The rain subsided for a couple days while I fished the beautiful Missouri River near Craig, Montana and enjoyed some dry fly fishing. Dry fly fishing has a certain stigma about it because in southern England it was seen as the only acceptable way to fish rivers. Although that does not hold true in the US, there are still some anglers who think other styles of fishing, e.g. nymph or streamer – do not hold a candle to dry fly fishing.
For me, it’s incredibly exciting to watch a fish rise to the surface of a river and try to slurp your fly as it gently drifts along. Although I had an evening of successful dry fly fishing with Bob Krumm on the Bighorn while wading in the river, I had some difficulty in a drift boat on the Missouri. The requirement to have a pretty much perfect cast the first time around makes it challenging enough but to wait that extra second to actually set the hook gets the better of me often. There’s so much to becoming a good angler. Newbies like me must accept that it takes time to develop all the skills to be successful. I love that something so fun has this dimension that requires book learning, practice and patience. I believe in all three.
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