Remember what the first rule of Fight Club was....?
You dont talk about Fight Club....
Like or hate the movie, it leads me into my key fishing superstition.
The first rule of fishing, fly fishing that is, you dont talk about "The Hawk"
See, The Hawk is The Wind. Death to a good cast, killer of good dry fly fishing, derth to rowing.
I hate the wind. Over time, I've learned to deal with it, to manage it, to coexist with it.
But to use a crappy pun....wind blows.
As I began to fish with the crew that I spend most of my time on the water with now, I was lamenting on how much that day's wind was killing my fun. Promptly I was informed that we never talk about wind because if you do the faster and more severly it comes on. Fishing in 10 mph wind, say the word "wind" and watch the gusts hit 40. Dont believe me, I suggest you try it.
The only way I will talk about wind while on the river is in code. We've given the atmospheric unbalance that is wind it's own special name......The Hawk.
Phrases like, "The Hawk is sure flying today" are ok to say. "Wow, it's windy" might get you punched in the face.
So there my friends is my #1 fishing superstition. I have others, I was a baseball player in a former life for gosh sakes and we exist on superstitions. I do my best to limit them but they are always there.
Send me your superstitions, we'd love to hear the other crazy stories and routines you go through in your effort to catch fish. I'll re-post the best ones here where we can take solace in our collective craziness.
Don't step on the baseline biatch. Seriously, your fucked now! Really though, Springsteen in the Fall and Pearl Jam in the Spring always brings chrome to the end of the swing. Then again Korn in the Spring makes Monster bulls happy too.
ReplyDeleteGetting laid the night before a trip for some reason always worked for me too, then again that explains the slump.
I hate the hawk too mills. He has been flying to high around here the last few weeks making our floats much more chilly. T think that singing a song weather its good or bad turns the bite on. The last few floats I have been singing Home Sweet Home by Motley Crew.. Been catching a lot of 80's fish. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a couple.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I belive that anytime you are fishing near children and you dont pray to the god of your choice on the moment you notice them, they WILL procede to throw rocks upriver and downriver of your location.
Second, you must love your waders. If you do not love your waders, they will rip open while your in the center of sprague lake in a float tube, in march, with a 15 mph wind.
I think it's my denial of all superstitions that gets me in trouble. But I truly hate the fucking wind.
ReplyDeleteDon't you dare sip from the flask of bourbon until you have properly landed a fish. Of course, if you are getting skunked the first thing you want is a mind soothing sip of whiskey. But, if that is the case, well then you better have a cold beer in the car, leave the flask alone.
ReplyDeleteRamones t-shirt = steelhead
ReplyDelete