A week or two ago, my friend, Mary Stark, asked if I’d again demonstrate fly fishing1 to her class in Environmental Literature2. A River Runs Through3 is one of the books which they enjoy, and fly fishing for trout4 plays an important part in that book. Some of the students know about fly fishing, but few have ever tried it or even seen it done.
I learned to fish while still quite young. My grandfather Huffman was an avid5 fisherman and a great teller of fishing tales6. He used any method that worked, and he was what I now would call a “meat fisherman.7” He fished nearly every day, usually caught catfish8 or bass9, and occasionally a snapping turtle10. I liked eating his catches11, but I did not like to fish the way he did.
My brother Ed and I were given some old bamboo fly rods12 by our older brothers, and we repaired them so we could use them to fly fish for perch13 and bass in the ponds west of our home. I gave up fishing while in graduate school14, then did some casting15 with lures16 on Boundary Water lakes17 in northern Minnesota and southern Canada while taking canoe18 trips with fellow teachers from Central College. It was fun, but it lacked the finesse19 that I associate with fly fishing.
In 1989 Maxine and I bought a condominium20 in McCall, Idaho21 where some of our close friends had a home. Our friends, Orson and Hope Miller, were colleagues who worked with mushrooms on a professional level.
Orson had learned to fly fish from his grandfather when he was a child, and he was a master in the art of fly casting22, having learned years ago how to select the best type of fly to attract fish. He could “read the water23” and gauge the bottom makeup24, determine drop-offs25 and other places where fish were apt26 to feed. This was the first time I had taken fly fishing seriously, and it was a demanding set of skills. Orson knew how to “tie flies27,” and he was given many flies by other friends in Idaho. He knew how to put together the right fishing line, appreciated good fly rod and reel action28 and knew all of the types of knots29 that are used to attach all of the parts of a fly line. While fly fishermen use many types of flotation devices30 while fly fishing, Orson and his friends had settled on31 fishing from small inflatable rubber rafts32. Not only did these work well to get where the fishing might be good, they were also easy to carry deflated in a backpack33 along with other camping items, and they were easily inflated with small air pumps34
It took me several years to learn enough of fly fishing skills to do them well, but Orson and I became good friends, and I came to see his techniques and equipment as the “official methods35” of fly fishing. We had many exciting experiences together, and it was a friendship which we enjoyed for years. Orson was patient, but insistent on good technique in fishing. He had good equipment, used it well, and over time I became more appreciative36 of this approach to fly fishing. Orson insisted on keeping all the laws and rules regarding catch limits37 (6 trout per person for Rainbow, Cutthroat, and 9 for Brook38 trout) and he carefully took the hook from the fish if it was too small, and returned it live to the water. In some lakes with “trophy fish39” one could fish only with flies having hooks with no barbs40; and fish had to be greater than 21 inches to keep, etc. These and other practices one learned were important to the process of fishing. Orson taught me to fish to the rise41 where fish were feeding on insects on the water surface, and in time I came to think of these methods as the “Gentleman’s way of fishing.42”
If one learns fly fishing properly and heeds43 the rules and expectations44, fly fishing can become a beautiful means of recreation, and it is deserving of the effort to learn. I have come to believe that each of us has a place where “the river runs through,” at least in our memories. These are the sort of memories that soothe45 one’s soul and make life worth living and sharing with others.
Notes:
1. fly fishing: a type of fishing in which a flexible pole or rod is used to cause an artificial fly or other insect to move onto the water surface in an attempt to catch a fish (飞钓，一种钓鱼的方法，使用有弹性的鱼竿，将人造苍蝇或其他昆虫挥舞到水面使鱼上钩). The fly is constructed of hairs, feathers, or other materials which are tied with thread on a “J” shaped metal hook with a sharp point. Trout and other fish see this as a floating insect and attempt to eat it, catching the hook in their mouth. This allows the fisherman to pull the fish near enough to lift it out with a small net.
2. Environmental Literature: an English class in which poetry and novels dealing with the environment and nature are read and discussed (环境文学，一门英语课，课上阅读、讨论与环境和自然有关的诗歌和小说). This is a very popular class with modern day students, especially those interested with the “green movement” in the U.S.
3. A River Runs Through: a book which is set in the northwestern state of Montana where rivers and fishing are extremely popular as recreation (“一条奔腾而过的河流”，又名“大河恋”，该书的场景在蒙塔纳州的西北部，那儿河流和钓鱼是很受欢迎的消遣方式). It has also been made into a popular movie.
4. trout: 鲑鱼
5. avid: very enthusiastic about something one does regularly (热衷的，废寝忘食的).
6. fishing tales: stories involving fishing trips and exploits of fishermen (有关钓鱼的故事). Fishermen are noted for their exaggerated stories.
7. “meat fisherman”: a person who fishes primarily to get something to eat as a meat dish, but is not primarily interested in the sport of fishing (钓鱼吃的渔夫，不是把钓鱼当作运动的渔夫).
8. catfish: a type of fish that has whiskers (strong hairs) around its mouth and lives in rivers or lakes (鲶鱼).
9. bass：a fish that can be eaten and lives in both rivers and the sea (鲈鱼).
