“Sometimes You Just Need the Ugly Stick”

Writing for New West, outdoorsman Hayden Janssen ponders the purposes of fishing, the usufruct of fly fishing knowledge, and whether spin-casting in the snow is an absolute betrayal or simply an answer to the need for nature’s comfort.

“While I did manage to land in a nice brown trout on a spinning lure, I couldn’t help but feel that the practice, the reading, the self-discipline that I’ve displayed throughout the winter months, in the lone hope of catching 2011’s first fish on a copper john or wooly bugger, were all for (k)not.”