Many of us are not able to fish much during the winter unless we live near a spring-fed river or creek that stays open when it is cold, can travel off to warm, exotic places, or are willing to revert to conventional gear for ice fishing. So, besides gazing longingly at our pictures from last summer, how do we pass the time until we can fish again?
One way that many fly anglers stay connected with their favorite sport is to use the cold, dark winter months to tie flies. In fact, most actually take up the pastime during the winter. Fly shops and fly fishing clubs all offer their fly tying classes and clinics in the fall and winter months. That is when anglers have more time on their hands and when the shops are less busy or when club members aren’t out fishing.
Once finished with a good beginning fly tying class that teaches local patterns, the angler sets about tying lots of the flies she or he will use during the summer months. Sitting at the fly tying vice with a glass of wine or a cup of tea and some lovely music drifting from the radio while we tie, it’s amazing how quickly the time passes. And, unlike some other pastimes during the cold, dark months, we end up with something to show for our efforts that gets us ready for spring and summer.
Reading fly fishing magazines that have piled up while we’ve been out fishing also seems to take up quite a bit of time during the winter, as does viewing that CD or DVD that we’ve seen advertised or that a friend has told us about. Certainly, some of our reading and viewing is focused on possible trips to faraway places for fish species we only dream about, but some might also be about fly fishing with a spey rod, improving our casting technique, or learning more about the aquatic insects we imitate.
Besides reading and viewing tapes and DVD’s, I’m sure that the fly fishing web sites receive significantly more traffic in the winter months as people plan their next summer’s adventures, swoon over expensive, remote lodges and their promises, and compare prices on the dozens of on-line fishing stores.
Cleaning, re-organizing, and repairing gear is another pastime on which the winter-weary fly fisher spends time. All of the fly boxes that we’ve simply dumped used flies into while fishing (and that we fully intended to clean up when we got home) now get pulled out, dumped out, cleaned out, and re-filled with neat (and sometimes even labeled) rows of nymphs, dry flies, and streamers. I for one, always feel a great sense of accomplishment as I stack box after box of pristine, well-ordered flies that I won’t be ashamed to open before my peers on the first trip of the summer.
Besides just cleaning fly boxes and repairing waders, we also revel in quiet time polishing our favorite fly rods, cleaning fly lines and leaders, and re-ordering our fishing vests or packs. Some cold and snowy afternoons many fly anglers can even be found filling their waders with water trying to locate the pin-hole leak that made the last trip of the fall season so cold. What follows is often time spent hovered over fly fishing catalogs comparing various manufactures’ waders and the price tags.
I’m not sure about all of the other fly fishing clubs around, but it seems like the attendance at my club absolutely skyrockets in the winter time. Time spent just “smoozing” with other anglers at the fly shop also seems to increase. While some may frequent the malls, we huddle together with others like ourselves that are in fish withdrawal.
Not everyone stays home and tries to amuse themselves with fly tying, magazines, and gear, however. More and more I hear from fly fishers that have headed off to Belize or Costa Rica, or New Zealand to enjoy summer in those places whose climate is the exact opposite of ours in North America. Many of them forego one of their trout or salmon trips back home to spend their money instead on a winter trip to ease the fishing doldrums. They return with incredible stories and pictures of unusual species that the rest of us may only know about from fishing magazines.
The fly fishing industry knows full well that the fastest growing segment of our sport is fly fishing in saltwater. The gear, equipment and flies for these destinations now constitute a significant inventory in the fly shops, a large percentage of the articles in magazines, and an increasing tourism market.
Anglers remain anglers no matter what month of the year it is. If a catalog, a conversation with other addicts, or some fly tying hours must temporarily substitute for actually fishing, so be it. Spring will come again, and we’ll be ready.
Pudge Kleinkauf has owned and operated Women’s Flyfishing®, her instruction and guide service, for twenty-one of the thirty-eight years she has lived and fished in Alaska. She is the author of two award-winning books, Fly Fishing Women, Explore Alaska, Epicenter Press, 2003 and River Girls: Fly Fishing for Young Women, Johnson Books, 2006. Visit Pudge’s web site at www.womensflyfishing.net and e-mail her at pudge@womensflyfishing.net
article and photo used with permission
