Urban Fly Fishing

Oblivious to passing traffic on a busy street and the persistent beep, beep, beep of heavy equipment in reverse, Alpha "Doc" Elder concentrated on making an accurate presentation with his 5-weight fly rod, the fluid line carrying a nearly weightless, homemade fly toward a weed bed.

The weeds emerged from a creek meandering through a Richardson city park, its banks manicured to make the waterway suburban-user friendly. A weird duck swam past, its genetics so mixed between wild and domestic fowl that DNA wouldn't solve the riddle. It looked like a cartoon character, a duck with a punk haircut. High overhead, a jet passed on its descent into Love Field. A light plane droned as it made lazy, lower-altitude circles, an advertising banner in tow.

...from Dallas News

I must confess that I haven't explored the virtues of an urban assault since fishing a small pond for rainbow trout in central Charleston, Illinois, back in 1990. When presented the only opportunity to pick up the fly rod during a hard year of teaching and study, I leapt at the chance.

At the time, one of my students came into my art class, and knowing I was a fisherman said "Hey Raif, you should get yourself down the University pond, they filled it up with trout yesterday!" So, first I had a go for them with bait; sausage meat in fact, rigged up on some old tackle borrowed from my friend John. On poor pay my teaching colleagues and I were delighted to eat some fish off the barbecue!

The next day I sloped off to WalMart where I bought some 'funny looking fly gear' and with it I introduced my friend John to the way of the fly rod. A few more fish in the pan (if you wonder at the carnage - those fish wouldn't have lasted five more minutes anyway in that hot water environment)and a bit of casting practice later, John was hooked.

Seventeen years later John is still fly fishing. In fact, he and I went fly fishing on the Kinni, Wisconsin, April 2006; only the second time we've fly fished together (I live in central UK) in all that time. All it took was that trip to the pond at EIU.

I think like Ray Sasser suggests, you should take your fly fishing opportunities where ever they present themselves; even in the middle of town!