rest of us. Well done sir
Enjoyed the video greatly! I'm 66, living in Alaska, a fly fisherman, and this puts the entire process in focus. I too, was smiling at the end. Then I heard the monkey joke and laughed out loud! Thanks for sharing, and I'm sure you received an A+ for your efforts.
Greetings from the antipodes, I've watch this a several times now and it never gets old, love the narrative. Thanks for creating this mini masterpiece. You should really try out your stuff in NZ or Australia. We have some amazing fishing here. Cheer, Craig
Well, that's what I consider a well thought of short movie (including the intriguing title which gets "vocally explained" so humorously at the very end of the clip). I have no prior information on the author's work but with this short movie he certainly "nailed down" one really deep aspect of what we do, and in a new and interesting way. I shared the video on my fb with these lines: "Older I get, more I like fly fishing from a contemplative angle...a very nice and intriguing footage...especially the smile on his face near the end...that's what its all about (for me) ;-) " .....
Great Video, I live near and fly fish in many of the Montana shown in this video! I love the ending where it all comes clear and it made me smile knowing that is exactly how I feel!
Very good thoughts on the sport/art/pastime or whatever it is we do. The beauty of it is you can ponder and consider, and also just live in the moment. Thanks for a lovely little film.
I just started this week my first fly fishing. And it's true what you say. I laught very loudly after catching big trout. I simply was sitting on the edge of the river and was laughting like I just heard a great joke. Great video.
The act of fishing is like the act of reading a poem. And the last thing you should get from a poem is meaning. But the joy of poetry is as old as the joy of fishing.
The video said some people say you might as well use a spinning rod/reel, if your using a bead head nymph ? I'm just wondering why they say that? I love using those and trout seem to like them.
I think it comes down to the individual. Sylvester Nemes made that statement and he was a master of classic softhackles. One of the things he enjoyed most about the sport was the traditions and he felt that beadheads were a step too far. But I think it comes down to each individual and how they derive joy from the sport. Each of us gets something a little different from it and that's ok, because it's not the definition or rules that are important so much as the peace that we achieve through having the experience.
Great film! I love fly fishing. Its a blast. The ceiling also rises a lot. It also forces you to meditate (focus). Landing a fish is a magical thing. Its primal, it also just feels better on a fly rod like you worked for it. This film is awesome!
I also am not an old affluent white guy. I picked up fly fishing about a year ago. The upfront cost is a lot but the amount of free time and enjoyment it brings is well worth it. I also fish clousers and wooly buggers alot. I fly fish 12 months out of the year. I catch shad, striped bass, browns, bows, bass, and whatever I can.
Fly fishing is the joy of seeing that fish at the end of the line on that fly that no hard lure can imitate. Seeing that small stream brook blow on that dry, having that brown smash that streamer, feeling that line when smallies tap your buggers, enjoying time on the water and having satisfaction in the views and the fish. This comes from a 20yr old, I've fly fished for 4 years and fished all sorts of flies for freshwater species. Caught bass, trout, carp, pike, hooked into numerous musky. It's something completely on it's own. I love it, but also love to fish conventional swimbaits and big baits. Just an addiction we all have to a different degree
I went fly fishing last year after being a saltwater angler all my life. I live on the coast and have no nice places to fly fish where I live. My dream is to be able to live in a place where I can enjoy the sport to the max potential.
LaughedSnail Not sure where you live on the coast, but there's lots of saltwater fly fishing opportunities to be had out there. From Stripers to bone fish and lots more. Maybe not feasible where you are but there's usually at least a bass pond to be found within a short drive.
🤣 Very well done! Bravo! I just got introduced to fly fishing not long ago and found myself chuckling self-consciously as you explained why “Fly fishing is a joke”. I was with you the whole journey... from truly puzzled to...I don’t know...a wide-eyed impassioned neophyte? Whatever the label, I just know that peace and calm when I was first doing it. Nothing like it. Like a joke.... best enjoyed without question. 🎣
While watching this I asked myself what I would say if asked why I like to fish. The simple answer is because it makes me happy, what better reason to do something?
I used to fly-fish all the time, but got away from it when I got my own boat. All my expensive fly tying tools fell into dis-repair when I discovered the biggest trout could be caught with streamer tied with dogs hair fished behind a dodger with no more effort than a simple boat ride.
To me the point is not big fish. I am happier with a 6 inch wild brook than I am a 20 inch hatchery brown. It is about fishing with style. Not fashion, style. Mimicking an insect floating at the exact speed of the water. Beautiful streams. Making it a challenge. At a point, catching big dumb mouth bass out of farm ponds just loses its appeal. I can fly fish a stream all day and forget about everything but that stream, or I can bait fish for catfish all night long but I had better have some bourbon with me if I want to forget. And the last thing I want to see and hear are boats and internal combustion engines. I truly believe that it transcends fishing and becomes angling. Unfortunately due to my location I have plenty of opportunities to go fishing, but only get to go angling a handful of times a year.
I understand, and I still like catfishing. Catfishing takes me to much less pristine waterways though. The mighty muddy Ohio is not my river of choice, but it has given me so big flatheads.
Nowadays, the ever telling presence of starving trout (skinny as snakes) and Orvis manequins crowding my old haunts has soured me on the sport....I hardly go anymore.
I'm not very good at it, and every time I go out on the water I try to get better. Even if I don't hook a trout, it always humbles me to be in nature. To disconnect from society, social media, and the noise.. there's nothing like it. Always brings a smile to my face. Great film.
Hello WF, This thought has plagued me for so long. But then we think of the Judge from Michigan who stated his mind to which we all subscribe. You may remember, " Whiskey out of an old tin cup never tastes better than when I'm out here."
Been fly fishing since I was in the 8th grade back in 1984...Taught myself and still use the Garcia glass rod I purchased at Caldor’s and works just fine.