10. snapping turtle: a small animal with powerful jaws and a hard shell that lives in lakes in Northern and Central America (啮龟).
11. catches: fish or turtles caught by one’s fishing methods (捕获的鱼或龟). In this case, a “dough-ball” made of flour, water, old meat scraps, etc. which was attractive to fish and turtles, was placed on several hooks on a string, and these tied to small tree branches and thrown into the water. One could also fish with this method with a pole and a short line, using a cork or bobber to show when a fish had become caught on the hook.
12. bamboo fly rods: fishing rods made from bamboo wood strips which were glued together to form a strong, yet flexible fishing rod (飞钓用的竹鱼竿，是用竹条粘合而成的，牢固且有弹性). These were the common type of fly rod until fiberglass and other artificial materials were used to make fly rods.
13. perch: a common group of small fish which are often caught by fishermen in ponds or streams (河鲈).
14. graduate school: 研究生院
15. casting: causing the lure or bait to be thrown or moved onto or into a body of water when fishing (抛钓，钓鱼时将诱饵抛入水中).
16. lures: 诱饵.
17. Boundary Water lakes: a series of large bodies of water which form the boundary area between the state of Minnesota and Canada (边境湖，形成明尼苏达州和加拿大边境的一系列大湖).
18. canoe: a boat which is light, narrow and long with both ends pointed, and which is usually propelled by paddling (独木舟).
19. finesse: refined or skillful handling of a situation; adroit maneuvering or use of a technique or tool (优雅和技巧). In this case, the fishing equipment and techniques are involved.
20. condominium: one apartment in a building with several apartments, each of which is owned by the people living in it (公寓楼中的一套公寓).
21. McCall, Idaho: A small town of about 3,000 people, located in a high mountain valley in the Rocky mountains of western Idaho (爱达荷州的麦考尔，一个有3000人口的小镇，位于爱达荷州西部洛基山脉的一个高山峡谷中). Its elevation is about 5,000 feet and it is surrounded by high mountains where there are many clear lakes where various kinds of trout can be fished for.
22. fly casting: the technique of tossing the fishing line out into the water and then reeling it back in, enticing the fish to bite at the lure as one does so (一种将线和饵打出去，然后慢慢回收线，以促使鱼咬钩的技能).
23. “read the water”: a saying describing the ability that a person has enabling him or her to gauge the best place for catching a fish (具有了解水情的能力，能判断哪里是钓到鱼的最佳位置).
24. gauge the bottom makeup：判断水底的构造
25. determine drop-offs: 决定投放诱饵的地方
26. apt: having a natural tendency to do something (倾向于做某事).
27. “tie flies”: put individual parts of hair, feathers, etc., and tie them onto a hook to devise an artificial fly or insect to attract fish (做人造苍蝇，就是把毛状物，羽毛等固定在鱼钩上做成人造苍蝇或昆虫之类鱼的诱饵). There are both floating and sinking flies for fly fishing.
28. fly rod and reel action: referring to the flexibility and balance of the rod and of the response of dragging action of the reel as well as for winding the line back onto the reel (飞钓用的钓竿和收线功能).
29. knots: parts where one or more pieces of line have been tied together to secure tying lines together (结头，是为了固定住其他连接线而打的结). In fly fishing it is important that knots be small so that they are secure, but they do not interfere with the movement of the fly line through the rod guides.
30. flotation devices: means of supporting oneself so that one may move about on the water surface to reach desired areas for fishing (飘浮用的充气装置，能够支持人在水上飘移到最佳钓鱼位置).
31. had settled on: had made a decision about… (已经决定).
32. inflatable rubber rafts: 充气橡皮筏
33. backpack: 背包
34. air pumps: a device for pumping air to fill an inflatable raft, balloon, tire, etc. (空气泵，用来给充气筏打气用的).
35. “official methods”: the best or most efficient ways to fly fish (最佳最有效的飞钓方法).
36. appreciative: grateful for something (感谢，赞赏).
37. catch limits: the legal number of fish that one is permitted to catch (可允许的钓鱼量).
38. Rainbow, Cutthroat, Brook trout: three types of trout commonly caught in Idaho (三种不同的鲑鱼，这些通常能在爱达荷州钓到).
39. trophy fish: large fish which can be caught for sport, but must be returned to the water without damage, and cannot be eaten (只能作为体育运动钓的大鱼，抓住后必须毫发无损地放生不能吃).
40. barbs: small sharp projections pointed backwards on the sharp end of the hook (鱼钩尖头上的倒钩).
41. fish to the rise: fish at the place where a fish has fed at the water surface, and which produces a round circle of small waves which move outward from the point of feeding (在水面上鱼喂食的地方钓鱼，也就是在产生涟漪的中心位置).
42. “Gentleman’s way of fishing” : the most appropriate way of fishing by people of greater refinement (最有教养的人的最合适的钓鱼方法).
43. heeds: obeys or pays attention to (听从，注意).
44. expectations: a feeling or belief about the way something should be or how someone should behave (期望，指望).
45. soothe one’s soul: cause one to feel good or deeply satisfied (安慰/抚慰人).