Confession of a Fish Slut
By Joel Anderson
A comment I made in a recent post got me doing a little self-analysis. The following text is the results of those musings.
As long as I’ve been a fisherman (45 years now), I always have been a fish slut. By that, I mean, I’m rarely satisfied with my catch; it’s just never enough. If I’ve caught 10 fish, I want 11. If I’ve caught a 16” fish, I want an 18” fish. I don’t consider this personality trait necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it’s just who I am.
It’s a rare day when I leave thinking, “Enough fish”, but such a day did occur last October. It was one of those crazy days on famous named pool in Maine with a cold and strong wind blowing right in your face making it challenging just to get off a cast. Often times, I had to turn my back to the wind and hunker down under my hoodie to catch my breath . But if there was a brief pause in the monsoon, a quick cast of a streamer straight upstream into the pool, coupled with a quick retrieve, resulted in a salmon (sometimes multiple fish) chasing, swirling at, or actually taking my fly on every cast. It was like this for hours and by five o’clock, with countless big salmon hooked and my body frozen to the bone, I distinctly remember thinking, “Enough fish”.
It is extremely rare that I willingly quit before dark and give up the best two hours of fishing to go back to camp to warm up and lick my wounds, but the fishing was that good. It was exactly the type of day that kept my battery charged through another cold Maine winter.
By the same token, I’m rarely completely satisfied with the results my fly tying or rod building. I typically think, “Nice, but this or that could have been better.” So back to the drawing board I go.
Thinking more about this personality trait, I now know that it is exactly that type of drive to constantly improve that has led to whatever skill I may possess in the arts of fly fishing, fly tying, and rod building. For that matter, it’s exactly how someone becomes really skilled at anything.
Sometimes I wish I could have had this type of passion for a career choice. Hell, with the kind of time and dedication I’ve invested in the arts of fly fishing for over the course of the past 30 years, I could easily have earned a doctorate or law degree. But at the end of the day, that’s not who I am. At the core, I’m a fly fisherman, and while this lifestyle doesn’t exactly fill bank accounts, it constantly keeps me entertained, enthusiastic, challenged, and learning.
It is a wonderful lifestyle and craft we are fortunate to share and while there are legions of people who view us with curiosity because they just don’t get it, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Personally, I actually feel sorry for the vast majority of people out there who don’t have a true passion in their life. We are an odd but fortunate bunch, are we not?