Joan Wulff - 1st Lady of Fly Fishing
September 12, 2008 11:06 AM Subscribe
Joan Wulff, one half of the most famous couple in fly fishing, has devoted 60 years to perfection in casting.
Now aged 82 she's still teaching and demonstrating.
Segments from her recent DVD are available online, so you too can learn to cast like a virtuoso:
The Hand and the Arm
The Roll Cast
The Reach Cast
The Double Haul
Distance Casting
Advanced Techniques
Now aged 82 she's still teaching and demonstrating.
Segments from her recent DVD are available online, so you too can learn to cast like a virtuoso:
The Hand and the Arm
The Roll Cast
The Reach Cast
The Double Haul
Distance Casting
Advanced Techniques
Was at the airport recently, watching two guys struggle mightily to lift and lug box after box of iced gamefish from their trip in Alaska. Giant boxes holding what I presumed were equally giant salmon and halibut, fresh out of the water and headed for the dinner table.
I sidled up to them.
"You know they sell this stuff in the store, right?"
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:27 AM on September 12, 2008
I sidled up to them.
"You know they sell this stuff in the store, right?"
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:27 AM on September 12, 2008
That is actually beautiful: so graceful and efficient. I don't think they sell those dvds in England, though.
posted by alloneword at 12:08 PM on September 12, 2008
posted by alloneword at 12:08 PM on September 12, 2008
I saw this and was immediately reminded of Gadabout Gaddis.
You see, I used to get up early on weekends and watch all sorts of weird television...
posted by tommasz at 12:19 PM on September 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
You see, I used to get up early on weekends and watch all sorts of weird television...
posted by tommasz at 12:19 PM on September 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
I remember being 14 years old, and reading stuff the Wulffs put out when I was teaching myself to flyfish. Sigh, has it really been 30 years now? I read everything at the library, including perusing the magazines for any fly fishing articles (Outdoor Life and Field and Stream were all my library had). I taught myself fly tying the same way. Funny thing is that I still suck at fishing, and my flies are ugly, but it's still a joy to be outside wading in a stream and flinging the fly about. That's why they call it fishing, and not catching...
posted by Eekacat at 2:22 PM on September 12, 2008
posted by Eekacat at 2:22 PM on September 12, 2008
I don't know a damn thing about Joan Wulff or about fly fishing, but in my mind this is a nice FPP and a "best o' the web" find.
Two memories: My older brother used to spend hours tying flies and practicing with a fly rod in our decidedly un-Salmon River like yard at our cottage in S.E. Wisconsin. I see him hunched over the table with feathers and hooks and thread, poring over books and magazines. He always pictured us wading in a northern stream--with the sun rising behind us over the mountains. Ah, it never worked out, though. As far as I know, my brother is still a lake fisherman, and the lure of fishing never struck me (heh--bad pun). Still, we would both watch Gaddabout Gaddis on WTTW in Chicago.
Second memory is a lot more recent--soon after I joined the Blue, I saw a post that was about an unusual sailboat and the man who sailed it. I jumped in with both feet in mouth and slammed that post for not being relevant to the day's news cycle. I got well a deserved dousing for being a noob.
These simple but elegant pasttimes are a welcome respite from the contentiousness of the election cycle and the often pointless struggles of everyday life.
I'll never be a flyfisherman--but I've stood in the Salmon River with the sun coming up behind me. Thanks for a great post.
posted by beelzbubba at 11:00 PM on September 12, 2008
Two memories: My older brother used to spend hours tying flies and practicing with a fly rod in our decidedly un-Salmon River like yard at our cottage in S.E. Wisconsin. I see him hunched over the table with feathers and hooks and thread, poring over books and magazines. He always pictured us wading in a northern stream--with the sun rising behind us over the mountains. Ah, it never worked out, though. As far as I know, my brother is still a lake fisherman, and the lure of fishing never struck me (heh--bad pun). Still, we would both watch Gaddabout Gaddis on WTTW in Chicago.
Second memory is a lot more recent--soon after I joined the Blue, I saw a post that was about an unusual sailboat and the man who sailed it. I jumped in with both feet in mouth and slammed that post for not being relevant to the day's news cycle. I got well a deserved dousing for being a noob.
These simple but elegant pasttimes are a welcome respite from the contentiousness of the election cycle and the often pointless struggles of everyday life.
I'll never be a flyfisherman--but I've stood in the Salmon River with the sun coming up behind me. Thanks for a great post.
posted by beelzbubba at 11:00 PM on September 12, 2008
I'll never be a flyfisherman--but I've stood in the Salmon River with the sun coming up behind me.
Then you have already experienced one of the best parts of fly fishing. If it was more about the fish and less about the river then we wouldn't use something so difficult to fool the fish with as flies. There is nothing more calming and relaxing as standing in a beautiful river listening to the water, the birds and the wind in the trees. You might not keep your focus on that for hours so tossing a fly to a rising trout gives you something to do while you experience the grandeur of the river.
posted by caddis at 7:20 AM on September 13, 2008
Then you have already experienced one of the best parts of fly fishing. If it was more about the fish and less about the river then we wouldn't use something so difficult to fool the fish with as flies. There is nothing more calming and relaxing as standing in a beautiful river listening to the water, the birds and the wind in the trees. You might not keep your focus on that for hours so tossing a fly to a rising trout gives you something to do while you experience the grandeur of the river.
posted by caddis at 7:20 AM on September 13, 2008
twenty years of teaching people how to cast has taught me one thing, when it comes to fly fishing and casting women just get it.
posted by featherbender at 8:16 PM on September 13, 2008
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posted by caddis at 11:17 AM on September 12, 2008