Go beyond the bobber
Challenging yourself to become a better angler, a book club rundown, and upcoming events.
CFStronauts: If you read anything this week, make it this: a cri de coeur (that's French for nuclear-hot take) from Andrew Steketee in Flylab.
Steketee gives an impassioned call to anglers to put away the bobber and embrace the thrill of the stalk, the sipping rise, and the silent, smooth cast of our pre-industrial fly fishing past.
Flylab
I find his argument pretty compelling. Indicators are a great tool for certain stages of your angling journey (the very beginning) or situations (lakes, super-heavy water and deep runs).
We use indicators in our Intro to Fly Fishing class at St. Louis Ponds, our practice area, to help get everyone started with basic concepts of seeing a strike, and reading the current, and more. But Steketee's right: flipping an indicator upstream all day takes a lot of the fun out of the sport, and the sport out of the fun. Think less slot machine, more fourth-quarter free-throw.
You'll have to make an effort to get beyond the bobber. Naturally, progressing through the very beginner stages of learning to fly fish by getting more days on the water, and more thoughts into your fishing log. And also by challenging yourself with situations that demand better (crisper casts, longer drifts, and more informed fly selection) you will continue to grow.
One of my all-time favorite fly fishing stories is the story of "Dapper" Don Miller, who perfected a fish-stalking technique that used long rods and extreme stealth. He developed his technique over years, unique to him, spending hours watching fish feed from behind bushes and up in trees. Did he catch every time? Very doubtful. He spent hours just watching. Every cast counted. How many more will we get on this earth? Shouldn't we make them all as special as we can?
We be (book) clubbin'
We held our second Read By the River book club on Thursday, and what can I say: we're very on-trend. Douglas Tallamy, the author, was quoted in today's New York Times print edition talking about species-dense microforests. Catch up on what you missed in our book club debrief:
Nick Parish
We're also looking for recommendations for our next book. Want to, ahem, tackle something very fishing-technical? Or something more adjacent and environmental? Hit the suggestion form and let me know!
September Member Drive: Check-in
We're still out here trying to reveal this mystery fish in September, looking for 10 readers to step up and join the CFS Explorers tier. Join the inner circle and helping fund equipment like our classroom Photarium.
Interested in joining the crew that makes this possible?
Upcoming PDX-area events
In case you missed it, there's some good stuff coming up.
This week, Wednesday, September 17th join a (virtual, or in-person) Clackamas River TU chapter meeting with Josh Linn from Royal Treatment, all about summer steelhead. Looking into my crystal ball I can tell you Josh might say a few things: Get your ass to the Deschutes, like, yesterday, and swing big foam skaters while you still can. (link)
If you're working to fill up your steelhead box, the Native Fish Society is hosting a Tying Night at pFriem in Milwaukie on Thursday, September 25th starting at 7pm, with featured flytier Peter Donahower. (link)
Headed out to any of these events? Got an upcoming event you'd like to share with other readers?
That's it for this week! Current Flow State is a weekly newsletter from me, Nick Parish.
You can direct your bobber-blasting screeds to Bluesky 🦋, Instagram 📸, YouTube 🎥, and in the Fishcord 💬.
If you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend. We all need more fishing buddies. 💌
Read our editorial policy or browse the newsletter archives.
CFS Explorer members support and sustain the site, and our community. Learn more about membership benefits. If you're getting value from this work, consider becoming an Explorer and giving back.