Hi Henry, very nice video. You certainly " stirred the pot" with all the responses. I've fished for almost 60 years since I started as a young boy with a stick, a length of string and a safety pin for a hook and a piece of beef fat for bait while on a family vacation in the Adirondacks at Old Forge NY. Luckily a nice man in a neighboring cabin rigged my stick with some mono and a real hook. I caught my first trophy, a small yellow perch that looked like a giant to my young eyes, it's body curved inside the small bucket of water, gently finning while remaining suspended. I was certainly "hooked".... I naturally progressed to a zebco 202 and as I got older a Mitchell 300 and a fiberglass Southbend spinning rod became my "tools" as well as the spring ritual of picking nightcrawlers for the April 1st trout opener. I've always respected nature and the evironment and love outdoor activities including hunting with my highschool friends. I read the outdoor magazines and found fly fishing very interesting. I bought a Cortland "just add water" 8.5ft streamer/bass 8wt rod kit complete with a reel, level line and tapered leader and started practice casting on the lawn, just like I did with casting plugs with I started spin fishing. I had to force myself to leave the spinning rod and worms at home, finally added the water and struggled with casting on a " lawn in motion"! Now what to use for bait? Hmm, all the fur and feathers harvested from hunting lead to fly tying. All the years of drifting bait for trout and walleye in the creeks and rivers made me a decent nymph fisherman. More books, rods, reels, lines, hooks, vises, hooks, genetic hackle and lures (yes lures, I still spin fish and could never leave my first "love"). Soon I was catching more fish and learning more with every outing. Flash forward a couple of decades to a man in his prime on a fly fishing honey moon with his wife on the fabled West Branch of the Ausable, practically full circle with a different stick and string, and the most wonderful company one could ask for, in a beautiful place that was like taking a course in aquatic entomology complete with a lab. I learned a lot on those trips, and felt the thrill of catching a fish on something I tied with materials I harvested myself. I love the outdoors, fishing, hunting, harvest or not, just being in it with or without a loved one, a friend, and of course my favorite retriever when bird hunting. Maybe I have a utilitarian view of some aspects of the sport, but I can assure you it's steeped in all the romanticism written about it. I'm very comfortable in my "circle". Best of luck to you Henry, I'm sure you'll get your degree. Thanks for making this and I'm glad I stayed with it till the last credits. Sly's punch line literally made me laugh out loud! Well worth the price of admission and really drove your point home! Thanks and cheers to you sir 👍😎🍺
@@garyballard3484 Ha, glad to hear Gary. I just noticed this because H responded to my 5 year old comment. Better late than never. All the best to you!
Fly l fishing, I tell my friends , is a five year sport. Like golf, skiing, scuba diving and hang gliding, it is not something to take lightly. You can fish most of the year but, you also have fly tying, rod building and researching your next assault on the fish. I learned the sport on the Snoqualmie river(3 forks) living and working in Snoqualmie Falls WA. My mentor was Bob Sims, a life long resident, fellow employee with Weyerhaeuser Co. He taught fly tying at the Y and for $20 you got a Thompson vise, hackle plier, scissors, hooks and enough material to tie 500 flies(even including polar bear) as well as 10 lessons. Later in my travels I visited Thompson in Elgin Ill and acquired a pair of their scissors which are no longer available. There were three old white heads building the vises. They were in the basement of a condemned three story building made of stone. There was a big electric motor driving a line shaft that had pulleys to provide belt drives to lathe, drill, forge and polish. This was in 1978. I treasure my Thompson vise and scissors. I don't carry a net and the last thing I want is someone close by netting my fish. For years I had a 71/2 foot rod . My favorite was a Phillipson blank, a #6 double taper floater and a Phlueger 1494 reel. The largest fish I caught on my fly rod was a 24" rainbow at the Clark Fork river in St. Regis MT. I had tied the fly an hour earlier to match the hatch. An upright with chocolate colored body with long split tail (moose). on a #12 forged 3x hook with a 5x leader. He came up from 20 feet and it took at least 20 minutes to land. Iguana
Just after a bad week with bad news went fly fishing yesterday and forgot about everything standing in the middle off the river hearing noting but birds and that big trout rising behind your back sir you are right it's a joke but it's our joke just lose yourself just smile tight lines everyone that fishes
Now this is a dandy video! you captured the sport in words and video. Now almost five years on I hope my message finds you living your dreams and loving life, best wishes from New Mexico
I have to agree i go with my oldest son who is 14 and we enjoy just us being there relaxing fly fishing isn't for everyone but its one i bring to my kids
I learned to fly fish when I was 8yrs old. Now at 45yrs old, I still smile about that first bluegill I caught on a popper. I never landed him because a Muskie chased it in and snagged the bluegill and about a foot of my leader and swam off. As I type this out, I am smiling about that moment when an 8yr old kid became addicted to fly fishing.
A simply beautiful video - I'm what might be called a, "An all around fisherman", meaning I own a center console boat which suits all my fishing and my fishing buddies fishing needs. And so I own boat rods and surf rods and spinning reels and fresh water bass gear as well but every time I go out with friends - none of whom are fly fishermen, at some point in the day I start wishing I were fly casting to any fish at all because as much as I've always loved fishing - since the first time I went out in a little wooden dory on Long Island Sound with my Dad and a couple of his buddies fishing for flounder - I've been hooked. I didn't fly fish back then but at some point I happened to be watching Gadabout Gaddis fly casting on a river in Scotland and though I was only a lad of about 10, I knew I would become a die hard fly fisherman or at least try the sport. That expression of my passions had to wait until a series of events on a pond in Rhode Island where I spent every spare hour spin casting with an ultra light Fenwick rod and a Mitchell 300 spinning reel. The vast majority of trout fisherman on Olney Pond - the ones using flies - all used similar ultra light spinning gear with very light test Mono lines to which we attached a round plastic float and a length of fly leader. To that leader we tied an endless variety of our favorite fish catching flies without knowing the first thing about the patterns we were using or exactly what those flies were supposed to mimic. Then one day an older and much wiser fisherman mentioned that if I really wanted to catch trout that I should go out and buy myself a fly rod because, "While using spinning gear was perfectly OK on Olney Pond it would be a lot more fun to fly fish using real fly fishing gear." I took old Mitch at his word and without the slightest knowledge of Fly Fishing rods and reels and line and everything else associated with fly fishing I started out my new interest by visiting one fly rod dealer after another to handle as many rods as possible and reading reading as many books on the subject as our Public Library had on its shelves addressing our magical sport and so for the last 50 or so years I've been a fly fisherman deep in my heart but one willing to fish - that is cheat - with any gear at all as long as I were fishing, so when I head out on my own I fly fish and when a friend or my son comes along we fish the way they want which is perfectly OK with me - fishing is after all just getting out on the water and having fun.
