{"id":1975,"date":"2017-05-02T16:55:30","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T16:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/v2.mappyhour.org\/blog\/?p=1975"},"modified":"2017-08-11T17:54:10","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T17:54:10","slug":"a-tugging-of-the-line-of-hearts-and-fish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mappyhour.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/a-tugging-of-the-line-of-hearts-and-fish\/","title":{"rendered":"A tugging of the line: of hearts and fish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Featured\u00a0photo by Filson. <\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the story with fly fishing anyway? \u00a0Most folks\u2019 impression of fly fishing comes from the 1992 movie A River Runs Through It and the lasting images of Brad Pitt \u201cghost casting\u201d on the picturesque banks of the Gallatin River in Montana. Norman McLean\u2019s words resonate as well.<\/p>\n

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.”<\/p>\n

Who doesn\u2019t shiver a little when they read those lines? \u00a0And what connects them to fly fishing? \u00a0What is it about this odd sport that tugs a little bit at our souls?<\/p>\n

I mean we all know that if all Brad Pitt wanted in that movie was to catch fish, he should have chucked a nightcrawler into the river and then sat on the bank drinking a six pack and waiting for something to bite. \u00a0In some way, as the movie and the book capture so well, fly fishing connects us with our environment in a much more intimate and immersive way than just throwing out rapalas. \u00a0But how? \u00a0Why?<\/p>\n

To answer those questions, it\u2019s important to understand what fly fishing actually is. \u00a0It\u2019s not just trying to catch fish. \u00a0It\u2019s trying to catch them by presenting a lure in the most perfect imitation of the natural food source as possible.<\/p>\n

The majority of a trout\u2019s diet is made up of insects. \u00a0Hence, we use \u201cflies\u201d to imitate their natural food. \u00a0Then we use a variety of rods, leaders, lines, and other tools to present those flies in the most natural way possible to entice the strike. \u00a0That\u2019s the essence of it, really, and that essence is pretty simple.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the assembly of those tools and putting them all together that creates the connection. \u00a0To actually use them effectively, we need knowledge of the fish\u2019s diet and its behavior, the local habitat and insect life, the weather, the season, and a host of other factors.<\/p>\n

What McLean depicts so effectively, and what Pitt embodied, was a man who has become one with his natural surroundings in such a perfect way that a wild animal can\u2019t distinguish him as an outsider or intruder. \u00a0Fly fishing is a constant interaction with our natural surroundings and connects us to our environment in a way that sitting on a bucket never can. \u00a0And that connectivity with all the things that merge into one and the rivers that run through it is what pulls at the edges of the soul.<\/p>\n

Words by Owen Dolan.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s the story with fly fishing anyway? Most folks\u2019 impression of fly fishing comes from the 1992 movie A River Runs Through It and the lasting images of Brad Pitt \u201cghost casting\u201d on the picturesque banks of the Gallatin River in Montana. Norman McLean\u2019s words resonate as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[26,135],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-adventures","8":"tag-filson","9":"tag-owen-dolan"},"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n