Fly Fishing for Triathletes

Until last week I had never been fishing. Ever. Enter a recovery day. And Dave. And we had my first introduction to fly fishing. Of course, there was a bit of cycling thrown in as well - isn't that how triathletes fly fish?!

We set off on mountain bikes for about 1.5 hours up the trail to the good fishing spot. I bonked half way there so we stopped for snacks.

This is not where we fished. 

Fishing in water that moves this fast is a BAD idea.

Mountain biking for 1.5 hours makes you hungry. 

I recommend bringing a lunch.

I started in a wide open space - so I wouldn't get the fly caught on every tree within 40 feet of me.

And then I moved up stream.

The Zoot kit doubles as awesome fly-fishing attire. The pockets are perfect for holding extra line, flys, and Reeces Pieces (my fly-fishing snack of choice - the sun makes them nice & melty!) I recommend using the Zoot Ultra Speed 3.0 shoes as well - no laces to deal with, and they grip rocks perfectly to keep you from actually swimming on your recovery day. Swimming and fly-fishing do NOT mix - you will scare ALL the fish away.

I learned how to mend the line, and had two fish bite, but none of them stuck around. I think they were scared of me. Good thing about fly-fishing for a triathlete is that the river doubles as an ice bath - perfect for recovery.

I recommend bringing a hat to cover up your helmet hair while fishing.