YOU'VE made some amazingly CLEVER AND LOGICAL POINTS!! Such Famous Fly Fishers, as Lee Wolf, Lefty Kreh, Billy Pate, Charles Ritz (the millionaire and founder of Ritz International Hotels)! All with the exception of Charles Ritz, have had U.S. Commorative Postal Stamps, with, their names and Color illustrations of their faces, on them!! Believe me, I'm beyond happy for them !! Except, some of these individuals, also have done or did, Spin or Bait Casting, but not so much with a "Baitcasting" levelwind reels!! Because, many of them are intimidated with these "Levelwind" reels, as an inexperienced person, can end up with a bad Backlash, commonly referred to as a bird's nest :-) !! Which means going home unless, they have a fresh Spool of fishing line or another reel filled with LINE etc. LOL :-),
Thanks for your thoughts on this. Love it when this film inspires people to really think about their relationship to the sport and to share that as part of the conversation. -H
went out this morning with my 31 yr old son, he caught several Rainbow. I only hooked one, lost it at my feet. I get the joke :) what a wonderful morning.
liked the vid, was interesting. Nice to see new fisherman enjoying the time. You might try keeping your wrist straight, no turn and stopping your back cast at 12 before your forward cast. Old Miramichi fisherman, had to learn from the old pros before I was allowed to fish the water. ;-)
This video reminds me that "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach", i.e. filming an activity will never give the photographer or observer the feeling and understanding of actually doing it. Life should be more than hiding behind a camera. To live life to its fullest we have to dive in.
The Weekly Fly: Yes, I commented, because your vlog made my point in a very explicit way. I enjoyed your video both for its poetry and plain truth. Thank you.
Many people are misled by the title of this film. That was intentional. It was done before "clickbait" was a thing. My intention was to break assumptions. Thanks for watching and letting me know what you think. I actually do read the comments.
Gone Fishin’
I’ll sometimes leave my book on the porch rail
and take a fly rod on that short walk to the river
to fish in my no-frills fashion
wearing shorts, sneakers and a very old t-shirt
I leave the fishing vest and waders hanging restless on their pegs
envious of the one small box riding in my pocket
containing a few hooks dressed in the feathers and fur
that make up their grasshopper suits and hellgrammite capes
I make it my job for awhile
to be the puppeteer that animates them
producing and directing small fables for a Piscean audience
A favorite tale about a grasshopper, who, in the ego of youth,
attempted and failed to jump too broad a span
and was swept struggling too far from safety
Or the one about the greedy damselfly larva
unsatisfied with his position in life, crawled from under his rock
to fly in the stream on wings he imagines
So, I wade knee deep, careful
not to stumble and slip on the bones of the river
to a place where the water flows thoughtful by willow and reed
Casting ersatz lunch to mostly indifferent diners
But, the fishing is fine, really
it’s one of the reasons I live in a shack
too close to the river and a little too open to winter
Another, is the solitude that allows me to disguise myself
as a man nudging fish from an afternoons nap
all the while, studying the physics of light
Noting, that at certain times, on certain days
the clear blue sky slips beneath the water
enabling me to, at once, observe both fish and bird
allowing me to see herons flowing in the current
Or gentle Ophelia, at rest on a bed of water borne clouds
no longer mad, her songs finally quieted
floating slowly away through the pages of evening
Clickbait was a thing many years ago. This video was posted a year ago.
i know some people do this with there essays to hook people in. i knew what you was doing 😉
Don't explain the joke. Also i am reading some comments...margaretas ante porqas.
What? @@MatanuskaHIGHit was posted 10 years ago
I have fly fished for fifty-seven years. I prefer to cast small dry flies to large rising trout but of course am happy just being on the water even if it means nymphing for 11" stocked trout. I actually get more satisfaction out of fly fishing now than I did when I was 17 years old. At least now I know what I'm doing and the feelings are just wonderful. I'm almost 73 now and am hoping for at least another ten years of good wading and then find someone to row my drift boat for me until I can no longer cast.
where you at? I'd be happy to row you down the river some time
I live I SE PA but have another property on the upper Delaware River.
Will Sharp So, did you ever do what you said?
With that name. You were born to fish! Hope you are still doing it.
@@willsharphomes Decency. That's a rare quality any more. Hats off to you!
thought it was the most useless thing ever, then i caught a shitty canal tuna on my 8 wt and i was hooked, one drag screaming football on a 8 wt and you will understand why we love it. i dont even need to catch fish anymore to have a good time.
But it sure makes a good time better.
oh ya
As a still photographer of landscapes and fish and a fly fisherman for over five decades, I think you hit the nail square on the head. Beautiful work and thoughtful narration. I only wish I could do as well. Thank you for your gift to us.
Thanks for this. We're posting more new videos if you want to check back with the channel. -H
I stumbled upon your vid only due to my work related research about fishing gears.
I found no valuable information I was looking for.
No list of gears to bring. No recommendations of specific brands, places to fly fish.
No "dos and donts". Not even a fishing technique.
Instead, your vid took me there all the way to the scenes, to the other side of my monitor.
It got me really relaxing first. Then strangely, it started making me rather unsettled. I got jealous.
it made me angry. It made me forget all about my research and watch it through.
I will probably keep coming back to this video for years to come, hopefully watching it without feeling jealous
or angry eventually. I think you woke up something deep inside me.
