There's a whole lot of mojo in other people's flies.
Often times I find myself midstream staring at my fly box in the typical mental battle of what next to try. Truth be told, steelhead dont give a shit. They're either going to eat, or they're not. Simple as that but we as fishermen or women, especially those to tie, elevate the decision far beyond the mental capacity of our swimming quarry.
So back to the starring contest with a couple dozen flies. I decide yes, then no to about a half dozen varietals, then settle into a fly that was given to me by a steelhead Jedi a couple years past
Turns out that I was fishing with that dude that very day.
Cinching the knot, I just had the feeling. The fly had the juice. Stuff was about to go down. Planets were aligning at that very moment.
The best part of that crazy line ripping three hours? The back story on that fly. How it's predecessor was given to my friend and in turn, gave him a great amount of success. Moving forward, he put his touches on the fly and then gave some to me. The line of connectivity of three anglers through giving, not hoarding success, brought special meaning to that day on the water.
Often times, through commitments of life I have more bench time then fishing time and in turn wind up with a bunch of extra flies. Giving those extras away and then hearing about fish caught on them is a pretty awesome thing and I believe it adds to the experience of chasing steelhead around this great Pacific Northwest riverscape. It keeps me connected to the flow and the fish even when I cant get away.
So give away your extra flies, fish others given to you. My bet is that the karma train will make a stop at the end of your line soon thereafter.
