What spins your reel?

July 31, 2009 - Jesse Korzan

Lately I've been spending more time in the rivers near my house. As I endeavour to get my line out, trying not to hook myself, there have been moments when I feel like I am finally "getting it".

What if fishing paid my bills?

I enjoy it, but there's a lot more to it then casting and standing around in waders. Line types, flies, how to tie a leader on, length of tippet to get the right "presentation"... To truly appreciate fly fishing, you have to spend countless hours discovering and applying knowledge. Practicing, exploring, discovering.

It's much like design

Learning about grids, colour, contrast... Amassing knowledge is only part of the process. It's the countless hours and discipline of applying that learning that's the thing. Explore, revise and refine until it starts to feel right. Spend enough time and you begin to see how you could be good at it. If anything, you'll abhor those egregious phrases like "labour of love".

Hot rods

A few years ago, my father and I switched rods for a laugh. Finally, I'd be a master with this bad ass expensive setup, it's high quality line and hand-tied fly. Looking over my shoulder, expecting my dad to be frustrated with my department store rod, I witnessed his usual beautiful, rhythmic casting. Perhaps the best lesson I learned when I first started a design career was that the tools aren't the job. I am also a sucker for the saying, "the right tools for the job", so I eventually splurged for a decent fly rod, but with the understanding that fly fishing is something I'll never perfect. It's the pursuit, the learning and the improvement that spins my reel.