A Fly Fisher Reflects

accidents, fishing clubs and permit fishing 

“Oh, to be a golfer and never hear a rod go ‘snap.'”

Fly rods, unlike golf clubs, are very fragile and subject to attack by paddle fans in motel rooms, car doors and boat hatches.  Fish can snap ‘em too if they’re handled carelessly, like when anglers put too much bend in the rod when there’s a big fish on the line at boat side.  There’s a known term for that called, “high sticking”.  It’s a common error caused by excitement and lack of experience.  Oh, to be a golfer and never hear that loud crunching “snap” as the rod breaks... just before the fish gets away.  

(Climbing back into a boat one day while wade fishing I sat on a pal’s rod tip.  It snapped.  While apologizing, showing the mess I’d made, the line on the rod found its way around the trolling motor propeller, which tangled and stretched it beyond repair.)

Let’s not get into here a long discussion of boat ownership as a means of catching more fish, as costs vary widely for boats, but the reader should know that all fly fishermen end up in boats if they have any money left after buying all the rods, reels, lines and tackle they “need.”  The simple idea is to get nearer more fish to throw your flies towards, and after an angler has fished hard standing on dirt--wet or dry-- for months, not catching many fish, the desire for a boat follows quite naturally.  It’s what fly anglers call a “need.”  Maverick Boats has a 16 foot model that seems quite nice, a boat that would take an angler and a pal fishing for multiple species in Florida.  Package price, $50,000... used.  There is no equivalent cost in golf.

If you leave tomorrow to fish for permit in the Florida Keys you will need to pay a guide who does have a boat.  Ditto for many other fish in different parts of the country.  Gotta have a guide.  Golf doesn’t have guides.  A day with a Florida Keys guide with a skiff costs around $600 per day for two anglers. 

Fly fishermen in search of permit who spend a few eight-hour days with a guide in Key West rarely catch one, though they look where the guide says to look, and try their best not to screw up a casting opportunity if they get one.  Despite doing their best, fly anglers are often hollered at most of the day by the guide, except when they’re eating lunch.  After a week of that and not catching a permit--wind and sun burned, hammered in a flat-bottomed skiff by afternoon chop on the water while heading back to the dock--- permit fly fishermen have been known to give all their tackle away at the dock.  Hollering just isn’t done on the golf course.

Private club memberships are available in golf and fly fishing, and are always a plus, though they can be expensive.  All that water you see in Colorado?  Most of it’s private or unfishable for a variety of reasons...like the Poudre River in Ft. Collins, which looks gorgeous but is fast and treacherous.  A guide can help you avoid the Poudre by taking you somewhere else to fish. (It takes time to get accustomed to the pronunciation, which is, “pooter.”)  Or, just west of Fort Collins In Walden, Colorado you might be able to get a membership in a decent fly fishing club with a reasonable $10,000 membership fee.  Ask at North Park Anglers, the fly shop in Walden, about membership.  Don’t want to join a club, don’t want a guide?  Fish the North Platte River on your own.  Good luck with that.

It’s easy to see why so many fly fishermen miss the cleaner game of golf.  Usually a golfer’s hands don’t smell of fish even after a sloppy eighteen holes, and bloody clothing is rare, while fly anglers can look like car wreck victims after a day catching fish like mackerel.  A golfer gets to clean his balls regularly, while a fly fisherman, if he’s lucky, may get to wipe his hands on a slimy rag.