I suppose tending to rods, tying flies, taking the time to study rivers, and even going through the mental visualizations prior to even getting into rivers can stir up anxiousness in many fly fishers. I look at anxiousness as an enemy of sorts especially when it comes to the creative process. Fly fishing and the crafts that are the foundations of the sport can seemingly be an intimidating and convoluted amalgam of processes. Athletic and mental dexterity, tools, techniques, materials, equipment, and a myriad of disciplines frame up the very act of fly fishing. It can be downright overwhelming when you look at it all from a distance. This was a topic of conversation that I had with a friend of mine that is a well known fly tyer. We both agreed that if you are “results oriented” fly fishing is
not the sport for you. Most river guides will reiterate this behind closed doors but not to their clients faces.
The crafts that are the building blocks for the sport as we know it are all based on skills that take months if not decades to become adept in.
Mastery is a hollow term since the creative process is never mastered instead it is constantly pursued. The minute somebody claims to be “an authority” or a “master” than this individual has ceased to
evolve.
The joy of fishing is about the pursuit, the getting there, and the fleeting moment that makes “the pursuit” worthwhile.
A state of anxiousness suffocates “the pursuit” so rest easy and make practice a ritual, make tying a habit, and make entering a river as intuitive and natural as a conversation with your closest friend.
Happy Winter 2013
~Clint Joseph Bova
