Physical Fitness and How It Can Improve Your Fishing Experience

We all know that fly anglers are, on average, a fairly aged bunch. While the sport does seem to be getting younger, most of us have already thought, "How many years of quality fishing do I have in me?" I don't know my number, but I know that I want to wade mountain streams for as many years as my body will let me.

For doing anything well into old age, the discussion has to start with physical fitness, and fly angling is no different. By focusing on your strength, endurance, and mobility, you're improving your current fishing experience, as well as protecting your future time on the water.

But It's Just Fishing, Right?

While fly fishing is obviously a pretty active outdoor pursuit, I think we forget just how much we're doing when we're on the water. Here in Southern Appalachia, I'm hiking several miles up mountain trails with around ten pounds of gear. Often, I have to descend down a steep ravines from the trail to the stream. Once on the water, I'm wading on slick rocks through fast currents and deep pools, often scrambling over boulders and logs in the process. I cast continuously for hours, hundreds of repetitions of similar movements. When I hook a fish, I may have to chase it downstream before kneeling in moving water and reaching out to net it, remove the hook, snap a picture, and release the fish.

I need to do all of that without getting overly exerted so I can use my finer motor skills to tie knots, change flies, apply floatant, and adjust leaders. I also need to stay mentally sharp enough to observe and understand water and weather conditions, both to fish effectively as well as stay safe. That's doubly important if I'm fishing in an isolated area with little to no cell phone reception, which is very common. And if I am injured while fishing, that could result in a lifelong injury that takes years off my fishing lifespan.

All of these factors lead to the inevitable conclusion: Better physical fitness directly correlates to better angling.

So I Need to be an Athlete to Go Fishing?

Definitely not. I'm saying that you can spend 30 minutes a day doing low-level exercise and vastly improve and extend the time you have on the water. And you can get started right now. Today. Let's do it.

Start Small

Go for a walk. That's it. Every day, just go for a walk around your neighborhood. Don't think about for how far, how long, or how fast. It can be as short as to the end of the block and back. Just walk every day. If you can do it at the same time, even better.

This is going to form a habit, which is defined as an automatic, regularly repeated behavior requiring little conscious thought. The simpler the activity, the faster the habit forms. Most people will form a habit of going for a walk within two to three weeks. Once the habit is formed, then start thinking about how far, long, or fast you want your daily walks to be.

Start Adding

Once you've established a baseline of physical activity, that will give you a foundation to add new things to your daily routine. You could jump right into it, go on YouTube, find some workouts, and start hammering away. However, the ways in which your musculoskeletal system interacts with itself, as well as other parts of your body, are complex. By seeking out some professional help, you can build a more effective routine and reduce the risk of unintended injury.

Well sir, looks like you're in need of a backeotomy.

The first and most obvious resource is your primary care physician. Most doctors jump for joy when their middle-aged, slightly overweight, chronic Lyme disease carrying male patient who hasn't been in their office in years tells them they want to get in shape so they can fish more. Many have detailed exercise guides that they can print or email to you. But more importantly, your primary care physician is knowledgeable and qualified to consider your pre-existing conditions when suggesting various exercises. That fat guy with the Lyme, though? That's not me; that's my friend. I'm a pristine physical specimen.

You might also ask your doctor if they could refer you to a physical therapist. That broken wrist that never healed right? That sore back, stiff shoulder, or crackly knee? Those are symptoms that can benefit from the attention of a physical therapist, often covered by your insurance. When you meet with your therapist, they will prescribe a number of exercises to improve your stength and mobility, and walk you through how to perform them correctly.

In addition to your doctor or therapist (or sadly, instead of, because lack of access to healthcare is as American as apple pie), you could try reaching out to a personal trainer to develop an exercise routine for you to follow. While personal trainers in the States are not required by law to hold any certifications, many gyms require their trainers to be certified. If you do go down this route, tell your prospective trainer specifically that you are wanting to develop a routine that you can do at home, explain your fitness goals, and ask them to walk you through their approach.

