Fly Fishing is Better on Land...

Or so that’s my opinion anyway. When I took the fly fishing course a couple of weeks ago, no one told me that when I actually fished in the water that things would become completely different.

Last night I had about an hour of free time so I begged my sister’s boyfriend, Josh, to take me fishing. I still can’t go alone because let’s say there’s a miracle and I actually CATCH a fish, I wouldn’t have the slightest idea about what to do! We needed a location with a lot of room for back casting, so we chose the Black Hole on the Salmon River in the Village of Pulaski. It’s located off of Bridge Street near the Elementary School.

The Black Hole in Pulaski, NY

Although I didn’t have a lot of time to fish, I have compiled a list below that explains things I learned, comparisons to fishing on land vs. water, and other random facts about my night fishing

1. A half an hour to an hour does not give you enough time to successfully catch a fish (although I’m not positive that 10 hours straight would give me enough time to successfully catch a fish).

2. When I was fly fishing on land, I had an instructor right beside me to help improve my technique. Fishing on the river and bringing along your sister’s boyfriend who thinks 60 inches equals 6 feet… is not going to be quite as effective.

3. Just because it’s slightly windy on a hot July day, does NOT mean that the bugs won’t come out. WEAR BUG SPRAY

4. Bad casting is only funny to others until they realize you completely turned their fishing line in a huge knot.

A nice big knot that I created while casting... oops

5. When you fly fish on land in a field, there are no trees behind you. When you fish on the water, there WILL be trees behind you, and chances are your line will get stuck in one. (For once I avoided this situation but my “instructor” wasn’t so lucky)

Look how much space he had and he STILL managed to get the line stuck!

6. When you are a normal fisherperson, you should wear the proper clothing. When you are a “local” you can wear flip flops and a tie-dyed shirt.

7. If you have or think you have symptoms of ADD, then find a fishing hole with other things to do… such as swinging on a random rope swing.

My sister was more brave than I was.

8. Word to the wise: NEVER bring your sister and her boyfriend with you. They will argue for over 20 minutes about the proper fly to use, when it turns out neither of them know what they are talking about.

9. If you don’t catch any fish, at least stop and admire the beautiful body of water that you’re in. Don’t take it for granted.

10. PLEASE DO NOT LITTER. There was trash all around the black hole. It is NOT difficult to pick up your trash.

Disgusting trash we found around the Black Hole.

11. Be patient. You will not become a professional fisherperson your first night trying (although that would make for an interesting and unbelievable blog post).

12. Starburst candies are the only thing that will keep your sister occupied long enough not to pick on you.

She won't be too happy when she finds out I posted this photo.

13. Last but not least. Fishing on land doesn’t actually involve fish, just practicing technique… and apparently when your name is Jessie, fishing in the water doesn’t involve fish either.

Don’t let my failure scare you away. Regardless of the lack of fish catching that was going on, we still had fun. It was nice to just relax and practice casting. It was also nice to pick on somebody else other than myself for once! My goal is to get out there again and actually catch a fish so you readers have something more interesting to read about!!!

I have posted two videos below to show you how to fly cast. We're beginners so we're not great at it, but it gives you and idea. I apologize that the video of me is sideways... my sister couldn't figure out the camera until I was just about done casting.

Me casting:

Josh casting: