Practice Makes Perfect

August 15-17, 2010

Over the past couple of days, I have practiced a lot on a pond located on my property. Over the past three days, I have spent five hours fishing on said pond. I caught about a dozen small perch and one 3 pound large-mouth bass. I feel that I have gotten much better at making the extended casts than before.

I have spent about 20 dollars during this period of time. 3 dollars went to tippits (line used for a leader) and 17 on flies, forceps and clippers. I will be fishing with Dr. Kovacich in the next couple of days. Hopefully he will see how much I have improved.

My first day in the river.

Day 1-August 14, 2010

Today was the first day I have ever fly fished. I have to say, it was pretty difficult. Compared to regular fishing (trolling and casting), it is incredibly difficult and pain-staking. I have found that there is almost as much happiness in making a somewhat "fishable" cast than there is in actually catching the fish.

Dr. Kovacich was probably my best choice for a mentor. His method of fishing is so scientific that he takes temperature readings of the river in certain places to find the best area to fish. It's almost as though he has memorized the certain aspects of the river over his many years of fly fishing. Today, he taught me how to do the basic cast and the double cast. The basic cast was pretty easy to figure out, however the double cast is taking a lot longer. In order to perform a double cast, you must execute a single cast, then before the fly touches the water, you must cast again. This method helps when the fish are far away or are hard to get near.

Today, we were fishing for Smallmouth Bass in the New River. Unfortunately, I did not catch any fish, however Dr. Kovacich caught six. I think that it is just a matter of time before I begin to get the hang of fly fishing. Dr. Kovacich said that the Smallmouth Bass were very elusive and hard to catch so I'm not too disappointed. I believe that, after I practice, I will be much more inclined to catch a fish.

We fished from about 9 am to about 3 pm which totals into 7 hours. Today, I didn't spend any money except for about 20 dollars in gas. Dr. Kovacich allowed me to borrow his fly-tying set so maybe I'll try to tie some of my own flies in the next few days.