Patience

Yesterday I mentioned having patience while fly fishing. Well, actually I said I don't always have patience when fly fishing. You might, but I don't. Not always. So I thought I'd try a different approach.

When I'm fly fishing I'm relaxed and usually stress-free. And it is relaxing! I love to be on the river with only the sounds of the water gurgling and the birds chirping in the bushes. Usually all thoughts are on being there and how wonderful it is.

Some people rush to the river and jump right in. I like to look before I leap. Meaning I don't immediately trudge across the river to the far bank and start flailing the water. I will take a little time to survey the river, to see if any fish are rising, and to check where the other fisherpeople might be fishing so I don't intrude on their space. I might stop to chat with someone, but most of the time I'm down to business. The business of finding and catching fish.

Yesterday I was standing on the bank looking around and had a "treat". If I had not had patience and waited, I would have scared the family of ducks away. The mother duck and her 4 ducklings cautiously made their way along the far bank. I had taken the Nikon camera with the good zoom lens in our backpack and these photos prompted me to take a number of others. The camera was my priority, not jumping in to catch fish. I started looking around and saw lots of interesting things, and quite a number of rising fish here and there. I took my time with the camera and then went about fishing. I landed 4 or 5 fish right away, but it was because I'd taken my time. I'd had patience.

If I don't see a fish making a splash or a ripple, I know where they are probably hanging out. After 90 days of fishing here every day I know where they live. So I'll head out to an open spot just knowing that the fish should be there and I'll take a closer look. This is when I need to have more patience. If I don't see the fish I'll "false cast" to where I think they'll be. And sometimes they are. Sometimes it works out in my favor. Sometimes though I'm sure I put them down. If I don't get one I look for another open spot where they should be hanging out. And I move on. And I move on again, always searching for a sign of fish life. With fewer people clogging the river (ha!), I have the freedom to roam up and down. I can usually find fish and I think of it as good exercise. But I'm searching and searching. So I thought about having a little more patience and relaxing a bit more. Enjoy the moment. And with good results.