THERE'S AN APHORISM that goes something like "God does not subtract from the allotted span of men's lives the hours spent in fishing." The quote has been attributed to a number of sources, including Muhammad, the eighth-century BCE philosopher Piscius, and an Assyrian tablet dating from 2000 BCE. Whether you ascribe the sentiment to divine or more earthly sources, it suggests that fishing has long had a certain spiritual component that transcends being merely another way of putting food on the table.
I would like to think that man and woman might get a few extra hours in their allotted lifespan for time spent fly fishing.
People constantly ask me what the appeal of fly fishing is. My neighbors, my children's friends and their parents, and strangers in airports gawk at my expanse of gear bags and want to know: Is it the grace of casting? Is it because flies work better than lures? Did I start because of A River Runs Through It (what people in the industry simply call "the movie")? I have trouble answering the question succinctly. But the question so frequently posed to me got me thinking and got me asking my angling companions about their motivations for taking up the long rod. I was astounded by the range of responses, and by how deeply the sport seemed to resonate for so many of its practitioners…and how at times it seemed to inform other aspects of their lives.
The desire to record and share some of these fly fishers' observations on their motivations and satisfactions in fly fishing was the impetus for Why I Fly Fish. As a freelance writer who has covered fly fishing for the last decade, I've been fortunate enough to get to know many people around the fly-fishing field, from journalists (like John Gierach and Kirk Deeter) to television personalities (like Flip Pallot and Conway Bowman) to ardent conservationists (like Craig Mathews and Chris Wood) to guides (like April Vokey). In addition to gleaning their perspectives, I thought it would be interesting to get a view on the sport from people who've made their marks in other areas of endeavor, but who have a passion for the sport: figures from the business world (Bill Ford and Donald Trump Jr.), the entertainment field (Henry Winkler and James Williamson), professional sports (Nick Price), the world of letters (Carl Hiaasen), and the political realm (Robert Rubin and Senator Mike Enzi).
The combined perspectives of these fly anglers and their stories will hopefully shed a bit more light on a passion that will drive its practitioners to rouse themselves well before sunrise and return home well after dark with nothing for the frying pan; endure driving rain, near-freezing temperatures, insect bites, and body bruises (from hard-fighting fish) in the name of amusement; squander their eyesight trying to tie on flies that are dwarfed by your pinky nail; and tell nonstop stories that will glaze over the eyes of all but the most devoted fellow anglers.
Fly fishers will understand.
And fly fishers in the making may find good reason to give the sport a try!