So in my quest to discover ways of whiling away the balmy summer days, my newest pursuit in fly fishing! I think it may be up there with with any activity which allows you to empty your mind, enjoy the surroundings and find your zen, it's a relevation! Having been invited by friends and keen fly fisherman to spend a day learning and having a go, I immediately got hooked (excuse the terrible pun). Watching someone who is very good at it, casting the perfect line, always in the quest to make the fish believe a fly or insect has just landed, watching the beautiful shapes made as the line is about to be cast and listening to the sound of a perfect line being cast is something very pleasing.
So it came to me having a go, at first I was all too aware that instead of creating the illusion of a fly hitting the water, I was creating the impression of some the size of a hippo hitting the water and most probably sending the fish to the far corners of the water. But then, every now and then I did it, my fly was cast into the water with a delicate touch, like a ball hitting the sweet spot on a racket, it felt good, it sounded great.
It didn't matter that I didn't catch anything, the pleasure of standing in water for hours on a balmy summer day, watching the world pass by, in the form of an occasional boat, various birds and insects and a big sky to admire was more than enough and left me with a very satisfied smile etched on my face at the end of the day.
Does anyone have a copy of Fly Fishing by JR Hartley?
