Maybe your stature as a fly fisherman isn't determined by how big a trout you can catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed. —  John Gierach

Category Archives: Fly Vest

Sometimes I have to leave my rod at home.  Sometimes it’s a necessity, and sometimes it’s because my wife makes me so I can show her and my daughter where I fish. 

When I do leave my gear home, I walk slower.  The desperation to catch fish seeps into the mud and clay next to the river. 

And I notice the river more.  Well, not more, just differently.  I count water skitters (or whatever it is you grew up calling them). 

Today I sat next to a pool and watched bugs emerge and listened to my daughter babble. 

I saw fish too.  They pointed their noses up river.  They sunk to the bottom of deep pools.  They even rose for the handful of Blue-Wing Olives I saw.  I tried to point out their little splashes to my wife.  She saw some of them, but not many.