RAW
03-01-2003, 04:20 AM
I've been reading, "Becoming a Fly Fisher, From Brookie Days to the Tenth Level, by John Randolph. I'm still trying to figure out what the "Tenth Level" really is, and I suspect I will have to reread several chapters to grasp the depth of the meaning. These particular sentences from the introduction have jumped out at me because I have found myself doing this more often the last two years. The sentences reference what Randolph calls the less trodden path of the fly fisher. A hope he has that others will share this passion:
"Their reward will be to sit on the bank of a perfect trout stream whose quiet enameled surface is broken only by dimples and dark heads. Memories of a thousand waters will stream to them, and they will sit and savor the deliciously immodest sucking sounds of feeding trout. They will not then, after long years of hunting, be moved to cast a fly or yell "Yeehaw, I hooked another one!" for all to hear. Sitting there, alone, they may choose just to watch. They will have reached the Main Stem, where they will feel no urge to hurry."
This is what I have gleaned from Randolph's writing: The "Tenth Level" is to seek perfection in fly fishing, but it is a perfection that leads to happiness. It is an inner joy. That inner joy may come to each of us in a different way, with different meaning individually. To me entering this level means I can go fly fishing without taking frustrations from life with me or adding frustrations from the act of fly fishing itself. Time does not exist. No watches needed. You enter the act of fly fishing when your mind says you're ready and you leave when your heart tells you it is time to stop. Each time out is a learning experience. But you also rely on experience past, that will help dictate success. Knowing that you are never a master, but realizing you know what to observe, and how to observe, and what in the scheme of things will bring you the perfection and happiness you seek.
Stillwaters run deep!
"Their reward will be to sit on the bank of a perfect trout stream whose quiet enameled surface is broken only by dimples and dark heads. Memories of a thousand waters will stream to them, and they will sit and savor the deliciously immodest sucking sounds of feeding trout. They will not then, after long years of hunting, be moved to cast a fly or yell "Yeehaw, I hooked another one!" for all to hear. Sitting there, alone, they may choose just to watch. They will have reached the Main Stem, where they will feel no urge to hurry."
This is what I have gleaned from Randolph's writing: The "Tenth Level" is to seek perfection in fly fishing, but it is a perfection that leads to happiness. It is an inner joy. That inner joy may come to each of us in a different way, with different meaning individually. To me entering this level means I can go fly fishing without taking frustrations from life with me or adding frustrations from the act of fly fishing itself. Time does not exist. No watches needed. You enter the act of fly fishing when your mind says you're ready and you leave when your heart tells you it is time to stop. Each time out is a learning experience. But you also rely on experience past, that will help dictate success. Knowing that you are never a master, but realizing you know what to observe, and how to observe, and what in the scheme of things will bring you the perfection and happiness you seek.
Stillwaters run deep!