Thank you very much for such a great video, one of the best you see on RUclips, I say.
Just beautiful. You're a wonderful filmmaker and your video and audio are a perfect and just tribute to fly fishing.
For me, it's the entire experience! Getting out of the crowded city and as the skyscrapers fall away and the mountain rise before my eyes, I instantly, without realizing, let out a big sigh of relief. I love the drive to my fishing destination, the camping, the folks I meet, the time on the water even when I'm not catching shit, the music I listen to, the type of books I read when on my trip. The sense of peace it brings me is unmatched in anything I have experienced in life. I remember when I caught my first fish on my own tied fly and the joy it brought, but the same joy as when my son caught his first at 6 years of age. I live in British Columbia and while the elitists are definitely still around, it has become so popular with your everyday, blue collar, easy going man and woman up here who are less judgemental than many others in different sporting types. Thank you for the video, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Glad to hear it. We're posting new patterns again if you want to check them out. -H
I came across this video 6 or 7 years ago and find myself returning to it often. It is powerful and moving -- underscores and reinforces everything a fly fisherperson experiences, consciously or subconsciously. Something in this video (more likely many things) will stick in your head forever -- a reflection of your experience, your joy, your passion. I expect that something is different for everyone, but I promise you it is there. This is pure art on many, many levels. Thank you.
Thanks so much. I'm glad it's bringing you some joy. -H
Kudos! This is the best film about fly fishing I've watched in a very long time. Beautiful footage and intelligent commentary. It captures the true spirit and nature of our sport which to me is the reason why I have been a fly angler for way longer than I now care to admit. Let's keep on smiling...
It is pretty obvious who watched the film, and who commented on the title. Definitely well put together.
This makes me think about one of my favorite poems. It's about how if you overanalyze something, you take the fun away. The romanticism, the magic is gone. It becomes sterile. It happens with everything, and this video is a good example of that.
When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
by Walt Whitman
When I heard the learn’d astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars
Beautiful. Words can't describe how true fly fishing is portrayed in this video. Being an avid fly fisherman I smile when casting a line for different reasons than that of my family. Thank you for sharing.
very inspiring, as a young fisherman and an amateur film artist.... I give you praise!
RODNEY!!!!
Your comparison of analyzing a joke vs hearing a joke and observing but not participating in fly fishing is well done! You have skills as a videographer as well as a wordsmith.
" . . . and as I fished, I experienced the simple joy of losing myself in actuality. And then . . . I smiled!"
You put into words exactly what I experience. I've smiled . . . and, yes, even laughed after a perfect cast. Thank you!
El Cascarrabias Thanks for the kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. We all enjoy it in different ways but we all enjoy it. Tight Lines
Beautifully shot - a nice perspective. We enjoyed it so much we added it to a playlist - thank you for publishing!
+Visit Bishop Wow. That's great to hear. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Dude, poetry. This is alluding to the soul. Preach man, SING! I LOVED THIS!
Don't stop doing this man. This is wonderful, too many synonyms of the same word; beautiful, gorgeous!
I'm no elitist, and I'm younger and poorer that the "younger, less financially secure" crowd you presented in the video, but you better believe you persuaded me to try this and take it home.
Thank you. Almost felt like crying at the end. Almost.
at 50 second mark that is a great shot of stormcastle on the Gallatin river. Beautiful video!
Wow. I feel the same way. When you get stressed, go fly fishing. I find that joy when I get a fish, and let it go, and the water wacking your hand. Wow, great film.
And camp by a river with a little fire, a few beers and a couple of good mates.
Fellow filmmaker and fly fishing addict. Fantastic work. Last scene was really cool. Love the sun coming in and blowing it all out.
It IS a joke, one you get to craft in a myriad different ways and depths. You can tie yourself, you can buy the most expensive or the least expensive gear possible, you can write the punchline as you go.
It's a wonderful joke to be a part of.
Keeps me coming back for more every time. Throwing line versus throwing lures. Presentation. Bad presentations still somehow getting a huge trout to hit. It's wonderful, and I love your video.
Very true, Scott and what I was trying to get at. Thanks. -H
Pretty bold title. Then again...pretty film as well :). I really enjoyed it and I hear your message. Thank you for this.
Beautiful .... Fishing has been a part of my life , all my life. I am 59 years old. Now more than ever I treasure the moments that I can get away even if it's for just an hour or two and cast a line, read some water, and get lost in the Stoke. I thoroughly enjoyed Your JOKE!
Loved your film.
Fished yesterday, January 27, on a Colorado tail water in 55 degree sunshine. Although I got skunked it was still a great day of serenity and scenery with friends and the river.
You hit the nail on the head, no matter who you are, what you believe or how you fish... it's about that smile :) The reason and method may differ between each person, but the end result is all that matters. Great film, thanks for sharing
I grew up in far-northern New England near Canada. My entire family and I fished, trapped and hunted. Then, no one thought fly fishing was an elitist sport. It does have a calming effect on the soul as a respite from today's frenetic activities. And, it's poetic but not elitist. However, maybe the further you live from fishing locations, the more likely fly fishing becomes elitist due to equipment costs, place to maintain/store equipment, and travel/time/distance costs. Living near the source is much simpler.
I was going to make some smart remark about fly fishing a joke at the beginning of this clip. After finishing, I could not agree with you more. Great Job!
I love to fish and intend to try fly fishing. I have always loved being on the Water fishing for a variety of species and your words and photography brought back many memories. I think you have captured beautifully the essence of fly fishing.I couldn't help but feel grateful for having experienced moments like these. Beautifully written and filmed.
Started fly fishing recently after a lifetime of coarse fishing (I am 40 this year). Oh how foolish I have been... Hopefully fishing the River Dove in Derbyshire soon (Izaak Walton and Charles Cottons stomping ground!)... The peace, craft and simplicity is tempered joy... Loved this film!
Great video! Although I will say, pretty cruel to post such a thing in the dead of winter. I have the itch!
