Write your own book

 

A pioneer in the world of saltwater fishing I have crossed paths with was the great fly fishing saltwater angler Winston Moore, The few times I was able to meet him and listen to his adventures it was not the fish that he landed that intrigued me and took my mind on a journey it was the adventure he had. Hell, Winston figured out on his own where to go on this watery planet and locate and figure out how to land fish with a fly rod without the help of a fly fishing expo, blog, facebook, seminar, book, flats guide or the internet. If there was ever a Lewis and Clark version of a fly tossing angler it was indeed Winston Moore. I do not want to read his book (I have)I want to live it and I wish more people thought the same way.

Sign on to any fly fishing facebook page and just take a look at what fly fishing has become for many people. We have a culture of anglers going to a facebook page for advice on where and when to go and how to go catch fish on a fly like they are looking for reviews of a new movie or ratings for a place to go eat. The day's of learning things the hard way by trial and error are long gone for many new fly rod anglers. Many of the people migrating to the internet wouldn't even  consider  purchasing a new fly rod or heading out to a new body of water or river without first consulting the millions of internet warriors waiting for the chance to copy and paste the answer to what is the best 4 weight fly rod to buy. What is really sad is many of the self promoting internet fly fishing delta bravos pouncing on the opportunity for glory could not catch a virus in the deep Amazon or cast a fly rod in a stiff wind 40 feet but answer and answer they do. I even read one of these self promoting  tools claiming he does it to teach people and protect the resource. My take is he does it for self promotion, ego and fame or maybe even a way to pick up chicks along the way. My take is this self worshipping frenzy is sending more and more anglers to an already crowded fishery. I do spend some time on the web for the main purpose of amusement and diversion. One of the pages on facebook I have been going to for a daily laugh as of late is a Facebook fly fishing page designated in my hometown of 50 plus years. The water's talked about on this page are the water's where I grew up fishing with a fly rod before cell phones and the internet. This area is also a part of the country where it has experienced a sprawl of hundreds of thousands of people from other states and yes many are interested in what the fly fishing has to offer. The local fishery is now taxed  with hundreds or even thousands of new anglers looking for instant fly fishing satisfaction and glory with the help from all their internet pals. Hell, some of these sports think part of a fishing day on the water is including enough time to get home and post the daily catch the same day so all of their facebook pals  they never met  can click "like" and say wow. In the back of their mind they have lost sight of the cool fish they crossed paths with and put more emphasis on how many likes they got on a grip and grin selfie of a 13 inch rainbow post over a day on the water. They have simply turned into an extension of  the madness and self promotion. On the internet now we find anglers in a fast paced quest for relevance, look at me, get a participation trophy and fame. Hell, some actually believe  they are the designated expert from local waters to the South Atlantic ocean with their copy and paste answers. How can one looking for advice possibly find the one that really knows what they are talking about ? Like anything fly fishing is an evolution and I hope many will see the light and evolve out of this phase.

I consider myself lucky to have grown up in the Treasure Valley and Idaho when I did as well as feel just as lucky to have moved from the madness when I did. Back in the day I purchased fly rods from the local fly shops that I thought cast well when I tried them out in the parking lot. I figured out how to tie flies that worked and put hundreds of thousands of miles on a rig looking for fish and refining my tactics on how to catch them. I met a few good real friends in person along the way and we helped each other out. I was able to fish the brown drake hatch on silver creek  more than a few years with no other angler in sight because the start of this grand event was not announced  on the internet. Fly fishing was personal !  I wrote my own book. Most important  I would not trade my evolution in fly fishing with the web madness of today. It may take many of these internet tools 3 decades to understand what I am talking about but some may never get. Oh and one more thing we old guys actually did catch fish on the fly before the internet. .