I attended the Sowbug Roundup in Mountain Home Arkansas again this year as a tier and a presenter. I gave a presentation on simple fixed-line nymphing. It was pretty well attended and I think it was well received. The Sowbug Roundup is put on by the North Arkansas Fly Fishers, and is a gathering of fly tiers and vendors along with folks presenting on various fly fishing topics. It’s an honor to be able to attend, tie for folks, and talk about tenkara.
I am not a very good reporter and usually when I attend these things I have every intention of shooting videos and doing some interviews … but it just usually doesn’t happen. This year however, though I still did not live up to my own expectations I did remember to ask some folks to contribute to the Just One Thing Series.
For those that haven’t seen the first couple of posts in the series the idea is this: I ask folks “If you could give just one piece of advice to other anglers what would it be?” I leave it completely open ended for folks to interpret as they like.
All the discussion that follows is me paraphrasing the others – I took notes but didn’t record this – so just bear that in mind.
Without further ado here are the responses from some folks that I talked to at the Sowbug Roundup
Steven Dally
Steven Dally is a transplant from Tasmania and currently runs Dally’s Ozark Fly Fisher in Cotter, Arkansas. Rather than repeat it all in this post you can read his biography here. Also, here’s a link to Steve’s Youtube Channel. Needless to say Steve knows what he’s talking about. Many guides get more fishing in a year than many of us amateurs will get in a decade, so I when a successful guide talks I listen.
This is what Steve had to say (paraphrasing)
Go fishing more. You can’t get good at anything without doing it. Fishing more is good for several reasons
a) Good for your health – both physical and mental
b) It’s good for your skill level of course
c) Also it will make you a nicer person to your friends and loved ones because you’ll have less stress and be happier and nicer to be around
All good advice I’d have to say.
I also asked Steve if he had any advice about how I can get my wife into fly fishing.
Hire a guide. That way you can both have fun. You can fish instead of becoming frustrating by trying to both fish and teach her. And she can get good fundamental instruction from the guide.
That sounds like a good plan to me!
Dave Whitlock
When I saw that Dave Whitlock was at the Sowbug Roundup I knew that I needed to at least meet him and say hello. I think it’s fare to say that Dave is fly fishing royalty. In addition to his contributions as an angler, fly tier and writer, Dave is also an artist. I picked up a cool print from Dave. It’s a print featuring terrestrial insects and the respective artificial flies. As a Pennsylvania guy I feel a certain pride in the contributions that PA anglers like Vince Marinaro and Ed Shenk made to terrestrial fishing so I had to buy that print.
Dave’s website is http://davewhitlock.com and you can read all about him there and check out his art and books and more.
Here’s what Dave had to say:
Get a good instructor.
Short and to the point. And I cannot agree more. It is something that I never did and I’ve been playing catch-up for about 30 years now. Fly fishing is something that you can learn on your own – but if you take a lesson or two or go out with a guide you’ll be speeded along that path.
It’s like Ted Leeson says in his super terrific book Habit of Rivers “There are a lot of advantages to being self-taught. quality of instruction is not one of them.” Being a self-learner is great, especially if it’s tempered with good instruction.
Matt Sment
I’ve talked with Matt just about as much as anyone over the last few years about tenkara. Matt, like I am, is always interested in digging into the “hows” and “whys” of it all.
If you’re familiar with tenkara you’ve probably heard of Matt Sment already as one half of Badger Tenkara along with Mike Lutes. Well, Badger is getting out of the retail game but Matt has told me he’s not going away and Badger Tenkara in some form will continue into the future, whatever that future may be.
I did an interview with Matt and Mike way back in September 2014 – so perhaps they’ve changed tactics, and opinions since then I don’t know but you can see that interview here.
Here’s what Matt had to say for Just One Thing …
Understand the way your prey interacts with its environment.
Learn to read water. You can’t catch fish if you don’t know where they are.
Amen to that. I feel like this still devils me at times. Sometimes I feel like the king of the world when it comes to finding trout in a stream … but there are those times when I get stumped – especially in bigger waters.
Incidentally I used to say that tenkara can help in a lot of ways but it couldn’t help you find fish. But after some analysis I’ve changed my tune on that. And this is why – the inherent stealth in tenkara level lines causes me to spook less fish with my casting – and as a result I think that I have learned more about some of the places that small stream trout live.
Misako Ishimura
Every time I meet Misako Ishimura she makes me laugh. She’s always smiling and is perhaps benefitting from those mental health benefits that Steve Dally speaks of in his comments, because she is just so nice.
I first became aware of Misako as a co-author of the book Tenkara: Radically Simple, Ultralight Fly Fishing. And have since met her a few times.
Please head over to her webpage and read her bio – it’s pretty amazing and just so full. Wow.
When I spoke to Misako I didn’t have my notebook – so I had to just listen and try to remember what she said. I try to capture, if not the exact wording, then the spirit of what she said.
You need to wait and be peaceful and walk along the stream. Listen to the water, the insects … watch the stream. Become at peace with nature. Find a place that feels good, that feels right. And then cast your fly.
My gosh. Yes. I feel calmer and more relaxed now as I write that. Let the fast pace of the city, and the tension and worry of a busy life melt away. Take time to breathe, take time to let the environment inform you. Get in touch and be a apart of nature. Musicians and athletes will probably tell you that being relaxed and calm are key to good performance – why not the same for fishing? Plus if you stop and take a breath rather than charging in like a water buffalo you’ll start to notice things that you wouldn’t otherwise. Every time I sit a watch a stream for a while I start to notice fish that I didn’t initially see. So great advice all around for sure.
Thanks to Steve Dally, Dave Whitlock, Matt Sment and Misako Ishimura for taking part in Just One Thing …
Thanks for this. TRUTH is always so obvious. Learning is a joy. Fly fishing is a religion.
It’s funny too how – at least speaking for myself – it takes hearing something at the right time for it to sink in. You know? I’ll have heard something or read it and it just goes in one ear and out the other until the point where I finally have enough experience for it to finally make sense to me.
So true, Anthony.