Other Resources

While I'd recommend developing your daily fitness regimen one on one with an expert, there are quite a few other sources out there for expanding your knowledge. This can make your appointments with your experts more productive, and you may learn a few new tricks. Here are a couple that are worth your attention:

1. Lindsay Kocka + Wade Well Online Training Studio: Lindsay Kocka is an avid fly angler and professional trainer with over 15 years of experience helping people move and feel better in the outdoors. She has an incredible Instagram with tons of helpful information. She was also a featured guest on the Orvis Fly Fishing Podcast with Tom Rosenbauer. Her Wade Well Online Training Studio contains exercises specifically designed for anglers and guides, and she offers a seven-day free trial.

2. Kelly Starrett, Becoming a Supple Leopard. Kelly Starrett wrote Becoming a Supple Leopard back in CrossFit's heyday (it's a cult, get help). While the book is fairly technical, it's incredibly informative, has lots of suggested routines, and is something to review with your doctor, therapist, or trainer.

Be Realistic and Keep a Schedule

Once you've identified what fitness areas you want to work on, and you have a collection of exercises that will comprise your daily routine, it's time to be real with yourself. How much time will it take and when will you do it? Don't jump from a ten minute daily walk to a 60 minute exercise regimen overnight. Figure out what you need to do on a daily basis, and assign it to realistic time blocks throughout your day. Whether it's doing everything in the morning or evening, or breaking it up into mini-sessions, figure it out and schedule it.

Schedule it. Get out your planner, or open your phone's calendar, and schedule it every day. We're interested in building habits here.

What Does This Routine Look Like?

First thing's first, I am not a medical professional, so please don't rely on my routine for your needs. I'm also a weird case, as I have chronic Lyme disease, which presents with muscle and joint pain and stiffness, as well as general fatigue. Your needs will almost certainly be different from mine.

Every morning, as soon as I wake up at 6:45 a.m., I do a fifteen minute exercise routine consisting of stretching and body-weight strength training. This is my baseline; I do it every single day for ease of repetition. I loosen up, hop around a bit to get the blood flowing, and then spend ten minutes doing a series of stretches, each on both sides or directions. I've included the stretch routine below. After that, I spend the rest of the fifteen minutes doing a set or two of sit-ups, push-ups, and squats.

Last Cast Alan's Morning Stretch Routine

Last Cast Alan's Morning Stretch Routine
Lumbar Rotation Stretch	Hamstring Stretch
Thoracic Rotation Stretch	Kneeling Adductor Stretch
Circular Neck Rolls	Chest Opener Stretch
Cat/Cow Stretch	Rhomboid Stretch
Hip Flexor Stretch	Shoulder Rotations

I work a desk job, and I have a couple things that I do throughout my workday. I have a standing desk and typically spend two hours standing per day. I also have a Gibbon SlackBoard, which is like a slackline suspended by a skateboard with no wheels. I'm usually using this while working to improve my balance and core strength. I also have some small dumbbells and a resistance band for light arm strength and mobility exercises.

Lastly, I still go for my daily walks, usually an hour or two before bed. It's basic cardio, but also, it simply helps me relax at the end of the day.

How Does This Routine Improve My Fishing?

Within a week or two of starting each of these routines, I was finding more enjoyment in nearly every aspect of my fishing, both on stream and off. Here are some examples:

Hiking longer distances to reach less accessible water	Taking bigger steps up, down, and across obstacles
Wading with better balance and more confidence	Bending over, crouching, and kneeling quickly and comfortably to land and handle fish
More fluid and accurate casting with less fatigue and pain	Rotating my torso and shoulders to more easily grab my net, wading staff, and hip pouch behind me
Less exhaustion means faster rigging and fly changes	Less soreness and stiffness the next day, meaning more days on the water

These aren't obscure or theoretical concepts; these are immediate, concrete improvements to my fishing experience. Because I'm decreasing the wear and tear on my body and staying alert to dangers on the water, I'm protecting myself from future injury.

We'd like to spend the rest of our lives figuring out where the fish are, what they're munching on, and how to catch them. We read books, listen to podcasts, watch videos, and talk shop with other anglers to learn how to fish better. Take a small portion of that time, dedicate it to your physical fitness, and ensure that you'll be wading those mountain streams for decades to come.

