Cola explains the finer points of being a fly fishing dirt bag, and discusses the conflation of nature loving and religion
Ever since A River Runs through IT was penned, and the subsequent film released, fly anglers have conflated their reverence for nature and what Reverend Maclean said about Paul, “the favorite” disciple of Christ, being a dry fly fisherman. I remember a cold day on the Madison wearing out trout on a double dropper rig while my stepbrother tried to no avail to force feed trout his dry flies. It scarcely worked for him.
How trite it has become to say, “my church is the great outdoors.” The problem with this mantra being that this philosophy leaves out community, and the interactions of us and our people on the road and in the water.
And yet, most of us appreciate fly angling because of our deeper appreciation of ecologies involved in the total experience of angling; from the sub-surface entomology under the stones to the hydrologies of the top of the water column affected by the very presence of stones, and finally, but most importantly to me, the stories that connect us under the babbling brooks by the campfires– the very thing that makes us human. A reverence for the wild and cultural landscapes we interact with is certainly part of that love for creation, but it is humans that take as their premier sport, fooling fish, and then telling of those fishes’ folly while recreating together in the world. This is an exposition of not “everything,” but some of the stuff ‘that matters” to a heathen fly angler.
1.) Catching a buzz- It is important to get your mind right before a foray into the urban fisheries we in the South love to fish. I learned this while working as a rod-man for a surveyor. Cutting a clean line through a forest is better after a doob with co-workers. Getting oriented for a job is important. Don’t drink and work folks. Drink and play. Lubricate those casting muscles. Or if alcohol is not your cup of tea, pop to a stop with a good coffee buzz, but then creep forward into a fine cigar shared over an exhausted carp you just whooped. Drugs are the heathen way. You who say your “church is the Great Outdoors better do it sober as a judge.” Unless you are at the Catalina wine mixer of wine mixers– The Virginia Wine and Fly fishing Festival. Then you
church anglers can sip wine; I guess.
2.) Catching some sun- get your vitamin D in the sun while listening to King Crimson and your synagogue becomes the sights and sounds of your world. The mosque of music shared in the rays of God’s most glorious of cathedrals– wilderness.
3.) Catching up- where else would your wife allow you to hang with your buds, but on the water? Angling is an occasion for any party. Just add fishing. Add your spouse too. I have heard you can fish more this way.
4.) Catching a fish- This is never the ultimate goal, unless you are a church angler. But it is the yardstick against which a fishing trip is measured. “I only caught one” are the words of a fishing church goer. Appreciate what you do have and remain a congregant of the cult that should be “everything that matters.”
5.) Catching a predator- If you have never guerilla fished it is something we should all experience at least once in life. Buy some country club camo, and sneak on to a golf course near you for that acrobatic bass leap, or powerful tarpon pull. Hide your yippie instincts in yuppie attire. Blend into your environment, and finally catch that grass carp that never seems to quarter away from you at the right time.
Paul Tillich explains that “Religion” is what binds us all together. His theology expresses that etymology is important in philosophy, and the Latin root of religion is religio, which literally means, “to bind.” No, this doesn’t mean that in the 21st century we are all bound to church, or temple, or mosque. Often what binds people is not of an infinitely important value. People’s ultimate concern is rarely these ancient religions. It could be the almighty dollar, or continuously searching for the right partner. But these things will lead to existential despair faster than the brisket sandwich at Bucees. The true infinitely important task of the angler is to become a steward of our passions for future generations. So that they might become angling heathens, and so they might embrace at least some of the things that truly matter.