Yes, " to make something more difficult or confusing by causing it to be more complex"....not here. When I started fly fishing I felt inferior on the river. I think most of you know what I'm speaking of. The tackle I had was just below entry level, and my knowledge of what I was doing could be compared to puppy training. I have changed a bit over the years and in that time I have always felt that the the simple way is the only way to go.
Fly fishing to the new comer can be seemingly a sport that can't be mastered. Don't believe it. It's only as hard as the catalogs say it is. Take what you have and go with it. As you progress and become able to, go for what "you" like, "do it". Trout can be taken on fancy, and simple, equally.
I like to tie flies, I know I'm not a master by any stretch, but the enjoyment I get from crafting feathers to a hook is enormous. The realization today that flies that caught trout 400 years ago are still performing the same task this day.
Boy you can't get much simpler. A hook, silk thread, and a feather.
A fly that brought trout to hand the other day is a fly that did likewise centuries ago.
"Why Complicate"?
Alan,
ReplyDeleteThose words are so true. When I started fly fishing and tying my own flies I had to do it all. After a few years I realized that I was always using the same dozen patterns. They also happened to be the simple two and three material ties.
Thanks
Kurt
Brookie61,
DeleteThanks.
Kurt, we all seem to realize only those few patterns are the ones that produce. But as fly tyers we all love it when that "new" creation brings one in. A great sport.
I think you are understating your fly tying skills. Your streamers are absolutely gorgeous, as are the other simpler patterns.
ReplyDeleteRM Lytle,
DeleteThanks.
Well I do truly appreciate that.
Alan
ReplyDeleteThis is a post that really hits home with us older anglers. The less complicated issues that confront me as I get older tend to get more of my attention now; in other words everything on an even kiel------and that includes fly fishing----Thanks for sharing
Bill Trussell,
DeleteThanks.
Bill funny how as we get older the thirst for learning is still there, as long as it's not complicated.
Alan,
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing, is that complexity seems to lie on a continuum. As you start to learn, you exist thinking you know a lot... but once you really start to learn, you realize there is way more than you could ever know. Eventually, you gain some wisdom and realize it's ok not to know it all, and that you can always gain more knowledge... but that you can refine and improve what you know.
Seems to me, reaching that space, we start to simplify... not due to what we dont know... but due to what we do.
Will
Hibernation,
DeleteThanks.
Seems to me, reaching that space, we start to simplify... not due to what we dont know... but due to what we do.
Spot on Will.
Simple, beautiful and effective.....soft hackles are as good as it gets.
ReplyDeleteKiwi,
DeleteThanks.
You know my friend a thing or two about soft hackles.
I love it when I reached a point in life when I realized simpler is better. At least for most things in life. The more enjoyable things in life. Thanks for the thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteHoward Levett,
DeleteThanks.
Howard it's when we realize that the things we need and love are indeed the simplest, and that's all we really need.
Blue. A most underestimated color for sure.
ReplyDeleteNice to see it in a soft hackle.
Todd,
DeleteThanks.
It is, but I have had success with it lately.
Thawing out up there?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSpring, late fall and winter for blue. No thaw to speak of.
ReplyDelete