Calling an Audible: Changing Focus to More Thoughtful Content

About six weeks ago, I put out a short update on LCL's roadmap for the rest of the year. Most of that is not changing. I'm still "deep-diving" on presentation techniques for the rest of the year as a way of establishing a solid foundation for more advanced techniques next year. Right now, I'm fishing almost exclusively dries.

However, what is going to change is the priorities for creating content on LCL. I'm going to be focusing more on thoughtful, polished content. Expect to see more articles like our recent features on rising tungsten prices and handling the mental stress of getting skunked. Upcoming articles will include the benefits of physical fitness for fishing, the hidden rewards of solving fishing puzzles on your own, and something that I am very excited for: the importance of women in fly fishing.

That's not to say that you won't still be exposed to my endless streams of consciousness regarding all things fly fishing. Day-to-day lessons I'm taking away from my deep dives, as well as random thoughts of the day, will move over to social media. Be sure to follow Last Cast Life on Instagram and Facebook. When I've learned enough to put together a more comprehensive article, these will be incorporated into a more coherent presentation for...normal people.

Thanks to everybody out there reading. Stay tuned, because things are just getting started!

Indicator Nymphing Recap: I Had No Idea What I Was Doing

Beautiful day to not catch anything.

Back in February, I launched Last Cast Life as an outlet for all the extra energy I had from learning as much as I could about fishing for trout in my local waters. Before moving to Tennessee in 2018, I'd only fished salt and warmwater species in Florida. I'd fished for trout after moving here, but never really did my homework on how to do so. Because nymphing was the most foreign to me, and because I was getting started in winter, I decided to start with indicator nymphing.

Interestingly enough, my first two outings did not result in skunks. But they were not the result of acquiring skills; they were blind luck. Notice anything these photos have in common? You can see it more in the first photo than the second, but both of these fish were caught on dries. In February.

But my attempts to catch a fish using an indicator nymph rig? Nah, no luck. And it seemed pretty clear to me that either (1) I was not fishing to fish, or (2) I was not detecting strikes. Looking back, I can say now that it was more the former than the latter.

Lesson #1: You Have to Find Fish to Catch Fish

When you're fishing a body of water, it's important to realize that fish are not going to be spread out evenly over what looks like good trout holding water. They're going to pod up and jockey for the best water that they can find. Bigger or more aggressive fish may push others out of prime spots, and they'll redistribute, but when looking for fish, it's important to keep in mind the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of the fish will be holding in twenty percent of the water (actually, less than that, but you get the idea).

I don't think I truly appreciated the importance of finding fish. I figured, if water looked fishy, it held fish. And, while that can sometimes be true, it's not always. And so rather than moving quickly through water with a searching pattern, I would sit at runs for way too long, convinced that I was doing something wrong and, if I could just get a drift where I did something right, then I'd get a take, I'd detect the strike, and I would learn something.

Lesson #2: Understand What Fish Are Doing

Trout behavior is why fishing for them is so much fun. Trout are finicky. They act way different depending on the time of year, the food available, and the environmental conditions. One thing that I'm still learning is just how far trout will move out of their current position to take a fly. However, I do know now that, in winter, before the major hatches start, trout move very little. They are conserving every ounce of energy, and will not move much to take a tiny nymph.

Not understanding this meant that I was fishing seams in a very general manner. Is the current taking my flies for a ride? Alright, that's good enough. Nope. A seam can be 12-18 inches across, but a winter trout may only take food within 4 inches of its face. As a result, I was not fishing the good water to extent I should have been.

Lesson #3: Wipe Bad Days Off the Books

I made it a point to focus almost exclusively on indicator nymphing. But, sometimes you just need a win, however it comes into your net. So switch to a different presentation style. Get that first fish on the board. If you get skunked, go back out and target another species. By the end of the month, I was feeling frustrated because it didn't seem like I was learning anything. So I chased some warmwater species and broke the skunk.

That's how February panned out. Next week, we'll talk about how March laid the groundwork for some big breakthroughs in April.