I first fly fished while a teenager in the late 1950's. I caught a few RB trout and had a lot of fun but mainly I spin fished. I moved to Southern Idaho in 1975. Between there and the surrounding states I experienced Fly Fishing that was almost unbelievable. I had days on Silver Creek south of Hailey Idaho that taught me to fish midges, days fishing the Green Drake hatch on the Henrys Fork Of the Snake at Island Park Idaho but some of the funnest days were on the Madison River Montana during the Stone Fly Hatch where at times the trout had their mouths so gorged with the real thing and still taking my Sofa Pillow, and are those Madison fish wild. One September four of us went to fish summer run steelhead on the Deschutes in Oregon...I am here to tell you if you have never fly fished wait no longer, get a rod and some flies some where and go do it, you will never be the same.
Thank you! I will be attempting to get there this summer. Can't wait! Any suggested pattern you would use in middle July to early August?
That was beautiful.
I'm thrilled that you felt it. Its a rhythm, not your rhythm, natures rhythm. You cannot dictate the pace and sometimes it takes a little while to find it, but, when you do your in tune with it, it's like...your in tune with God.
+Bryan Maynard (My2ns) Wow Thanks so much for the kind words.
watching this on a winters night in ireland dreaming of big trout ..great video
Thanks so much. Fun to think it's being enjoyed in Ireland.
on the dry I just watched now and season opened today on my local rivers ..I'm also from Ireland and heading out first thing in the morning..can't wait to wet a line again
hope you have a great day' i will start next week i feel under the weather at the min and its not from drink ..lol
Wonderful ending shot at 8:45...beautiful sunrise/smile! Question, where is the location setting at :45...I want a photgraph of me casting there. Thanks!
+David Krupa Hi David, if you mean the river with the cliff in the background, that is in the Gallatin river between Bozeman and Big Sky. Great river to fish and absolutely stunning. Same area they filmed "A River Runs Through It"
WOW! I love the intro and the sound track. We just subscribe to your channel. As always happy fishing and tight lines. Fish On! Can't wait to see this channel grow.
Great video. I love fly fishing and its part of me. I enjoy spending time in the nature, taking long hikes even spraining my ankle to get to that wild trout stream that no one has been to in years. Fly fishing is what makes me alive. Living in NYC where everything is crowded fly fishing gives me an opportunity to enjoy one day in nature and come back to the city feeling fresh like I just came back from 15 day vacation in Aruba, and I am not exagurating
The mindset of fly fishing and the joy is just like a Pitcher throwing a Strike or even a No-Hitter. It's the art, the complexities, the focus on perfection and in all this, it's just being outside and getting lost in nature. I too am a photographer who just got bitten by the Fly.
Very nice, this brings back memories of my Montana fishing trip many years ago! I fished the exact location in your film on the Gallatin. I was told by my guide, that this is the location that they filmed the River Runs through it, and if you watch closely near the end of the movie you will see this location. Each person gets something different from fly fishing, however I agree, they all laugh, and it seems like a joke. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, great video! I love How you narrate the video. I can't believe you have thumbs down on this, clearly people don't get the art of photography.
Really well narrated
Being a fly fisherman for nearly 15 years I must admit it's a real addiction
Just started tying flies, well that's another store on its own
Thanks for the fantastic dry fly strike
A very poetic, video essay. I certainly hope your examiners were impressed.
+Richard Cox I'm not sure they were Impressed Richard, but they gave me my degree which at that point was all I (and my patient wife) really wanted. :-) Thanks for your kind words.
+The Weekly Fly I would have awarded you a Masters Degree for sure ... but as I am a geology prof I'm not sure I would have been qualified to sit on your examination committee. :) But I will show my students your video as an example of why geology, and indeed any outdoor career, is worth the effort of gaining that degree.
+Richard Cox What an incredible compliment. Thank you.
I'm never going to give up my spin rod, because I can fish with every fly,lure,bait I want to and catch more fish doing it. But I enjoy the art of making flies, fly fishing and this video. Well done.
Thanks for the props. We all have to find where our pleasure in the sport lies and pursue it unapologetically. Time spent on the water is what helps keep us all sane.
The Weekly Fly Amen to that!
Picked up a fly rod years ago taught myself and never out it down,I choose a fly rod over everything now
Catch more fish while doing it? I wouldn't be so sure. Fly fisherman often out fish spin fisherman.
Actually I do as a matter of fact
This video is amazing. It does such a great job of summarizing why fly fishing is so special to me.
+Sam Cunningham Glad you enjoyed it. Tight lines.
how lovely, how insightful, how true. We all fish for different reasons. I used to spin cast and now I teach fly casting and guide occasionally. I dream, I think, I meditate, I observe and I don't always fish!
Q: What did the fish say when it hit a concrete wall A: "Dam!"
Looking forward to our first fly fishing trip, taking a rest from our busy life.
nice one. Hope you have a great trip and the experience of a lifetime. Where are you headed?
Dogwood Canyon in southern Missouri is our first trip, along with lessons.
Thank you for that. A beautiful piece of filmmaking about a beautiful passion of many of us.
All the challenges of fly fishing, the rare moments out in nature, the study and tradition of the sport are all wonderful. The only jokes we see are when pretentious people try to turn fly fishing into some sort of status statement. It's not all the expensive equipment - we fully understand a gear fetish for the lifestyle one loves - it's the down right holier than thou statements from undeserving pretentious people who are decades short of the knowledge to support their attitudes. Actually the true gurus of the water are usually friendly people who simply smile when pretense rears is ornately adorned waders. Go out and just enjoy being in the woods.
Well said and the point I'm (trying) making. Thanks.
Fing spell check! AMAZING! Absolutely AMAZING!
You made me cry man. it's the best fly fishing video I've ever seen
+Agustin Serra Wow. Highest of praises. Thanks for the comment. Tight lines.
