Presentation

Jim is my friend, although he passed away few months ago he is still talking to me from his books. On 2008 Jim sent me the Fly Fishing Primer and now we have decided, with the authorization of Sonia Repine, to share it with you. 

Jim was a Master of the Art of Fly Fishing and everything he did was somehow related to fly fishing, his passion. And that does not mean that he had a narrow mind or purpose, just the opposite. Jim had the capacity to tie fly fishing to every aspect of nature and soul and so his fishing books are more than technical books. Jim was a poet, a musician, a photographer a devote husband and father, a lover of nature, a child. Some years ago I told him he was a child and he answered “I spent more than 70 years trying to keep that kid alive”. 

The book you are about to read will be published weekly in five chapters in our blog http://www.hosteriaselaura.com/blog/  

Hope you enjoy it Alfredo Zubiri

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The Fly Fishing Primer

A Classic Approach To The Gentle Art Of Angling By Fly

by

jim Repine

 

There are hundreds of how-to books on fly shop shelves, in book stores, and on the Internet describing every minute aspect of fly fishing. How-to articles upon article appear in every issue of most angling magazines. They range from useful, logical, and simple to highly technical, complex, and detailed beyond belief. It doesn’t mean so much that a vast collection of fiction and fact is required to enjoy the sport. It demonstrates and verifies instead the infinite variety of approach and opinion of those who write about it. So why would I write another one? 

 

This is really a beginner’s book, sort of a “Dick and Jane” treatment of a subject which in time can become as complex as you wish it to be. In fact one of fly fishing’s greatest offers is said to be that it can’t all be learned in a single lifetime. So in the following pages I haven’t tried to go much beyond enough technical basics for you to go to the water and catch a fish and maybe to start you into another aspect of angling that will greatly deepen and enlarge your love and appreciation for our beloved pastime. The quest for the answer to why such a simple pursuit can offer so much satisfaction. Afterwards you will have the rest of your life to explore and grow. It could be I’m writing yet one more book for no better reason than, as fishermen go, the long rods and feathers crowd reads more, a lot more, and thinks more (or just forgets more?) than other anglers, and writing is what I do.

 

Or maybe, because doing little else for six decades; fly fishing, writing about it, and photographing it, I’m egocentric enough to imagine I might have something to share that a rare reader would find new and useful. And then there’s the odd chance I could really get lucky and convince a handful of you, as important as skillful application of basic angling techniques are to catching fish, there can, is, and should be a lot more to it, philosophically, spiritually and health-wise – a lot more!

 

If you, dear reader, turn out to be one of the transcendental handful please write to me. If you don’t get that part however, read the book carefully, practice whatever appears intriguing, and enjoy catching more fish for having done so. For those who have trouble nodding off during the technical stuff, don’t fret, it’s just as tedious to write. And I confess to all, my own search, especially over the past thirty years, has not been aimed so much at finding easier or more effective ways to outwit fish, creatures with brains the size of English peas, as it has centered on what I could do, or not do, to elevate and enhance my overall pleasure and satisfaction from our remarkable pastime.

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Coming next week: Chapter One