Fly fishing
I fell in love with fly fishing for the first time at 4 years old. At first, I was in love with the dopamine rush I would get every time I saw a fish fall for the illusion that I had set for it. As I got older I realized all the lessons that fly fishing has taught me: how important it is to take a few minutes every once and a while to just look around and appreciate the beauty of the world around us and be thankful for where the journey of life has taken us.
Last summer, I was determined to complete the great feat of catching all 4 types of well-known trout found in the Eastern Sierra in one day: the Rainbow, Brook, Brown, and my favorite out of them all, the Golden trout. I woke up early that morning, walked down to Lee Vining Creek, and knocked down Rainbow and Brown before the sun was even a hair over the horizon. My next destination was a place that would become a very important landmark in my life after that day, this place is known as Glacier Canyon. I practically ran up the roughly 3-mile trek, up a 1.125ft elevation gain trail until I got to the first of the many lakes that I would fish that day. In that first lake, I knocked Brook trout from my list. I caught over 50 of them within 50 casts. I felt spoiled by the beauty and amount of fish there, but as much as I would have liked to have fun with those fish, I decided that it was time to move on so I ran to the next lake, which was fishless, but I didn’t discover this until after 30 minutes of casting and casting. This was a setback. It was but a minor one even in my head because what the next lake held was the key to the completion of this great feat that I had been attempting to finish that whole day. This lake held the infamous Golden trout, the gem of the Sierras. The wind had picked up and the conditions that had been ideal all day turned against me. It got hot and windy forcing the fish to sink towards the bottom to seek the cool calm waters of the lake floor. It took me over an hour of trying different patterns of nymphs, dry flies, you name it. And when I finally hooked one of these Golden trout, I had one goal and that was to get this fish into shore and I was the most careful I had ever been in my life. Even though it was no bigger than 12 inches, I was letting out and doing everything I could to make sure this fish didn’t get away. When I finally got this fish in, I just sat back and realized I had met my goal. I had completed the Sierra Grand Slam. I took a picture for evidence and let the fish go.
The weather got better, a cloud passed over the sun and the wind stopped, so I proceeded to catch two more Golden trout and then I decided to start my walk down the trail. I had just started walking when I remembered I packed a cookie and a Sprite that I promised myself I would only eat once I had caught the Golden trout. I decided to find a nice place to sit and enjoy my snack. I found an outcropping close to the ridge of the canyon and sat. As I opened my soda, I truly looked around for the first time that day and I was hit head-on by the stunning view of the Sierras so vibrant as if it were fresh paint, and the sound of the meandering creek as it carved its way down the canyon and the birds singing their song blended to create the most beautiful symphony orchestrated by mother nature.
I was sitting in the middle of one of the most beautiful places on earth and I had just finally noticed! That’s when it dawned on me: I was so focused on completing and accomplishing my goal that I took no time to look around and recognize the beauty and how significant it was that I was in this place at this time instead of stuck at a desk or sitting on my couch glued to the T.V. I learned two lessons that day that have and will impact the rest of my life: one was that it is important no matter how determined or busy we are, to look around and appreciate where our work has brought us. I learned from the sheer rock cliffs, the little tiny creek that crept its way through the canyon, and the sweetness of the air from the flowers that fly fishing will always lead me to these astonishing places and has taught me to appreciate where my life has brought me.
I am not the only one who has gotten hooked on fly fishing; many people have even made it into a career. For example, David James Duncan said once, “The trout do not rise in the cemetery, so you better do your fishing while you are still able.” I had the great honor of meeting and fishing with this wellknown author and fly fisherman and he lived this quote even during the limited time I spent with him. I can picture him saying this crystal clear. This may be an insignificant quote to many people, but it holds so much truth and shows that we have to use this time we have the best we can. I am thankful for fly fishing, the lessons it has given me, and the ones to come.
(My name is Solomon McFarland and I’m a junior at Lee Vining High School. I’m 16 years old and I enjoy fly fishing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and being outside in general.)