| Those who lived through the good years of fly fishing and those who recorded it would feel out of place today. I was lucky enough to catch what I believe was the tail end of this era. I was in privileged company when I sat and listened to Bill Durham, Gene Utech and Ed Shenk. I remember the morning when Gene introduced me to Joe Humphreys. You could get a Winston bamboo for about $300.00 and your choice of lines was limited to Cortland, and Scientific Angler. Most would choose the reliable, supple and predictable Cortland 444 line. A fly line would cost you about $25.00. I am still trying to get an answer on why these line prices are now approaching $100.00. The ones who knew what they were doing knew that you didn’t need an expensive rod. Gene had his rod laying in the back of the truck rigged up with three spiders. I watched his method for swinging these flies. Today, we have people convincing us that swinging flies for steelhead is something new and special. “There is a science to it” they say. In today’s Cyber-World there is a group of boys sporting tattoos, nail polish and make-up. They live in the forums where they can pretend to be who they wish they were. We have even reached the point where these boys have convinced themselves that they are qualified to recommend a product to you. They may not be able to cast 20ft or they may have never casted in the surf, but that doesn’t matter because you don’t know that! They took the shortcut and never bothered to learn the tradition and the values that fly fishing teaches us. They feel that they know enough to fool you. They don't recommend a product on performance because they don't know enough. They recommend it because it's the latest cool thing that everyone is talking about. However, I have seen proof that there are many more young people who have learned the proper way and learned the hidden values that fly fishing teaches. They had no choice but to end up on the road that brought them to “The Contented Angler” where they could join others and put these moral values to use helping others. I see new young people every week and I am completely convinced that the tradition of fly fishing will survive. I was taught by some “old goats” knowing that I would one day be the “Old goat” It takes a long time to learn a rod or a line. You need to learn it’s limitations, you need to cast the rod to it’s ultimate flex. There is a time and a certain reward to fishing small streams, but you learn nothing about casting a fly rod. In fact, it wasn’t until I went to the Miramichi with 25 years of casting experience that I quickly learned that I couldn’t cast. The boys will get tired of fly fishing and move on to something else. You can only pretend for so long. However, you will one day be the old goat, and you will have to look back and let your conscience judge whether you have spent the precious years pretending or whether you spent them doing positive things. The young people that come in here are intelligent, polite and learned fly fishing the proper way. When I look at them I know that, for all of it’s characters, cyberspace is no match for the unyielding foundation of fly fishing tradition. |
| The Contented Angler "A Genuine Fly Shop" |
| The Future of Fly Fishing |
| The Contented Angler 147 jefferson Avenue Lower Burrell, Pa. 15068 724-337-0437 |
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