Where did all the time go?  It just keeps slipping away.  Why does it seem to move so quickly now?  Years fly by.  There are a few reasons it feels like time seems to speed up as we age.  One explanation is that each year becomes a smaller fraction of our total life experience as we age.  At 10 years old, a year is 10% of one’s life, but at 40, it’s only 2.5%. This makes time feel more compressed as we age, which makes sense. 

More importantly, as we age, we typically have fewer new and novel experiences. We tend to get stuck in the routine.  Our brains process new experiences more intensely, making time seem to slow down in those moments. When routines become more predictable, we don’t encode as many new memories, making time feel like it’s flying by.  

Saltwater fly fishing is the antidote.  It is the perfect gateway to new experiences.  It’s a world of ever-changing challenges and shifting demands as well as a platform to discover new friendships and explore new cultures.  Let’s look closer and discover why now is the perfect time to start saltwater fly fishing, particularly fly fishing the flats.

Embracing the Challenge

“We can’t win until we stop losing” – Bill Belichick, former New England Patriots coach

Saltwater fly fishing is a challenge.  Period.  While there can be easier times (take full advantage of those rare opportunities), it isn’t easy.  It is full of shifting challenges. Those must be embraced to enjoy it…Hunting the fish, seeing the fish, casting to the fish quickly, casting precisely, feeding the fish, hooking the fish, and landing the fish.  All those aspects are multi-layered with their specific challenges.  Learn to love those challenges and one will love the Flats game.

Developing a Skill Set

It all starts with a great cast!!!

Saltwater fly fishing demands an angler develop the necessary skill sets.  Anglers will be introduced to a wide era of casting techniques.  Typically, anglers will be required to cast farther and more accurately than when freshwater fishing.  Fish on the flats may approach from any direction.  Anglers will need to learn how to present the fly to them no matter what direction they may be coming. 

Certainly, fly anglers need to adjust to the urgency of flats fishing.  They may be required to cast at a moment's notice.  Fish are moving on the flats and shots at them are fleeting.  Learning to properly double haul and creating an accurate 40-60 foot cast, no matter what the wind conditions, will separate consistently successful flats anglers from the rest.

Disconnected from Daily Stress

Who doesn’t feel stress daily?  It can certainly feel overwhelming at times.  Flats fishing allows us to disconnect from that world.  It occurs on incredibly beautiful white, sandy beaches and crystal-clear blue waters.  It provides the opportunity to focus on a challenge that we choose to accept, not one inherited.  It gives the chance for one to reflect on life while embracing the beauty of the surroundings. 

Join the Community

Saltwater anglers have chosen to embrace the flats' challenges.  In turn, they too embrace other fly anglers who have as well. Typically, it’s a very accepting community with mutual respect for one another as it is not an easy game.  We love the community of friends we host and fish with at Stillwater Travel.  They are an incredible group of people who are some of the most supportive, outgoing, and generous individuals one could ever meet.  We invite everyone wanting to be involved in flats fishing to come join the Stillwater family on the next trip.

Start ASAP

While we have learned that new experiences can help make time feel like it's not moving so fast, nothing can be done to slow down the actual time. This sport is full of all the challenges listed and more.  The layers run deep if one wants to peel them away.  If learning correctly, getting started as early as possible flats fishing helps to create the correct muscle memory.  It requires lots of motor skills that decrease as the aging process continues.  This is a tough sport to learn at 75.  If learned earlier in life, it certainly is a sport to be enjoyed at 75 and beyond.

Learn from Experts

Learning the correct way to handle the fly line, manage the fly line, cast the fly line, cast accurately, feed fish, play fish, and land the fish is not innate. As our friend Capt. Mark Becton from Boca Grande, Florida always quotes, “No one is born a tarpon angler.” 

Everyone needs to learn. Developing correct muscle memory in the double haul helps an angler succeed.  Casting quickly and precisely makes a massive difference between success and failure.  Flats anglers can create their luck!!!

Stillwater Hosted trips are designed to educate and teach guests the correct ways to approach saltwater flats fishing.  Guests have the opportunity to learn, firsthand all week, from professionals who spend 50-100 days a year fishing the flats.

All in all, there’s no better time than the present.  We can’t stop time.  We know that.  But we can make it seem like it's not moving so fast.  Saltwater flats fishing provides a great runway to numerous new experiences to embrace as well as friendships to be made.  It’s the perfect time for those 40+ to embrace saltwater fly fishing, combining the appeal of outdoor adventure with relaxation and the joy of learning something new.