Reprinted (by permission) from the Addison Independent.
But what of the sounds of fishing? Too often they are ignored. Yet any angler will tell you that the sounds associate with their sport are far more distinctive than the sights. If a picture is worth 1000 words, a sound is worth at least 1001. Take 'zzz', for example. There are several familiar occasions when fishermen hear this sound. The first is in a fishing camp at night. The sound is coming from the next bunk over and lasts for hours--sometimes right until dawn. Many fishermen are so enamored by this sound that they will stay up long hours just listening to it even though it means being dead tired the next day.
On rarer (and more pleasant) occasions, this sound can also be heard from your reel as a huge fish grabs your lure and heads for deeper water, peeling off line as it goes. Just this past May while fishing the Big Horn in Montana I heard this sound several times. Much to the dismay of the friend who was guiding me, however, the 'zzz' sound was usually followed by another sound often described as 'snap'.
"You must be used to little Vermont fish," my friend would say as I reeled in my line which was now missing a fly. "You can't let a big western fish run like that."
Following that comment by my friend I'd make several other sounds also familiar to many anglers, but which I can't repeat here because my kids read my column.
'Brrng' is another sound familiar to anglers. It is usually heard at the time of day known as "early morning"--a time which comes approximately five minutes after the angler has fallen asleep after laying awake for hours wondering if they have remembered to set out everything they will need in the morning. The sound is actually made twice. It is made first by the alarm clock, and is followed by the same sounds described at the end of the previous paragraph. The sound is then repeated two hours later by the telephone as the angler's angry friend calls to find out why the angler (who after shutting off the alarm has fallen back asleep) did not arrive at the predetermined place and time.
Which brings us back to the last and most important of our sounds: the previously mentioned 'snap'. The inexperienced angler associates this with the breaking of line (and the subsequent loss of a $2 fly or a $6 lure). But it is also made by fishing equipment when it breaks--most especially by the tip of a $450 fly rod that was still sticking out the car door when it closed. Some people also think it is the sound made by the angler's mind after one too many rods have broken in such a manner... but that snap is rarely audible. The louder snap is that of the angler's spouse as he or she looks at the credit card bill and notices that the angler went out and replaced the broken rod.
So next time you head out fishing--especially in the dog days of summer when the streams are warm and low and the fish aren't biting anyway--don't forget to pay attention to the sounds of your sport. Then send me a letter and let me know your favorite sounds. Finally, stay tuned for my next column which will be accompanied by a scratch-and-sniff sample as I discuss the even more famous smells of fishing.