Bernd Ziesche | Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Excitement, Thrill, Passion, Obsession, Happiness, Joy, Fear, Anger, Sadness, Levitation, Love
- All these mixed together were the motor driving me out into the deepest wilderness trying to catch the one special fish marking a perfect moment. It never really was the fish but the moment I was after. I needed to live these moments from time to time. The more of them I was in, the harder it became to catch the next one!
Big moments in fly fishing never came easy. And they never came fast either. I had to work hard to make every of them happen. I very well remember the moment of having caught my first silver Sea Trout of over 5Kg at the Baltic coast after having been hunting such a fish for about 10 years. And then there was my first silver Atlantic salmon weighing over 10Kg at the Gaula River in Norway – simply fantastic. Never will I forget the wave of emotions kind of running me down after having caught my perfect looking 30+ pound Steelhead, which I caught in the deep wilderness of British Columbia. That was simply my one moment in time after having been dreaming of catching a large Skeena-Steelhead for 20 years!
All the emotions after having caught these special fish stayed for quite long. Even after month they were staying with me all day long. Only (serious) time could make them feeling less strong.
Fair to say I have lived several perfect moments in fly fishing.
Sure I had to live all the highly emotional moments when I lost a big fish either. Maybe I should but I never really liked any of these moments! Simply they usually stack in my mind until I caught a bigger fish (as the one I lost). It was then (and only then) when I truly let go and lived the perfect moment again.
Today I have lived that many big moments in fly fishing that the single ones of them don’t seem to stay as strong and as long as they used to anymore. I think with every perfect moment it got harder to catch another one!?
There is also an advantage in this though. Mostly within the very next day I am fully back into fly fishing (for the next special fish). I remember to had lost the edge (of further fly fishing the Skeena system) after having caught the monster Steelhead for about days, if not the rest of the trip.
What makes a big moment in fly fishing for you? And how long does it keep you permanently smiling?
Big moment week to all of you!
All my best
Below you may find some pictures of last week. I was right and there was another serious carp waiting for me as were some other fish as well. And then it's prime time for collecting mushrooms here in Germany! ;)