Irish Tea and Soft Hackles

The night is not to be feared; it is to be felt, touched, sampled and explored. It is filled with exciting secrets forever hidden from the day. It is a frontier, to be tried and tested and won, and I commend it to all anglers.
- Steve Raymond. The Year of the Angler

Night Fishing

One might call it the sophisticated man's frog gigging. Or those of us who consider fly fishing more of a delusive common man's sport might just call it another thrill of the ride. However you wish to categorize it, there are a couple of observations that are instantly clear upon closer examination of the sport.

First, a person who fly fishes at night has to be somewhat deranged. Nighttime is the part of the day when you would normally take the wife out to eat, when you would lean back in the recliner and enjoy a good book or watch something on the one-eyed monster, or when you might tie a few flies for the next morning's trip. Some people actually sleep during this part of the day! Be assured though that no sane person feels at ease stringing up a fly rod, putting on waders, hanging a flashlight around his neck, and wading off into the dark in water where he can't see the bottom or even the water a few feet away. Notice that I used the words " he & his", because women typically have the sense to shy away from the sport.

The ridiculousness of the sport is even more evident when you consider that winter months are not good times for night fishing because of the low temperatures at night plus the lack of the sun's radiant heat that you would get during the day. Summer months are nice because night temperatures are usually cooler compared to the daytime, but you will find yourself wondering, actually hoping, that whatever is crawling on your neck is a large mosquito!

The second observation is that a macho night fly fisherman must not be squeamish about things that go bump in the night. He must be quite able to share his space with bats, mosquitoes, other bugs, beavers, otters, turtles, snakes, and whatever birds, cats, coyotes, bears, bigfoots (bigfeet??), or deranged killers make all those unusual noises during the night.

One particular incident that happened to me a couple of years ago dealt with a friendly bat. When night fishing on the Little Missouri bats will constantly be zipping around overhead chasing your fly as you cast. I was having a good evening having already caught several fish when a bat managed to apprehend my fly. Luckily he was hooked in the wing instead of the mouth. I took a stick and held him down while removing the fly, taking care not to touch him or anything he had touched. I then proceeded to fish, but soon discovered that no fish would hit the fly that apparently had the odor of the bat. When I changed my tippet and the fly, I immediately began to catch fish again!

That same summer I reached the apex of derangement as a night fisherman. While casting upstream, I heard a slight sound behind me. When I turned to inspect the sound, I saw the distinctive head and the following wave pattern of a snake swimming at a 45 degree angle away from me. Feeling secure since he was heading away, I turned around and continued to fish.

What manner of idiot have I become?

Positive thrills at night:

fish caught - they are typically less wary.
television is really pretty sorry these days!
I don't want my wife to think I'm anywhere near sane or competent.
don't forget the bat story!

Negative thrills at night:

a beaver about the size of a Volkswagen as he slaps his tail about 15 feet in front of you.
the shadow of a 20+ pound striper as he swims within a foot or two of you!
just as you've decided there is a deranged killer playing on the bank, a deer crosses the river!
the ranger informs you that they have determined you're not a terrorist, but you can't fish there because they can't spot you from the dam with their spotlight.
you constantly wonder whether you have the West Nile virus, tick fever, rabies, or the Mad Cow disease. You will think about it enough to have the symptoms!
bats, dogs, snakes, beavers, aliens, coyotes, owls, bugs, panthers, bears!
don't forget the bat story!

thoughts by Johnny McJunkins. email: jmcjunki@texarkanacollege.edu

[ Home | My TC Page | Texarkana College ]