I recently went wade fishing with my friend, Steve Ramirez, on the Guadalupe River Tailwater. It looked like the San Juan in July out there that day with most of the usual “spots” already playing…

LINE GEEKERY. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. In preparation for guiding in SW Colorado this summer, I’ve really been putting some lines through their paces. Without belaboring the details, In doing so, I have a new favorite line that I think just might be one of the best all-around lines for the type of fishing we do in TX…and lots of other places, for that matter.

© 2022 Cari Ray, Fisher of Zen

May is metal health awareness month, and Pat Kellner, the guy behind Texas Freshwater Fly Fishing, asked me to put some thoughts together on the pursuit of fly fishing as it relates to mental health. Rather than a treatise on their connection, what flowed on to the page were some prime examples of how the sport offers opportunities for the sort of mindfulness practice that can pay big dividends in our daily lives. It’s a long-held belief of mine that, if we let it, the pursuit can be immeasurably beneficial to mind, body, & spirit. Sometimes by offering low-hanging fruit like fly casting and drawing us into nature. Sometimes by offering situations that border on tedious or frustrating, presenting us with the choice to get bogged down or to rise above. Like most healthy choices, it gets easier with practice. Mastery is never about your relationship to anyone or anything else, it’s always between you and you. And step one to is to GET PRESENT, so let’s start there…