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| Our Hero |
“You must tie your fly & FISH your fly so the trout can enjoy & appreciate it.”
The James Leisenring quote placed under
the banner of this journal is there for a particular reason. It is there because
I believe that short statement expresses the core working ideal of fly fishing.
Like all truth it is fractal. A koan,
if you will. If one meditates on it long enough one might attain enlightenment.
The quote can be broke down into parts (& actual schools of thought have
arisen to embrace the individual active assertions). Any species of fish can be
substituted for “trout”. As it is a particular interest that some of us are
drawn to, this journal for the most part devotes itself to the ‘tie your fly’
aspect. However, I’m fairly certain Leisenring meant the advice to be taken
& practiced as a whole deal. Sure, he & his cohort Pete Hidy wrote a
book dealing with fly tying without saying much about presentation, but the
focus of that book was fly design (though the Leisenring Lift technique briefly
described in a paragraph contains more practical usefulness than entire
chapters I’ve read in some books). But in their articles & letters
Leisenring & Hidy stress presentation. Indeed, material ‘movement’ is the
fundamental element of their simulative fly designs, & that movement, that
breathing obfuscation, meant to enhance presentation. Of course.
Presentation is the game.
Those of us who are tying nerds are well-served to be reminded from time to
time. And you can be sure Leisenring carried a selection of splitshot when he
fished.
Recently a journal with the
intriguing title Amber Liquid Anglers and
Sportsmen showed up on the radar, written by a guy named ‘spike’, so I had to
check it out. And I was immediately impressed – the journal has a white page
with black print, & a distinct Victorian motif (is there a neo-classicist
underground operating with abandon ‘neath the glossy marketing veneer of our
sport?) Spike’s succinct prose is definitely not Victorian. I like the way this
guy writes. An essay on presentation: