THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501120176
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Ford Reid
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
``Anything that can be done can be made more difficult.''
I don't know who said that, but its eternal truth is proven many times each day. Just look around you.
It might be true of your co-workers, your neighbors or even members of your family. It might even be true of you.
Anglers, perhaps especially this angler, are a perverse lot.
Think about it. If all you wanted was a piece of fish to eat, you could go to the market and buy a nice fillet for a few dollars.
But no, you have to do it the hard way.
Worse than that, some of us are forever looking for even harder ways to catch fish.
I speak, of course, of fly fishing.
It is bad enough to somehow believe that in all of the ocean a fish might find the offering that is attached to the end of your line. When that offering is a small hook dressed only with animal hair, and perhaps a feather, the proposition becomes ridiculous.
But wait! It gets worse.
In order to get that artificial bait into the water at all you have to cast not just the bait but the line. Usually, you have to cast it into a wind that wants to throw it right back into you face. Then there are the waves that want to wrap the line around your legs. Not to mention the hook that wants to get caught in the back of your head.
Does this sound like fun?
Trust me. It is.
We will call it the degree of difficulty factor. Just as Michael Jordan eventually got bored with simply putting the ball through the basket (and eventually got bored with basketball altogether, but that is another story) and came up with ever more beautiful dunking techniques, some anglers seek new challenges.
Landing a big, strong fish on a tiny fly rod is one of those challenges. But the real challenge is getting the fly out there in the first place.
For years, I kept looking for a new fly line or a better fly rod that would instantly allow me to throw 80 or 90 feet. All along, I knew that the problem was not with the equipment but with the guy who was using it.
Then I began investing instead in books, and finally in video tapes, that would teach me to be a better fly caster.
My favorite is a tape by Lefty Kreh, the legendary fisherman and, by some accounts, the best fly caster who ever lived. In five minutes, Lefty has a couple of kids casting better than I will ever cast.
Still, I feel like I learn something every time I watch it. The problems are: a) remembering what I have learned when I get on the water with a fly rod; and b) making my body follow what my mind wants it to do.
But I keep working at it because it is so much fun.
Again this winter, while there are few fish to catch, I will be out there practicing, trying my best to make things difficult. by CNB