At the end of your video - I smiled. Thank you,
I have been fly fishing for nearly 60 years and am still hooked. Your film and its sentiment is wonderful but the best thing is you were smitten like the rest of us. Well done sir
Thanks Terry. Tight lines. -H
Enjoyed the video greatly! I'm 66, living in Alaska, a fly fisherman, and this puts the entire process in focus. I too, was smiling at the end. Then I heard the monkey joke and laughed out loud! Thanks for sharing, and I'm sure you received an A+ for your efforts.
I agree ...I GUESS...one of the best Bamboo rods makers I ever saw came from a lower middle class family from Paris,ID......
Greetings from the antipodes, I've watch this a several times now and it never gets old, love the narrative. Thanks for creating this mini masterpiece. You should really try out your stuff in NZ or Australia. We have some amazing fishing here. Cheer, Craig
I'd love to someday. Thanks Craig. -H
Thoughtful and well executed film, congratulations
Fly fishing is a meditative joke. Enjoyed your movie very much. Thank you.
Well done! Great use of metaphor, composition, and editing. Definitely MFA work. I hope you received a good critique from your professors.
Keep coming back... and sharing.
Thanks Chuck. -H
Extremely well done! I did not expect that it was done by Montana State University. The quality and content show that it is. Way to go MPTV!
Thanks Guy. -H
Brilliant. I'll recommend it to those who are thinking of starting to fly fish.
+Michael Byrne Thanks Michael. Glad you enjoyed it. I love to hear that people are watching.
Well, that's what I consider a well thought of short movie (including the intriguing title which gets "vocally explained" so humorously at the very end of the clip). I have no prior information on the author's work but with this short movie he certainly "nailed down" one really deep aspect of what we do, and in a new and interesting way. I shared the video on my fb with these lines: "Older I get, more I like fly fishing from a contemplative angle...a very nice and intriguing footage...especially the smile on his face near the end...that's what its all about (for me) ;-)
" .....
👍
being a photographer I truly understand. nice piece
Great Video, I live near and fly fish in many of the Montana shown in this video! I love the ending where it all comes clear and it made me smile knowing that is exactly how I feel!
Very good thoughts on the sport/art/pastime or whatever it is we do. The beauty of it is you can ponder and consider, and also just live in the moment. Thanks for a lovely little film.
I just started this week my first fly fishing. And it's true what you say. I laught very loudly after catching big trout. I simply was sitting on the edge of the river and was laughting like I just heard a great joke.
Great video.
The more I listen to your story,the more Im realizing how this can be applied to everyday life. What an inspiration. Thankyou.
Thanks so much David. -H
Your conclusion nailed it! Great little film that captures the spectrum of our sport/addiction/ meditation.
The act of fishing is like the act of reading a poem. And the last thing you should get from a poem is meaning. But the joy of poetry is as old as the joy of fishing.
I wish it was me out there on the fly look's so good
Thanks Mike,
The video said some people say you might as well use a spinning rod/reel, if your using a bead head nymph ? I'm just wondering why they say that? I love using those and trout seem to like them.
I think it comes down to the individual. Sylvester Nemes made that statement and he was a master of classic softhackles. One of the things he enjoyed most about the sport was the traditions and he felt that beadheads were a step too far. But I think it comes down to each individual and how they derive joy from the sport. Each of us gets something a little different from it and that's ok, because it's not the definition or rules that are important so much as the peace that we achieve through having the experience.
Great film! I love fly fishing. Its a blast. The ceiling also rises a lot. It also forces you to meditate (focus). Landing a fish is a magical thing. Its primal, it also just feels better on a fly rod like you worked for it. This film is awesome!
I also am not an old affluent white guy. I picked up fly fishing about a year ago. The upfront cost is a lot but the amount of free time and enjoyment it brings is well worth it. I also fish clousers and wooly buggers alot. I fly fish 12 months out of the year. I catch shad, striped bass, browns, bows, bass, and whatever I can.
👍👍👍
your thinking about so many things when your fishing you don't have any time to think about anything else
Exactly. I think this like meditation in some ways. Total presence. Total focus. Thanks for the comment.
Fly fishing is the joy of seeing that fish at the end of the line on that fly that no hard lure can imitate. Seeing that small stream brook blow on that dry, having that brown smash that streamer, feeling that line when smallies tap your buggers, enjoying time on the water and having satisfaction in the views and the fish.
This comes from a 20yr old, I've fly fished for 4 years and fished all sorts of flies for freshwater species. Caught bass, trout, carp, pike, hooked into numerous musky. It's something completely on it's own. I love it, but also love to fish conventional swimbaits and big baits. Just an addiction we all have to a different degree
totally agree. Thanks for watching. Check theweeklyfly.com for more vids.
this was awesome! i just picked up fly fishing this past May and fell in love with it the more i cast. great documentary. keep up the great work!
Hi Tommie, I hope you kept with it. -H
@@TheWeeklyFly heck yeah I did! It’s my choice of angling now. I love it!
I went fly fishing last year after being a saltwater angler all my life. I live on the coast and have no nice places to fly fish where I live. My dream is to be able to live in a place where I can enjoy the sport to the max potential.
LaughedSnail Not sure where you live on the coast, but there's lots of saltwater fly fishing opportunities to be had out there. From Stripers to bone fish and lots more. Maybe not feasible where you are but there's usually at least a bass pond to be found within a short drive.
🤣 Very well done! Bravo! I just got introduced to fly fishing not long ago and found myself chuckling self-consciously as you explained why “Fly fishing is a joke”. I was with you the whole journey... from truly puzzled to...I don’t know...a wide-eyed impassioned neophyte? Whatever the label, I just know that peace and calm when I was first doing it. Nothing like it. Like a joke.... best enjoyed without question. 🎣
Thanks so much.
While watching this I asked myself what I would say if asked why I like to fish. The simple answer is because it makes me happy, what better reason to do something?
Great work. Well worth the watch. Thought-provoking and beautiful scenery. Just being out of doors is enough for me.
There's the magic: being outdoors. These days I am happy to just sit and watch..... and learn.
