SUN JOURNAL • August 15, 2020
More than enough books have been written about fly fishing to fill the shelves on one floor at the Library of Congress. What I have yet to find in all of this literature, however, is much about a fly fisherman’s ethical obligations when fishing solo, or when sharing a popular piece of water with a fellow angler. Most fly fishermen that I have encountered over the years tend to be friendly, polite, even to the point of being thoughtful. The Golden Rule can be an ethical guide: treat your fellow angler as you would expect to be treated by him or her. The understood exception to all of this civility and propriety is when there is a snowstorm of caddis flies skittering hither and yon over, about and around the salmon waters of the Big Eddy on the West Branch of the Penobscot River. Then all bets are off. ~ V. Paul Reynolds