What you Need, the River will Become.
Photo Credit: Peter Stitcher
The river has been many things to me through the seasons of my life. It has taken me on wild rides leading to adventure, and 12-mile floats that have left my arms weary but my spirit renewed and flying. The river has bodily carried me through seasons of loss and sorrow, to hours marked with fly rods rising and falling over the water like a metronome marking the beat to some of my most honest and cherished conversation with my kids.
When people visit our fly shop, the question is often voiced by either the member of our community or one of the Ascent Fly Fishing team, “Have you been getting out fishing?” While a simple and seemingly straight forward question on the surface, the question of “Have you been getting out fishing?” is really a code for “How are you doing? Are you taking time for selfcare, for connection, for stillness, for community, and for refreshing?” Like a beat cop checking in with a noticeably stressed bank teller, when the answer to this agreed upon secret phrase is “I’m not getting out as much as I’d like” it lets the other know that life has been holding you hostage and that you need some help to break free. At different times we will inevitably all play the role of the bank teller being held hostage by a demanding work schedule, ailing family members, weekends packed with kids’ sporting events, and numerous other “good” or “important” things.
Inevitably my response to the water starved angler is, “How can we help you get back out on the water” and we stop everything to learn what time of waters they like to fish and who they will be sharing the water, before we start dropping pins on the map of the best fishing spots and give them a couple flies to help them match the hatch. What we need from the water will vary from trip to trip and season to season, but ultimately if we make the time to go to the river, the river will become what we need it to be.
Photo Credit: Peter Stitcher
This is my daughter Emily and shop dog Cedar on our annual 1 on 1 overnight float trip. Entering middle school and processing a number of life and family changes, the slow pace of floating the Colorado River, whittling by the fire, and conversations punctuated by the comfortable silences needed to focus and set adrift “boats” created out of flowers is what Emily needed in this season to feel seen, known, and supported. Like life, the river is turbulent one moment and gently carrying us forward the next. I hope that when the anxiety and uncertainty of middle school and preteen drama starts coming around the bend that Emily will return to this trip and remember that she is not navigating these waters alone and that she will ultimately be carried through to calmer waters.
Photo Credit: Peter Stitcher
A couple years older than his sister, my son Aiden just started 8th grade and is venturing further and further from the nest as he tests himself and seeks to find his place in the world. This year Aiden asked that for our 1 on 1 we go on a “Survival Campout” so packed our fly rods, a knife, flint, tarp, and saw, left our food and tent at home, and headed off trail following a creek to some distant beaver ponds next to which we would craft a shelter for the night. On this trip the water rewarded Aiden with sustenance for his gr it, curiosity, and hard work. Aiden was stretched by a number of firsts on this trip. Building his first shelter, cleaning his first trout, and starting his first fire with flint and steel. May these memories forged next to this high mountain creek give him courage to take on new challenges in life to not just survive but thrive!
So, if life has been weighing heavy on your shoulders, if you need space to clear your head, time to refresh your heart, or space to reconnect with family and friends, the river is waiting. Just come into the shop and speak the words “I’m not getting out as much as I’d like” and we’ll rally around you to help you in any way you need to get back to the river. The river is waiting and what you need, the river will become.
About the author:
Photo Credit: Adaire Pruner
Peter Stitcher is an aquatic biologist by vocation and the owner of Ascent Fly Fishing located in Littleton CO and online at ascentflyfishing.com. Peter has written the “Bug Bites” column in High Country Angler for the last 7 years. Whether you are new to fly fishing or are a seasoned angler, Peter and the team at Ascent Fly Fishing would love to be a resource in equipping you, your family, and friends to help you get out on the water and experience it in a way that is life giving for you!
