My Fly Fishing Adventure

I went on a new adventure yesterday. The afternoon excursion we chose at our conference was fly fishing. 

Jeff had done it before. I never had. 

I was worried as we got into the waders and boots. I kind of felt like i was in ski gear in the middle of summer! But later on, this was one of my favorite things about the experience. More on that in a minute! 

Anyway, we drove up into the mountains. When i got worried was the hike into the river. It wasn’t the narrow dirt trail or the high weeds sometimes obscuring it that gave me the most pause. It was the murky, marshy area we had to wade through! I’ve never liked being in natural bodies of water where I can’t see what’s beneath me. Not that the water wasn’t clear. It mostly was. But it clouded a bit with all of us tromping through it. And then there were those dark, shadowy places where, in Texas, things like water moccasins would be likely to lurk. Honestly, i was more proud of myself for getting through those places both coming and going without panicking that all my accomplishments on the river fishing! 

Anyway, when we finally reached our spot it was worth it. A beautiful burbling stream surrounded by green mountains. I love the sound of flowing water, whether ocean or river or even fountain, so the entire atmosphere made me happy. 

It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I finally did. And I caught a fish! You’ll have to take my word for it because I was with three guys and no one took my picture. But I have witnesses, including my husband, so there’s that. 

All in all it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. I thought I would be hot in my long sleeve, sun-blocking shirt and hiking pants under my waders. But i wasn’t. Even when the sun warmed the upper part of my body, the waders let me feel just enough of the cool of the water (one of our guides said the water temp was 55 degrees!) to not feel overly warm. And through trudging across a rock-strewn river bed against the current made me nervous I would lose my balance and fall, but our guide, Sammy, was patient with me and held my head to get me to each spot in the river. Once I was standing in place, I enjoyed being in the water while figuring out the whole fly fishing cast rhythm. 

I would do it again, if for no other reason than the serenity of the place. But I am also in no danger of becoming a fly fishing enthusiast. There are many more ways I also enjoy spending an afternoon in the mountains—including simply reading a book outside! 

Have you ever been fly fishing? How did you do?