Tarn Mack-Mcewen
There are millions of aspects that make up fly fishing and different people find joy out of these different aspects. For me there are many things that get me excited about fly fishing but there’s a few things that consistently show me why fly fishing is my chosen hobby/sport/lifestyle.
I’m a teenage boy (16) living in New Zealand, which is already a beautiful country. But if it wasn’t for fly fishing I wouldn’t have been to half of the amazing places that I’ve been to today. From watching schools of tuna busting baitfish on the surface on a dead calm summers evening miles off the New Zealand coast to tramping up a remote beech forest backcountry river in search of large brown trout. It’s these places that for me really enhance the overall experience of a day’s fishing and keep your hunger for exploring around that next corner which often leads to the next adventure. Don’t get me wrong I still get great enjoyment from fishing roadside streams but it’s those remote picturesque locations that truly allow all of life’s stresses melt away.
It’s taken me a little while to realize but one of the best things about fly fishing is the opportunity to meet new people. Meeting new people who share the same passion is always exciting whether they are young, old, experienced or completely new to the sport, there is always a uniqueness about every fisherman where not one is the same. This is what makes it so exciting. Luckily I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many long time friends through fishing whom I’ve shared many great adventures with and plan to share a lot more in the future. Fishing with other people and sharing the experience is so much more rewarding.
My last favourite aspect is the opportunity to be constantly learning. Every experience brings loads of new knowledge which in turn improves your overall angling ability. Fly fishing is a sport that can never be mastered. There is always room to improve on skills you already know and there’s always plenty more new skills to learn. However learning is a lot harder without teachers. Life is too short to go keeping secrets so pass it on and help the next generation gain a lifetime of entertainment and in turn they’ll become future guardians of the waterways.
So there you go, that’s what makes fly fishing so enjoyable for me. Now get out on the water and go figure out what makes you happy and most importantly have fun.