Sunday, April 10, 2011

Unfurling of line

Today is an absolutely beautiful Spring day in New England and I decided to head down to the river and practice my casting.

It had been 10 days since I last practiced so it took a little while to reacquaint myself with the technique that I "perfected".

At some point, I had an Eureka moment as I figured out what I was doing wrong and made the correction (OK it is more like corrections). From then on the line unfurled in front of me to the location where I aimed (not every time but more often than not). That feeling was the same as when I figured out the problem with my golf swing and the ball went straight for the first time. I could go on and describe the "feeling" and get all weepy but I have a reputation to uphold. I will say this though: I now have a deeper understanding of the attraction of this sport. 

I am now officially "hooked" on this thing called fly fishing and I haven't even caught a fish yet.

I may go back today after The Masters ends.

16 comments:

  1. Mac, The Masters? Get out and do some fishing! The Masters?

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  2. I think my pal Rory will win.

    www.smallstreambrowntroutfishing.blogspot.com

    Follow if you get time.

    Kind Regards.

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  3. Howard....I am deeply hurt. No congratulations on my entry into the world fly-fishing addiction? I'll add fuel to the fire: I hit a bucket of balls today too (I think I fixed my alignment problem). All I have to do now is light up a cigar and all will be right with world.

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  4. Hi Richard........welcome aboard and thanks for joining.

    With a name like Mac how can I not root for Rory?

    I visited your blog (looks great) and joined.

    Thanks again for visiting, commenting and joining.

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  5. Four!! It's always good to have an "Eureka" moment...haha Double Eureka when you catch that trout!

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  6. Well played RD.

    I agree that when that moment comes it will be special (i.e. a double Eureka). I have prepared for that moment by learning how to post to my blog from my Blackberry and the news will go out pretty quickly.

    Still watching The Masters Howard. Tune in because it isn't to late.

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  7. Congrats; it's a great moment when everything with your casting "clicks" and you find yourself starting to feel a little competent. Soon you'll have trout tripping over themselves to get to your fly. ;)

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  8. Thanks Anthony. I hope you are right about the fish.

    At Howard's command, I went back to the river to practice some more after The Masters and I really am getting the hang out it. Now I have to learn how to connect the tippet to the leader by the side of the river.

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  9. Hey Ed,
    It was cool to meet you at the river today! I look forward to seeing you down there in the coming weeks!
    -Greer

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  10. Hi Greer,

    I was nice to meet you and your family today also. It sure sounds like you guys have done some trout fishing.

    I hope the picture I took came out OK. I ended going back after The Masters and practiced a little more. It started to rain so I had to leave sooner then I wanted. It looks like I have to add a raincoat to the list of items to put in my backpack. I am going to Portland tomorrow so I may stop LL Bean and pick up some leader material and a rain coat. I may also buy a net since catching a fish should become a reality some time in the near future.

    If it isn't raining, then I am going to try it again tomorrow morning. This time the goal is to catch a fish not practice.

    Hope to see you soon. Thanks for stopping by and joining.

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  11. Keep on trying..I've been out 3 times so far this spring and am 0 for 3..oh well..

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  12. Yes sir, that first perfect cast. There's no turning back buddy.

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  13. You have got that right Alan. I am tempted to go out this morning but I may wait until this afternoon.

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  14. Penbay...there is at least one thing that golf and fly-fishing have in common: the people are eternal optimists because they think the next time will be better.
    Thanks for words of encouragement and I hope the next time is the time for you.

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  15. Sorry Mac, I meant to say congrats but golf freaks me out. I killed my first trout with a carelessly thrown nine iron into a river in Wyoming.

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  16. Howard......that explains everything. As Peter Griffin said to his son Chris "We will never speak of this again.".

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