I used to fly-fish all the time, but got away from it when I got my own boat. All my expensive fly tying tools fell into dis-repair when I discovered the biggest trout could be caught with streamer tied with dogs hair fished behind a dodger with no more effort than a simple boat ride.
To me the point is not big fish. I am happier with a 6 inch wild brook than I am a 20 inch hatchery brown. It is about fishing with style. Not fashion, style. Mimicking an insect floating at the exact speed of the water. Beautiful streams. Making it a challenge. At a point, catching big dumb mouth bass out of farm ponds just loses its appeal. I can fly fish a stream all day and forget about everything but that stream, or I can bait fish for catfish all night long but I had better have some bourbon with me if I want to forget. And the last thing I want to see and hear are boats and internal combustion engines. I truly believe that it transcends fishing and becomes angling. Unfortunately due to my location I have plenty of opportunities to go fishing, but only get to go angling a handful of times a year.
But...I still like fly fishing!
I understand, and I still like catfishing. Catfishing takes me to much less pristine waterways though. The mighty muddy Ohio is not my river of choice, but it has given me so big flatheads.
Nowadays, the ever telling presence of starving trout (skinny as snakes) and Orvis manequins crowding my old haunts has
soured me on the sport....I hardly go anymore.
Never say quit!
Great video. There's nothing quite like fly fishing to relax and invigorate the mind.
I'm not very good at it, and every time I go out on the water I try to get better. Even if I don't hook a trout, it always humbles me to be in nature. To disconnect from society, social media, and the noise.. there's nothing like it. Always brings a smile to my face. Great film.
Thanks Ryan. -H
This was wonderful. I thought it would be a bash, yet I’m glad I watched it all. This is really well done great job!
Thanks for this. We're posting more new videos if you want to check back with the channel. -H
great work, I worked on a show a few years back and I recognize some of these rivers
4:02 Please someone tell me what fly that is!!! I've never seen that technique as far as I know. but Ive only been tying flies since August 2022.
I believe that’s the Sandy Mite by Randy Flynn. Randy Flynn: Sandy Mite
ruclips.net/video/TgeFs3gjcIY/видео.html
Question: Why is this titled, "Fly fishing is a Joke?
Response: I kind of explain that in the video.
Now that's funny!!!!
This is such a good video. You sir are blessed with a gift! Keep using it.
Thanks so much. I appreciate it.
Hello WF, This thought has plagued me for so long. But then we think of the Judge from Michigan who stated his mind to which we all subscribe. You may remember, " Whiskey out of an old tin cup never tastes better than when I'm out here."
Been fly fishing since I was in the 8th grade back in 1984...Taught myself and still use the Garcia glass rod I purchased at Caldor’s and works just fine.
👍👍👍
Hi Henry, very nice video. You certainly " stirred the pot" with all the responses. I've fished for almost 60 years since I started as a young boy with a stick, a length of string and a safety pin for a hook and a piece of beef fat for bait while on a family vacation in the Adirondacks at Old Forge NY. Luckily a nice man in a neighboring cabin rigged my stick with some mono and a real hook. I caught my first trophy, a small yellow perch that looked like a giant to my young eyes, it's body curved inside the small bucket of water, gently finning while remaining suspended. I was certainly "hooked".... I naturally progressed to a zebco 202 and as I got older a Mitchell 300 and a fiberglass Southbend spinning rod became my "tools" as well as the spring ritual of picking nightcrawlers for the April 1st trout opener. I've always respected nature and the evironment and love outdoor activities including hunting with my highschool friends. I read the outdoor magazines and found fly fishing very interesting. I bought a Cortland "just add water" 8.5ft streamer/bass 8wt rod kit complete with a reel, level line and tapered leader and started practice casting on the lawn, just like I did with casting plugs with I started spin fishing. I had to force myself to leave the spinning rod and worms at home, finally added the water and struggled with casting on a " lawn in motion"! Now what to use for bait? Hmm, all the fur and feathers harvested from hunting lead to fly tying. All the years of drifting bait for trout and walleye in the creeks and rivers made me a decent nymph fisherman. More books, rods, reels, lines, hooks, vises, hooks, genetic hackle and lures (yes lures, I still spin fish and could never leave my first "love"). Soon I was catching more fish and learning more with every outing.
Flash forward a couple of decades to a man in his prime on a fly fishing honey moon with his wife on the fabled West Branch of the Ausable, practically full circle with a different stick and string, and the most wonderful company one could ask for, in a beautiful place that was like taking a course in aquatic entomology complete with a lab. I learned a lot on those trips, and felt the thrill of catching a fish on something I tied with materials I harvested myself. I love the outdoors, fishing, hunting, harvest or not, just being in it with or without a loved one, a friend, and of course my favorite retriever when bird hunting. Maybe I have a utilitarian view of some aspects of the sport, but I can assure you it's steeped in all the romanticism written about it. I'm very comfortable in my "circle".
Best of luck to you Henry, I'm sure you'll get your degree. Thanks for making this and I'm glad I stayed with it till the last credits. Sly's punch line literally made me laugh out loud! Well worth the price of admission and really drove your point home! Thanks and cheers to you sir 👍😎🍺
Joe Duca , haha you're fishing progrest exactly like mine. I suppose it's the same for millions of fishermen.
Thanks so much Joe. I've hunted grouse along the Ausable. -H
@@garyballard3484 Ha, glad to hear Gary. I just noticed this because H responded to my 5 year old comment. Better late than never. All the best to you!
@@TheWeeklyFly Thanks for this reply, gives me a chance to revisit the video and realize who -H is! Glad you're making more videos.
