No one talks about the itchy eyes or dripping noses, the grainy feeling of pollen sliding down the back of your throat, fly-fishing for smallmouth bass this time of year. It doesn’t feel sexy or stoic, it’s the part edited out of grip ‘n grins and zero2hero videos- casting, mending, stripping, watching- all on the verge of a sneeze.
Until you see the dark form behind the fly. Until you see the gills flare, the fish dragging the fly back to its lair. Until you set the hook.
The outside bend. 