I keep a note on my iPhone filled with fly fishing tidbits—everything from the diameters of Maxima Clear to shopping lists and fly patterns I need to try. Nestled among these practical entries is a quote by Jeff Perin that has lingered in my mind for years:
“The best thing about tying for me is the time to daydream about rivers and lakes and the trout they hold. I think about special places when I’m tying. Places near to my heart. Sometimes I’m tying for an upcoming trip to places I’ve never been, and the imagination runs wild as I try to picture my own flies working in waters I have no idea about. Fly tying brings out the dreamer in me.”
That final line—“brings out the dreamer in me”—resonates deeply. I hope it speaks to many of us who’ve chosen this peculiar path.
As feather flickers, we’ve consciously chosen a more difficult road. A path that’s intricate, intimate, and at times, obsessive. It’s not just about being on the water. Often, we can’t be. But even when we aren’t, there’s always something to do—always something to refine.
A 20-minute yard casting session becomes a touchstone. Tying leaders for the future, unfamiliar waters is a quiet act of hope. Perfecting—or at least attempting to perfect—flies in the slivers of time between meetings, after dinner, or with a mug of morning coffee becomes a discipline. And perhaps even a ritual. In these moments, we realize that fly anglers might be gluttons for punishment. Or maybe we’re joyful masochists, always chasing improvement, always dreaming of that next perfect presentation.
Fly fishing doesn’t begin at the river’s edge—it begins at the vise, the casting lane, the knot table. It’s a long arc of preparation. We may spend months, even years, preparing for a single fish. That moment might last minutes, but its roots go deep.
And in this intimacy, there’s beauty. There's reverence. Every cast carries the weight of a thousand unseen efforts. And every fish is a culmination.
So, to all who’ve picked up the long rod: savor this process. Know that even when you’re not on the water, you are becoming. You are building the moment. The dirt work, the sweat equity—that’s what we signed up for.
Let us all be dreamers.
Submitted by Guest Blogger Kevin Prather
