{"id":8415,"date":"2011-06-28T12:29:12","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T16:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adirondack.net\/dacks\/2011\/06\/im-hooked.html"},"modified":"2018-06-26T10:37:54","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T14:37:54","slug":"im-hooked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adirondack.net\/dacks\/2011\/06\/im-hooked\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m Hooked… In More Ways Than One"},"content":{"rendered":"
I learned at a pretty young age that it is dangerous to assume that you will catch fish<\/b> every time you try. However, this is pretty easy for me to forget, I haven’t been skunked in a while on the spinning rod. Yesterday when I headed to the Mettawee River in Granville with a few friends I wasn’t even planning on getting a bite, just looking to work on my casting<\/b> and fly presentation<\/b> as this was my first time on the water with my new fly rod<\/a>.<\/p>\n We headed over to the river, arriving at about 4:00pm. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and it was at least 80 degrees. I was skeptical, being so sunny and warm the trout were probably hiding<\/b> in the deep, cold, dark water.<\/p>\n “What the heck, I’m just here to practice my casting<\/b> anyway,” – Myself, and any other angler with no confidence<\/i><\/p>\n At first I just watched my friends that had come with me, who are familiar with fly fishing<\/b> and know how to cast a line<\/b>. I figured I would watch what they do, and try to emulate their technique. After about 15 minutes of that I was itching to get in the water. I stepped in slowly, wearing a bathing suit and some old sneakers. (Is there a point to buying waders when the water is warm enough to stand in?<\/i>) I started flipping my line back and forth, often times watching my leader collapse into my fly line<\/b>, causing my line to get tangled and myself to get slightly frustrated. At one point in the tangles I jammed a tiny hook (probably a size 12) right into the tip of my left index finger, past the barb. It took me a second to pull it out, and it still feels a little raw as I type this.<\/p>\n This is when one of my buddies stopped fishing and came over to give me a quick lesson. His advice to me was to avoid the 10-2 position, and work with more of a 11-1:30 stroke. He also said that he had once been told to accelerate to a stop<\/b> in both directions, with as little deceleration as possible. This was very sound advice<\/b>, and after another 15 minutes getting the timing down, I was putting the fly somewhere<\/i> near where I wanted it.<\/p>\n I learned how to cast relatively well (compared to what I was doing 30 minutes prior)<\/i> and headed up the stream, leaving my friends to fish by themselves. One thing I like about fishing is that you can go with friends, but don’t need to be standing next to them talking the whole time. I left them to fish their pools, and waded away to find an undisturbed stretch<\/b> of my own.<\/p>\n