Lovely lovely footage and perfect.commentary.1.48 mins... WHAT A SKY! fantastic. Thank you.xx
Fly l fishing, I tell my friends , is a five year sport. Like golf, skiing, scuba diving and hang gliding, it is not something to take lightly. You can fish most of the year but, you also have fly tying, rod building and researching your next assault on the fish. I learned the sport on the Snoqualmie river(3 forks) living and working in Snoqualmie Falls WA. My mentor was Bob Sims, a life long resident, fellow employee with Weyerhaeuser Co. He taught fly tying at the Y and for $20 you got a Thompson vise, hackle plier, scissors, hooks and enough material to tie 500 flies(even including polar bear) as well as 10 lessons. Later in my travels I visited Thompson in Elgin Ill and acquired a pair of their scissors which are no longer available. There were three old white heads building the vises. They were in the basement of a condemned three story building made of stone. There was a big electric motor driving a line shaft that had pulleys to provide belt drives to lathe, drill, forge and polish. This was in 1978. I treasure my Thompson vise and scissors. I don't carry a net and the last thing I want is someone close by netting my fish. For years I had a 71/2 foot rod . My favorite was a Phillipson blank, a #6 double taper floater and a Phlueger 1494 reel. The largest fish I caught on my fly rod was a 24" rainbow at the Clark Fork river in St. Regis MT. I had tied the fly an hour earlier to match the hatch. An upright with chocolate colored body with long split tail (moose). on a #12 forged 3x hook with a 5x leader. He came up from 20 feet and it took at least 20 minutes to land.
Iguana
👍
Just after a bad week with bad news went fly fishing yesterday and forgot about everything standing in the middle off the river hearing noting but birds and that big trout rising behind your back sir you are right it's a joke but it's our joke just lose yourself just smile tight lines everyone that fishes
This is a truly captivating video. The story through the lens is absolutely inspiring. It is amazing how unique fly fishing actually is.
Many thanks for that -H
Now this is a dandy video! you captured the sport in words and video.
Now almost five years on I hope my message finds you living your dreams and loving life, best wishes from New Mexico
Thanks for this. We're posting more new videos if you want to check back with the channel. -H
I have to agree i go with my oldest son who is 14 and we enjoy just us being there relaxing fly fishing isn't for everyone but its one i bring to my kids
I learned to fly fish when I was 8yrs old. Now at 45yrs old, I still smile about that first bluegill I caught on a popper. I never landed him because a Muskie chased it in and snagged the bluegill and about a foot of my leader and swam off. As I type this out, I am smiling about that moment when an 8yr old kid became addicted to fly fishing.
Wow.👍🏻
A simply beautiful video - I'm what might be called a, "An all around fisherman", meaning I own a center console boat which suits all my fishing and my fishing buddies fishing needs. And so I own boat rods and surf rods and spinning reels and fresh water bass gear as well but every time I go out with friends - none of whom are fly fishermen, at some point in the day I start wishing I were fly casting to any fish at all because as much as I've always loved fishing - since the first time I went out in a little wooden dory on Long Island Sound with my Dad and a couple of his buddies fishing for flounder - I've been hooked. I didn't fly fish back then but at some point I happened to be watching Gadabout Gaddis fly casting on a river in Scotland and though I was only a lad of about 10, I knew I would become a die hard fly fisherman or at least try the sport. That expression of my passions had to wait until a series of events on a pond in Rhode Island where I spent every spare hour spin casting with an ultra light Fenwick rod and a Mitchell 300 spinning reel. The vast majority of trout fisherman on Olney Pond - the ones using flies - all used similar ultra light spinning gear with very light test Mono lines to which we attached a round plastic float and a length of fly leader. To that leader we tied an endless variety of our favorite fish catching flies without knowing the first thing about the patterns we were using or exactly what those flies were supposed to mimic. Then one day an older and much wiser fisherman mentioned that if I really wanted to catch trout that I should go out and buy myself a fly rod because, "While using spinning gear was perfectly OK on Olney Pond it would be a lot more fun to fly fish using real fly fishing gear." I took old Mitch at his word and without the slightest knowledge of Fly Fishing rods and reels and line and everything else associated with fly fishing I started out my new interest by visiting one fly rod dealer after another to handle as many rods as possible and reading reading as many books on the subject as our Public Library had on its shelves addressing our magical sport and so for the last 50 or so years I've been a fly fisherman deep in my heart but one willing to fish - that is cheat - with any gear at all as long as I were fishing, so when I head out on my own I fly fish and when a friend or my son comes along we fish the way they want which is perfectly OK with me - fishing is after all just getting out on the water and having fun.
Thanks so much for that. -H
YOU'VE made some amazingly CLEVER AND LOGICAL POINTS!! Such Famous Fly Fishers, as Lee Wolf, Lefty Kreh, Billy Pate, Charles Ritz (the millionaire and founder of Ritz International Hotels)! All with the exception of Charles Ritz, have had U.S. Commorative Postal Stamps, with, their names and Color illustrations of their faces, on them!! Believe me, I'm beyond happy for them !! Except, some of these individuals, also have done or did, Spin or Bait Casting, but not so much with a "Baitcasting" levelwind reels!! Because, many of them are intimidated with these "Levelwind" reels, as an inexperienced person, can end up with a bad Backlash, commonly referred to as a bird's nest :-) !! Which means going home unless, they have a fresh Spool of fishing line or another reel filled with LINE etc. LOL :-),
Thanks for your thoughts on this. Love it when this film inspires people to really think about their relationship to the sport and to share that as part of the conversation. -H
went out this morning with my 31 yr old son, he caught several Rainbow. I only hooked one, lost it at my feet. I get the joke :) what a wonderful morning.
liked the vid, was interesting. Nice to see new fisherman enjoying the time. You might try keeping your wrist straight, no turn and stopping your back cast at 12 before your forward cast. Old Miramichi fisherman, had to learn from the old pros before I was allowed to fish the water. ;-)
This video reminds me that "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach", i.e. filming an activity will never give the photographer or observer the feeling and understanding of actually doing it. Life should be more than hiding behind a camera. To live life to its fullest we have to dive in.
That's the whole point of the video and explicitly stated in the conclusion. Thanks for the comment. Tight lines.
The Weekly Fly: Yes, I commented, because your vlog made my point in a very explicit way. I enjoyed your video both for its poetry and plain truth. Thank you.