Breathe
A small stream, a native brook trout, and the quiet it takes to find both.
As I get closer to the river I start to hear her breathe. The birds keep a busy lead as the water thrums a heavy rhythm. Each step, I try to hold a steady tempo. The ballad ebbs as I remember why I am here.
This is a new section of river for me and I’ve heard there are brook trout, the only native trout to this region, which grow to the size of sweet potatoes. Brookies have become my passion, for I can’t seem to get their resplendent colors from my thoughts. My connection to the brook trout has grown wild over the past year.
If anyone knows fly-fishing, they understand that the infamous brown trout, along with the ever so cumbersome rainbow trout, have driven the brookies upstream to tighter, colder waters.
Such is life, I accept.
It is the appetite of the sports fishermen that keeps me away from the delayed harvest sections of the bigger rivers and I can’t help but compare. Yes, I’ve gotten up at the crack of dawn to catch as many fish as I can, or hit a “Tuckasegee Grand Slam,” but to be alone with my thoughts and experience pure gratitude for a body of water that holds only brook trout, I venture further.
It’s that next hole around that big boulder that doesn’t just lead me to a beautiful fish, but also to a place of secrecy.
I may not have discovered it but I am of it, and that in itself is enough to make any woman dare to understand herself.
Keep reading
More on Fly-fishing
Fishing Junk Water
What started as the sketchiest junk lake turned into something much harder to leave behind
Family Ties That Bind
How a family business became one girl's passion and profession
Women and Fly Fishing Through the Ages: A More Complete Picture Emerges
A collector's keepsake print hints at a forgotten history: women have been fly fishing, tying flies, and setting records for as long as anyone's kept track.
Trout Trollop
Nine fly rods, waders, and a creek full of laughter: Sisters on the Fly turn a Black Hills campground into trout-chasing headquarters.
International Women's Fly Fishing Day
One day, every time zone, one goal: women fly anglers worldwide posting photos to celebrate a sport that's theirs too.
The Year of the Dry-Dropper Science Experiment
One phone call to a buddy and a stubborn dropper fly turned into a year-long experiment in reading water, depth, and trout behavior.
Want more DO stories?
Join thousands of readers getting our best outdoor content. Free, no spam.
Join thousands of outdoor enthusiasts
