flytire 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2015 it takes me longer to thread a 7X tippet thru the eye of a 24 midge .... its virtually impossible. even with corrective eye surgery and cheater glasses.....a wading staff is truly a life line .... its apparent that my waders are getting tighter than they were last year ....Im just happy to catch one fish .... my overloaded vest shrank to a sling pack...... carrying a bazillion flies in a vest to cover every hatch imaginable is pointless..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tidewaterfly 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2015 You sir, are not alone! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MuskyFlyGuy 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2015 amen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vicrider 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2015 We get older and wiser. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2015 I used to walk to the pond near my house, spend all day walking around it fishing and having fun. Now, a good day is when I get close enough to see the water. Then I go home, take a nap and dream about fishing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spm 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2015 My world, exactly. Many times I'm standing in the stream tying a tippet and just when I think I have it tied, I look down and not only is the knot not tied, I no longer have the tippet in my fingers. steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bellevue.chartreuse.trout 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2015 This was the first year that I dumped a few flies into the stream in the process of 'tying one one'. Ah, _ _ it happens! We all got to deal with it and move on - or... we can become bitter and disgruntled and take it out on others? Ah, I vote for tying another one on! (I'm fond of ambiguity ... sometimes) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wschmitt3 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2015 HAHAHAHA... I'm still young suckers! Not really actually. I'm starting to creep up on 33 and I feel the effects of getting older some days. I am not as well balanced as I used to be and it hurts when I fall now, go figure. My hands are not as nimble and they hurt when it is cold and it is a lot harder to loose weight. Most years I would have lost the ten pounds I typically put on over the winter and this year its really hanging in there. I actually don't really think that I took off last winters weight last summer either. But i guess that's life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stevester 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2015 33, I have fly tying material older than that! I still do not use a wading staff but I was never a real bold wader anyway, just never athletic or tall enough to wade real tough places. I have had to use a magnifier on my had brim since I was in my mid-40's but mostly for when I am using smaller than say 4x tippet and size 18 flies. The last five years I have had to use readers when tying. Still, my vision is not that bad considering and I while I am heavier than I should be I do keep myself in some shape. It does get harder as you get older. Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wschmitt3 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2015 Thats funny Steve, I'm not saying I'm a crippled old man at 33, I'm still in better than average shape for my age I think. I'm just saying that when I was 25 I could take a 30 mph bike crash or a Iraqi home made antipersonnel mine and carry on like nothing happened and now if I slip and fall on my ass in the stream I feel the bruises and move a little slower for a couple minutes. I am very thankful that my vision is still good, its something I hold very dear I dread the day when it starts to slip. I do use a wading staff, not because I'm certainly going down with out one (although it does helps prevent a spill) but because I do get a little too brave wading sometimes and it makes a good measuring stick for my next step and I also find it helps me move a little more quietly than I can with out it my feeling things out ahead of me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adam Saarinen 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2015 Thats life! I'm 41 & have to thread the small fly out of the sun so i can see whats going on, get panikky while your looking at a fish rising, thats when you notice you've crowded the eye & need a nother hook to open it up a bit & thats also when some A hole will come & start flogging the pool with a weighted woolybugger = game over! Damn all those young guy's in there 20's that decide to take a year off work, sell their flat or rent it out & go chase the fly dreams on the otherside of the world! But also goodluck! Flyfishing is a healthy hobby & better then joining the junkie juckpile this world is starting to be full of!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ditz2 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2015 I have tying materials and tools older than wsshmitt3's dad and yes I have been feeling the years for the last 3 or 4 years. Weaker, slower, less balance, and I can't figure out where my stamina went. I won't even talk about the eyes. I have yet to understand the golden years. I would much rather swing a 6' rod than a 9' one and these 2 and 3wt outfits are a godsend. Only my doctor worries about the 10# I gained over the winter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shoebop 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2015 After a 2-3 hr wading session I have to take a 2-3 hr nap! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tidewaterfly 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2015 I'm near sighted & can still see up close fairly well, but a couple years ago had to have bi-focals added to my glasses. My biggest issue is arthritis in my knee's. Hell, I have it in every joint most likely, but my knee's give me the most trouble, so that makes wading difficult sometimes. As long as my hands & fingers don't ache too bad I can still tie flies & a tippet to a fly. I don't think I ever tried tying anything smaller than an 18 to a tippet anyway in my life. Fishing for bass & in tidal water, & the larger flies I like using, I don't have many issues with seeing flies or tying to the hooks fortunately. I too have tying stuff older than wschmitt3 ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
artimus001 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2015 here i am at 49.5..... i keep a pair of them in my fishing bag. i ended up going home early one day last season because i forgot them. i need a wading staff somewhere around 35, i woke up one morning, couldn't fit into my 30" jeans, and in that moment became a fat old man, lol. it was around the same time i stopped bouncing when i fell. if the day is right, i don't even need that one fish i gave up on using a vest years ago. i now have everything i need to fish whittled down to a bag that stands alone as a hip pack when i'm working a stretch of water; or as a chest pack strapped to the front of a back pack.it is a modular system to converts in seconds at the riverside. i carry two C&F fly boxes and a small flat foam one and two C&F's. the small one holds midges and nymphs, and the other two hold my O.S. pike flies, and the other one for everything else (bass and carp). awe, naps, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites