Going native

With ice flows coming down the river, freezing up currents and slowing down time, my thoughts are turning to the upcoming year and what my focus will be. I've decided that I'm going to go native this year. 

Last year, my goal was to get out as much as possible and to finally figure out the motions and philosophy of fly-fishing. This year, it's going to be brookies. Brook trout are native to Pennsylvania and though usually smaller than the 'bows and browns you'll find in this area, I tend to think they are much more beautiful and detailed. Plus, the fight these little wild ones put up is a ton of fun on a 3 weight. 

Brook trout need clean, cold water to survive. Therefore, when fishing for them, you are often taken to the wildest places of the area:  deep ravines sliding through cloisters of rhododendrons and hemlocks, plunge pools that are like little oasis's in the middle of a rambling stream, trail-less woods of ancient oaks and maples. These are the places that tend to be the most special to me, that provide enough solitude and wildness that I lose myself in them. 

Where brook trout live is where wildness still exists and that's getting harder and harder to find here in south central Pennsylvania. It's becoming more important to me to find these places in order to remember what it is I love about this area. It's also a way in which to fully realize what this place really is and that it's more than just developments, strip malls, and farm land. These are the places that help me feel connected to this home. 

I'm also a firm believer that fishing for these natives pushes me to become a better fly fisherman. You have to be silent, observant, and make every cast count when your trying to land one of these beauties. Much like the blue halos that speckle across a brook trout, every movement and cast becomes magnified when fishing for them. Therefore, I hope to learn from these fellas. I'm excited to see what they can teach me about being an angler and a student of place and wildness. 


That said, I'm not going to just fish for brookies. In end end, I think we too easily get caught up in the names and types of fish - wild, native, stocked, etc - and forget that the real pursuit of this is to get out there and fish. Catching trout on a fly rod is a heckuva lot of fun, no matter their heritage and lineage.