The Longest Apprenticeship
- Details
- Published on Saturday, 27 January 2007 17:09
- Written by Fred Carrie
How long have you been fly fishing? Or perhaps a better question might be: for how long and how often do you believe you have to go fishing to become a "top gun" fly fisher? Let me say, at the off, that although I have been fishing for close on 40 years,
on and off admittedly, I am nowhere near being a "top gun" and I doubt I ever will be; I guess the same can be said of most anglers. Whatever - I am certainly not holding myself up as any kind of example. Let me also say that I am only talking about fly fishing here because it is a huge and diverse game. Becoming a really good fly fisher is not easy; no offence intended to anyone - really good fly fishers are playing in a different league to spinners, bait fishers, whatever – no matter how good they are at what they do.
This is not about denigrating other forms of fishing, it's just making a comparison. It's like comparing quantum physics with school grade science, at the top levels anyway. When I talk of fly fishing, I am not talking about drifting downwind in a boat pulling flies back at a rate of knots and catching loads of 9 inch trout – any daft bugger can do that once they have learned to cast a few yards. I am talking about being an accomplished all round fly fisher who does well in all conditions, winds, flat calms, rivers, lochs, the lot and also regularly catches quality fish when others around him are hauling in the sprats on the Clan Chief.
OK, my own view is that you never stop learning or at least you SHOULD never stop learning. Some of us are so set in our ways we will never learn anything new - old dogs, new tricks. To some it's not important, but I reckon that as soon as you are happy with the level you are at in any game, not just fly fishing, you are just about to go over the edge and head down the long slippery slope on the other side. As soon as you stop trying to learn, trying to figure out ways of solving problems, dullness and boredom are just around the corner. I know - that's what happened to me, as a fly fisher, 20 years ago.
But how long does it take? It's not just a matter of years, it's also about using these years intelligently. OK, let's assume you are pretty intent on becoming a really good fly fisher. You are smart enough to read and absorb the literature, you observe and your mind is open enough to accept constructive criticism. Yes, I know, some guys will always be better than others, some will learn faster, some will have better physical and mental attributes - if not better, at least more suited to the game you are playing. Remember that for most people, no matter how good you are, there will always be someone better than you - no matter how hard you try. That's life whether you are a fly fisher, a footballer, a gardener, an artist or a nuclear physicist. I used to show alpine plants; I even won the odd prize, but a couple of friends of mine from an arts background used to steal the show most times out. They did not really grow the plants any better, what they had was an artist's eye for presentation and presentation, just like in fishing, it made all the difference.
OK, back to the original question, how long you have been fly fishing? How many years? Let's look at the amount of time you have available in any year to get out there and actually do your stuff.
The season in Scotland, to be very generous, is about 6 months - April through September. For the first few weeks of most seasons things have usually not really got going. So let's say that the season covers 24 weeks of reasonable fly fishing conditions. Most anglers will be VERY fortunate to get out once a week, some weeks they might not get out at all. But let's, for argument's sake, assume that once they have had their fishing holiday it averages out at one trip/week. That's 24 trips in a year. That's 24 days out of 365 - hardly a "year's fishing".
Now, let's call this guy Mr Average Fly Fisher. It's worth remembering that the average worker works about 46 weeks each year on a five day week. People learning their job/craft/ trade or who are in post graduate employment - whatever - do much the same. They are working say 230 days a year. An apprentice learning his craft might take 4 years – that's 920 days - and after all that time his journeyman will tell him that his real world training is just about to start! How long will it take Mr Average Fly Fisher to put in that amount of time on the water and reach journeyman level? 38 years!
It's a sobering thought. Fly fishing is difficult – good fly fishing technique that is. How can most folk expect to become really good at something that they can never realistically put the necessary hours into to get the experience and practice required? How good would you be at your job if you had only been allowed to train for 24 days a year?
Yes, fly fishing at the highest level is difficult, but that may have as much to do with available time as it does with natural ability.
Fred Carrie started fishing in the mid 1960's, hillwalking in the 1970's and has been combining the two on and off ever since.
Fred runs the successful Wild Fishing Scotland web site and enjoys the hike up to the wild hill lochs as much as the fishing itself. The more uncharitable members of his family and friends say that is perhaps just as well.