Fishing season opens in less than two weeks. With spring runoff on our local freestone rivers expected to last into the first part of June, coupled with a likely showing of the brown drake on Silver Creek, the Creek could be a busy place for a few weeks. With that said, and with not a lot to report on just yet, we’d like to take a minute and chat about a “busy” Creek.
First off, let’s remember we are all brothers and sisters of the fly rod. That means, at our core, we fish for a lot of the same reasons: fun, adventure, to reduce stress, to hang with friends, to search for quarry. Mainly, we fly fish, because we love it and it speaks to us. It may be something slightly different that we get from the sport, but we can all agree to respect it, and each other’s reasons for doing it.
So when you encounter your fellow angler on the Creek, there are two courses you can take: You can choose to be quiet and standoffish, which could lead to tension and no fun at all, or you can say hello, be outgoing and communicate with one another. Despite the stigma of a “solitary” sport, we still need to take a few minutes prior to that immersion to address our fellow anglers to make sure we maximize our time and fun as well as theirs!
Do you want to be the angler that stands in the sweet spot during the drake and ropes one fish after another while those around you are getting skunked from being in the wrong place? The flip side is you could be the angler that catches a few really nice fish and then says to a complete stranger, “Hey, come on over here and make a cast!”
At the end of the day, the first angler can go brag and thump their chest about being a fishing hero, or they can be the second angler content in the knowledge that they caught great fish, and also made someone else’s night, or week, or month, or lifetime.
Being able to catch a nice fish on the Creek is not easy. During the drake, it can be. It is worth sharing. You never know how your two minutes of grace can make years of someone else’s life better, more exciting, and full of fish tales! It is the right and kind thing to do.
Happy fishing, everyone!