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Date: January 29, 2003 at 01:56:42
From: Ken, [pool-64-223-39-91.prov.east.verizon.net]
Subject: Re: Classic presentation in the modern world Nov 26, 2002


The wind is making noise and rattling my house. It is late November chill. Four weeks till winter and the stripers are still here and are quite content. I am happy about the site and the posts from thoughtful fishermen who are talking about salt water fly fishing as fly fishing and not as something else. It is heartening to see this happen as it has been a long time coming and from what I heard about the fly tying symposium there are lots of people still fly fishing in the salt although they are not beginners anymore. It is a time of growth and expansion and things are changing and getting mature. What is real about fly fishing in the salt is becoming clearer as more and more of the hype of first fervor is fading into the remote “Once Upon a Time.”
The one size fits all and is easily marketed to everyone at no risk is just about dead although it is being given mouth to mouth by those who want things to remain fixed and predictable in the business of salt water fly fishing. There are stories in some of the magazines and local publications about presentation and flies that are not jigs or single hook plugs. People are catching bigger fish on flies that swim and imitate baitfish in many different styles and configurations. Rods are not all pool cues and sinking lines are no longer the only 'correct,' way that is written about to fish. It never was. There is a change in what is relevant in fishing in the salt and the people who love to fish knew it long before the media did.

There are many long and wise traditions in fly fishing and they are applicable to the ocean. This is true and will remain true long after all of us who are fishing now will have made our last cast. In this time of change it would be to your best interest to read some of the classics on presentation and fly tying so that you will not be led down a road that is misleading by those who will begin to write about presentation with no understanding of it but will write about it as if they do. Compare their writings with the classics and see if it is hype before accepting what they say. It is becoming fashionable to talk about presentation and dead drifting flies now so there are lots of ex-cast and retrieve experts lining up to cash in on this evolutionary step in the salt. Test them by doing the homework yourself before you trust them. It takes years to become fluent in these techniques and the personal learning curve is a necessity and is actually a lot of fun to do. The rewards are personal and the skills one learns are unique to each angler. There is no one size fits all in this part of maturing as a fly fisherman but there is solid maturity that comes through the effort.
Beware of the stories that lump all presentation into a jargoned jumble of vague blurry, sort of, kind of, it is all the same thing - kind of self promotion. It is not all the same and it is the measure of a fly fisherman’s skill to be able to handle his line and know the different ways to do it and be able to communicate those differences to others. Some do it in words and some by example. Learn to differentiate those writers who know what they are talking about from those who are just jumping on the presentation bandwagon. Read the classics on presentation as they will insulate you from being hoodwinked. They may not be easy to understand but they will give you the real information on traditional line handling techniques not a dumbed down everything is the same, just throw it out there and look out version that will cause you to waste precious fishing time chasing imaginary windmills. The best fishing writing about presentation is in these classic books. They are well worth reading and finding them and sharing them is a big part of fly fishing and always has been. My .02



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