Oldie but Goodie
Hank Patterson, wolrd's most knowledgable fishing guide
just have to pick on yourself once in a while and I found this article I wrote for a small blog many years ago when I first started getting involved in the business and I laughed so hard. Its amazing how hard a young shop rat will try to fit in, and its amazing how far the sport has come. The weird thing is though, I still get the point. By the way, the story from the article is true. Italics added today.
So many days on the stream have
resulted in pleasant memories for me. I have been having one of those
years where it all seems to come together with beautiful days,
excellent fish, well placed casts, and new friends. It was only
recently that I found myself in knee deep water on a warm summer day,
everything was going so good and for once I was alone in the best
stretch of an awesome river. And than it happened. In the midst of
chowing down on an excellent sandwich (thank you Vinny) best damn sandwich shop ever, right in pawing I hear a
voice behind me "mind if I step in ?" Now fully annoyed
that I spilled oil all over my lucky shirt I turned around and came
face to face with every angler's dream. Standing there in front of me
was a beautiful olive skinned angel of a women clad in her finest
fishing gear and holding some old but well kept cane, silk line and
all. Amazing right? Im not done. When I say fine fishing gear I'm
referring to a lime green bikini top complimented with a belly ring
and some OD convertible waders. True story, no lie. This really is a true story
Before I could studder a regretful
remark from my drooping jaws her boyfriend emerged from the trees
clad in a vintage trucker cap to go with a Skynard shirt he wasn't wearing a damn skynard shirt and cargo
shorts soaked to the waste, a getup not unlike some I have been
guilty of wearing on the water on more than one occasion I have never done this. After a
short but pleasurable conversation I gave up my little piece of
heaven on earth in a forceful attempt to share, and made my way back
to my truck where I promptly burnt rubber, my generations way of
telling our friends how cool and dominant we are. Not to mention how
impressive it must be to the ladies. ok I did do this and I don't know why
This brings me to the point. In my
opinion, this whole generation gap controversy I think I just mean young generation brought into the light
over the last few years is going in the wrong direction. In some
circles we have gone from complaining about a lack of involvement to
whining about punk kids ruining the fly fishing tradition or changing
the face of our craft. I cant say that I don't understand. its amazing how far we have come
It wasn't until later that I realized
how annoyed I was by my encounter. As much as I enjoyed the spectacle
I was perturbed by how loud their appearance was. Here I am enjoying
the solitude of my favorite hole on an awesome summer day, enjoying
the pastime of our forefathers when I was interrupted by two people
who looked like they just got back from a spring break concert. Would
I have been as upset if it was two older gentleman wearing tweed and
smoking pipes? Probably not. Come to find out, the two happened to be
excellent and knowledgeable anglers. Down to earth young folk like
myself who enjoy a good day's fishing. she was a shitty angler using her dads shit and ended up cheating on my new friend
What is it that keeps us from accepting
change? Are we so ready to watch our sport die?
Working in the fly shop and interacting
with industry participants has made me realize that the new
generation isn't ruining our sport, its improving it. I know that the
new light on the subject is not outright saying that we are damaging
the sport but they might as well be. I have met more than one young
angler who could give many of us a run for our money on the river,and
they can back it up in the shops too.
The same young Skynard fan I mentioned
earlier spent an hour with me in the shop a couple days later talking
about the writings of "the compleat angler" he really did this I know a lot of
crusty guides who couldn't tell me who wrote it, let alone get
through more than two pages of its confusing dialogue.
In truth, this whole generation gap
controversy is just a way for some anglers to say stay off my river.
we can become so selfish and protective that we wont accept the
evolution of our sport. Some of the new anglers have been so good to
us through their involvement. From stream improvement projects to new
innovations not to mention some well worded letters to local
governments and conservation projects.
With that said, its true the young
crowd comes off a little strong. We listen to our music too loud and
our hair is way to long. total shot at Rob Lewis Maybe we drink a little to much, sorry Rob.
The truth is, these new anglers are good for the sport and all of us
are entitled to the same pleasantries, even if we go about it in
different ways. We all need to take a step back and have a good long
look at things. We all need each other to face the problems we have right now and this is not one of them.
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