Ritual
I never thought much about it until recently, but the thought now often occurs to me…how much ritual we dedicated flyfishers unconsciously incorporate into our passionate pursuit of angling!
Now that I am sensitized to that reality…I observe many things I do that I have carried with me since I first learned to trout fish at age seven!
Let me give you a few examples of the legacy my dear friend, Walt Canfield, unknowingly imparted to me. To this day I always try to rig up, not at some distant parking place, but right at streamside…because Walt always did that. The rationale he always gave was sound--“that way you can see what’s going on.” And, whenever I am fortunate enough to catch and release a nice trout, I usually remember to exclaim, as Walt invariably did: “oh, golly that’s swell!”
The list of rituals goes on and on. I tie my flies just as my mentor, Judge Eckholt, always did--even though it would be faster and more economical not to do it that way. (Yes, I wish I had learned to tie a fly without using a vise--as the legendary Lee Wulff did!) I thread the line through the rod guides just as another kindly Judge in Michigan suggested I do. In my own way, I continue to honor the memory of my angling instructors by the rituals I employ…and it also adds a bit of additional enjoyment to the angling enterprise.
And I have developed a few rituals of my own, ones I steadfastly observe. Like spending as much time watching the birds as actually fishing. I take my cues from them, for I have found that, when the birds are active, the fish usually are too. When the swallows, martins, and cedar waxwings are after insects at streamside, the trout are apt to be also! Also I never carry a stream thermometer with me, but, before making my first cast, I stick my hand in the river. I can usually tell by the temperature of the water whether or not the chances are good that the fish will rise to may feathered offerings that day. Yes, rituals are a big part of angling.
The next time you go fishing, examine your actions and see how much ritual there is unconsciously incorporated into the way you fish. I suspect you will be rather surprised…and I think pleasantly so. And please do share with us some of your rituals on “The Angler’s Roundtable.”
I also recommend that you take a kid with you the next time you go fishing. You will be certainly doing that individual a great favor. And don’t be surprised if a little bit of immortality, in the form of your angling rituals, rubs off on him or her. Come to think of it…it’s not a bad way to be remembered!