A Frustrating Day, But Also An Inspiring Day

     Sorry for not posting in a long time. Not being able to be outdoors has given me a writers block. Today we were finally able to do some fishing again. I was excited to finally do some fly casting on the water! I was very confident that I was going to do great since I caught on so fast in my back yard. I may have been a little too confident.

 

 

     First, I couldn't get the tippet tied on. I had practiced that knot many times and was really good at it until it was time to use it for real. My first cast was horrible. I had forgotten everything I had learned about casting. I kept cracking the whip, getting stuck in the weeds behind me, I was slapping the water behind me on my back cast, I have no idea how I lost one fly, one fly was destroyed during my horrible casting and I couldn't get my rhythm down.

 

 

     When I was practicing at home I was making sure there wasn't any wind during practice. That was a huge mistake because today, there was wind and I was fighting it. I finally figured out how to deal with the wind, but I was still having issues.

 

     So I sat down in my chair and started enjoying the scenery and rested for a few minutes. At this point my husband informs me he's caught 8 baby bass. I'm sure the look I gave him was not nice at all.

    I baited up my favorite rod and reel with a worm and bobber and after 2 casts, I caught a baby bass, too. Catching this fish on my favorite rod and reel reminded me why I fish. It's relaxing and fun and when I was trying the fly rod, I was working too hard, getting frustrated and not having any fun.  I let my baby bass go back in the water and decided to try the fly rod again.

 

      I was back in my original spot where the wind was messing with me but also where I caught my first baby bass.

 

      I caught another baby bass! My poor fly wasn't looking much like a bug at this point so I'm sure he bit it out of curiosity instead of because it looked yummy.

 

      From my experience today I realized I love my spinning reel and rod and prefer it over my fly rod. The fly rod is fun and once I get better at it, I'm sure it will be fun, too. It may take me a little longer to get to the "I'm Good At It" point but I'm not going to give up on it. I need to remember to go back to my basics like I was doing in my backyard.

     On the drive home I realized another reason why I'm fighting the fly rod! THERE'S NO RED ON IT!!! The rod is green, the line is green and clear and the reel is black! I may have to get some red stickers and change that for the next fishing trip. I also need to work on tying flies because at the rate I'm losing them and destroying them, I'm going to be need a lot of flies. Watch for some fly tying posts coming soon.