Catching a Trout

There’s something primal about catching a trout on a dry fly (especially one tied yourself): The stalking of the rising trout, the matching (or at least resembling) whatever’s being risen to, the soft cast just upstream of the rise’s dimple, the attacking gulp of the deceived fish, the play up and down the stream of the catcher and the caught, the shared adrenalin in the taught line singing above the water, the apparent final surrender before one last flop at the net to break off, a thankful near-distant release, a dance of shared understanding for both hunter and hunted. Another day left to do it all again.