The BLT Guidebook

It was the summer of 2017 (so long ago!) and we waited in the lobby of our hotel for a stranger pulling a drift boat. The white pickup came into view. It was time. I was going fishing. BUT it wasn’t just any fishing trip- it was a fly fishing trip.

This wasn’t my idea, but we were in Montana for the first time (another post for another time!). After you watch A River Runs Through It a few times, it seems like a logical step when you visit Montana. Jokes.

My partner was pumped on fly fishing, this being his second (questionable?) year that he was really into it and having done a previous guided fishing trip, it was what he wanted to do for his birthday in Montana. I was on board to sit on the boat and take photographs, but I think I was also expected to fish.

And that I did, even if it wasn’t very well. Our guide from Blackfoot River Outfitters taught me how to roll cast and mend my line. I often didn’t set the hook or understand how they were seeing the fish under the water (hello polarized sunglasses I didn’t have), but I fished.

Fast forward to 2020. I wouldn’t say I fell in love with fly fishing or that I think about it much outside of doing it, but I feel a certain kinship with those out in the water. I see my partner or others ( in real life or on YouTube) out there to think, relax, explore, and be in nature. I can’t speak for everyone, but I can speak to what I know.

I have come to know and love those who write about fishing, run YouTube channels or podcasts, and who spend their lives chasing dreams to be in the industry.

I don’t know much, I stumble around here and there, and I have a 98 percent fail rate at setting the hook, but I can talk about how exciting it is to catch a brook trout in Yellowstone, a baby trout out of the eastern sierra rivers, or my four year old nephew’s excitement when he hears the word “fishing.”

Now it’s 2021- I am fresh off the boat from my second guided fly fishing trip (this one with Off the Hook Fly Fishing). I didn’t stand on the shore before I got in to practice holding my hand to my ear like I’m talking on the phone. My instincts took over when I was told to mend. I’m also about 5 percent better at setting the hook.