UNDERCURRENTS
TOO MUCH, TOO FAST, TOO SOON T H E M OT TO O F T H E O LY M P I C S I S ‘ FAST E R , H I G H E R , ST R O N G E R ’. V I N D I ES E L’ S I S ‘ FAST E R , M O R E FURIOUS…BOET’ (OR SO WE I M AG I N E ) . I F G U I D E , ST U H A R L E Y , H A D A M OT TO I T WO U L D P R O BA B LY B E , “ L ES S , S LO W E R , I SA I D S LO W E R .” H E R E ’ S W H Y. Photos. Stu Harley, Johann Vorster
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fter a few competitive cold beers with fellow guide Greg Ghaui on the banks of a Tanzanian river some years ago, I had an epiphany. The initial catalyst for this thought came up earlier that day after watching my guest land yet another good-sized Brevis Tigerfish after he had made a surprisingly short cast, a surprisingly slow retrieve and (contrary to tiger norm), fought the fish on the reel and without a care in the world. In that moment it dawned on me that, as we improve our angling technical competencies and abilities, we may be fishing less intuitively and effectively. That may sound quite controversial but hear me out.
Too Much! As our fly-fishing expertise grows, we suddenly have the desire to cast a million miles. Quite often we cast directly over the fish that was unaware of our presence until we dumped 100 feet of line over its head. I say, ‘we’ because I have done the same. Think of how, when we are on the bank, we want to cast to the middle and beyond. And when we are on a boat, we suddenly want to cast as close to the shore as we possibly can. Too much moving, making too much noise, making too many rod angle changes, with a few too many ideas.
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Don’t get me wrong. I truly believe that the more we observe, the more we learn and the better we fish and open ourselves to experiencing the beauty many fly fishing destinations offer. I also believe that one can do all this, ‘nice and slow’. Too much can also mean too many. Instead of focusing on a great fish count why not savour that one special fish? For this reason I talk to my clients about moving goalposts so that we can make it our aim to catch one special fish together and enjoy that special moment having taken the time to work on, catch and admire that fish. Too Fast! This one is easy and points straight to the possibility that we may be stripping too fast. I don’t say this like I’m a 400 year-old, waving my finger at you astride some high noble steed. Perhaps we think of predatory fish as mindless killers zooming around murdering everything as they go. In the case of giant trevally I have often seen where the fast strip might get the fish moving but, in all honesty, I believe it was where the fly landed that got the fish to take, rather than the speed of the strip. With GTs, even if you saw the fish come from two kilometres away and it stopped for coffee five times on its journey, you still wouldn’t have enough time to sort your shit out. More often than not, after a brief clusterfuck of some description, you hurriedly lob a four metre-high, out-swinging loop at the fish.
W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M
