As usual, the forecast was way off.
It has been blowing a steady 20 mph all week and, as usual,
you are on your yearly fly fishing vacation in Florida.
This trip, however, is a lot different. As you watch the
redfish you've just released dimple the surface as it glides
away through the turtle grass, you feel a calming satisfaction
you rarely get on your fishing junkets. You feel like you
can afford to listen to your growling stomach. "How about
we hit Moretti's for lunch today," you tell your guide.
"After we eat I want to have another try for a snook in
the mangroves."
So it is with the paddle. The rhythmic sound of paddle
blade meeting water, the canoe or kayak hull cutting the
surface, the sound of your own breath, all seem to quiet
the mind and deaden the drone of our noisy lives off the
water. And we have to be honest with ourselves here, as
the main appeal of any sport we participate in, whether
it be fishing, paddling, football, or baseball, is simply
how it makes us feel, whether it be physically, mentally
or a combination of both. Whether on the water or the baseball
diamond we are not directly doing much to appease world
hunger, eradicate the Taliban, stop global warming, or bring
the troops home from Iraq, but we are re-centering ourselves,
so that we can deal with a world filled such issues playing
in the background of our own noisy lives. Sports are all
about us and, hey, that's ok.
Those who have had success paddle fishing with a fly rod
will probably describe their experiences as "mind blowing"
or maybe even "sublime". If two sports were ever a better
fit for one another, I can't imagine what they would be.
Usually when two sports come together, they become "an extreme
sport" like parachuting with a snowboard strapped to your
feet or mountain bike spelunking, and are about as sensible
a match as that mythical underwater basket weaving course
they offer at your local community college. But paddle fishing
with a fly rod is a natural combination - two quiet sports
that build on one another to create an even more serene
experience. And these days, with the boat traffic and fishing
pressure what it is, serenity is sometimes tantamount to
a productive day on the water. They are also both very tactile
sports - you can feel the fish take a fly with the same
sensitivity that you can feel a carbon fiber paddle blade
move the water. All your senses seemed to be filled with
your natural surroundings.
So, you have a canoe or kayak and a fly rod, and so far
for you they haven't been mixing well. You've been paddling
like a madman (or mad woman) to some secret spot that a
buddy who caught a few fish last week told you about, and
once there, you cast every fly in your box repeatedly without
so much as a strike. All during the paddling phase of your
misadventure the fly line kept getting tangled up in the
boat and the whole time you were fly fishing the boat kept
spinning on you and, of course, again, your fly line kept
getting tangled up in the boat. There was no serenity at
all in your day on the water, just a harsh internal (or
possibly even external) dialogue filled with (possibly obscene)
invective. And now, after reading the first few paragraphs
of this article, you probably have some invective you wish
to share with me.
Let me assure you that I am here to help, not taunt, you.
And I don't consider myself as any sort of expert on the
subject of paddle fishing with a fly rod beyond the fact
that I figured out one thing very early on - and this is
to pay attention only to what is revealed to you during
these moments of "quiet" out on the water.
Sure you can still paddle to your buddies secret spot,
but I can promise you that if you start paying attention
to your surroundings the moment you pick up that paddle
at the launch site, you will probably never make it there
and you will catch more fish than your buddy did. What I
am getting at here is that most people who are routinely
not having success while fly fishing out of a canoe or kayak
are simply too rapped up in some sort of preconceived notion
of what the day will bring and are not listening to and
looking at all the great information available to them as
they slowly, quietly paddle out to fish. That "quiet" I
spoke about earlier is when nature is speaking to you. This
is when she is telling you precisely where the water will
be moving and where fish will be feeding. This is when she
is telling you what food source is most present for those
fish and how you should manipulate the fly that emulates
that food source. This is even when she is telling you how
best to anchor your boat so that it will not spin from wind
and tide and so that your fly line will be down wind and
free of any obstruction. This is when she is telling you
how to be an excellent angler and it is so much easier to
hear her when there is no roar of a motor and, even more
importantly, your mind is quiet and listening to her suggestions.
I have heard a lot of people (myself included) talk about
the advantages of stealth when fishing out of a canoe or
kayak, but there are two sides to every coin. Stealth may
mean that a fish is less likely to sense your approach,
but what is also implied is that you have to make that approach
and your presentation to the fish as stealthy as can be.
Fly fishing is also a very stealthy sport, but its main
disadvantage is that flies are usually very small and hard
for a fish to notice, especially when there is no scent
involved. A fish must find a fly by sight, sound, or vibration
in the water, so a fly must be close to the fish if there
is to be any success. Not a great formula for blind casting,
but very effective in sight fishing situations where a stealthy
approach is a necessity.
It is easy to see why these to sports are perfect together.
But you as an angler have to realize that you are in a whole
new game with a whole new set of rules and the most important
rule of all is to be quiet both internally and externally.
Pay attention, be patient, and get all the information you
need to ultimately make just one single perfect cast to
a fish with the perfect fly and with your boat and fly line
under control. The information is there for you, all you
need to do is listen.
