Just One More Cast… Don’t Be Passive

People on average are living a lot longer these days. With better health care, advanced medical procedures, and regular dental and physical checkups, life expectancy has greatly increased. Vaccines, antibiotics, and new cardiac care advancements have dramatically changed our lives for the better. Someone born in 1900 had a life expectancy of 47.3 years. Someone born in 2017 has a life expectancy of 78.6 years. And for us fly fishers who have stopped working (I don’t like the word “retired”), this means more time on the water and perhaps giving something back, such as living long enough to teach your grandkids to fly fish.

Living longer, however, comes with a price, and although we may have more time on our hands, we will also experience more physical problems as we age. Early in their career, the Rolling Stones did a song called “Time Is on My Side.” Years later, they came out with “Time Waits for No One.” That’s an agonizing reappraisal, if I’ve ever heard one. The Stones are still going at it, though, doing what they love to do, and you can stay active, as well, and keep fishing, if you address your age-related physical problems head-on.

Take Charge of Your Health

In 2009, I started having severe back pain. My sciatica was so bad I couldn’t sit or stand and could hardly walk. After failed attempts at physical therapy, my doctor ordered an MRI. The MRI showed a ruptured disc, and my doctor suggested that I see a surgeon. I had a decision to make. I could do nothing, go on pain meds, hit the couch, and possibly end up with a “dropped foot” because of nerve damage. (Remember Chester from Gunsmoke?) Of course, this would mean no more fly fishing, tennis, hiking, or other activities I love. The alternative was to take positive action to try get my lifestyle back. I decided to have the operation.

I ended up getting a “microdiscectomy,” and the operation was successful. I started playing tennis about six months later. The following year, I f loated the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. This was a demanding 10-day trip that covered over a hundred miles of river by raft. I would not have made this trip if I hadn’t addressed my back problem. The cutthroat fishing was outstanding. I felt like I had my life back. I am not a doctor, and surgery is not for everyone, nor is it always successful, but I learned not to passively accept pain, physical decline, and the loss of what I love to do.

This past January, I went up north with a friend to fish the Trinity River for steelhead. This is an annual trip that I’ve done for decades. I was having a hard time getting around, though, because my right knee was giving me so much pain. After fifty years of tennis, wading in rivers, and two prior knee operations, my knee was shot, my doctor said. I managed to drag myself around the river and ended up catching a pair of nice steelhead on the second day of that trip, but the next day, my back was so sore from overcompensating for my bad knee that I couldn’t fish.

After I returned home, I did some research and talked to a lot of people who have had knee replacements. Faced with the fact that my knee would only get worse, I decided to get a full knee replacement. I had the operation in February of this year. Surgery technology and the components used today for knee replacements are far superior, compared with earlier replacements. A knee replacement today can last up to 30 years, so my new knee will definitely outlast the rest of me.

However, the success of a knee replacement is entirely dependent on following through with physical therapy. You can’t get a full range of motion on your knee or your strength back without it. Yes, it will hurt. But if you want to go fly fishing again, you will need to push yourself through the physical therapy.

Twelve weeks after knee surgery, I was doing some limited hiking and even hit a few tennis balls. At 16 weeks postsurgery, I fished the upper Sacramento River for a solid week. This involved several hours each day of wading and hiking. I’m happy to report that the knee held up fine, and for the most part, I never even thought about it. The fishing was great, and I had a hard time convincing myself to leave the water. The lesson: don’t passively accept what can be changed.

Hire a Guide

One thing that can benefit someone who has a disability or is recovering from surgery is hiring a guide. About six months after my back surgery in 2009, I hired a guide to float the Trinity. It was too much to wade all day at that point in my recovery from back surgery. This was a way I could minimize the stress on my recovering back and still go fishing. I have a friend who loves to fish, but can’t thread tippet into the eye of a fly or tie knots because he has essential tremors. But don’t let bad eyesight, tremors, or other disabilities stop you from fishing. Hire a guide to help. The guide will completely set up your equipment, row you into good fishing spots, feed you lunch, net the fish, and even take your fish pictures.

There are other benefits to hiring a guide. When fishing out of a drift boat, you can cover more water in a day than you could in a week on your feet. This can be especially important when fishing for steelhead or other migratory fish that can be scattered all over the river. You just can’t fish the Trinity in the highly productive canyon section above Junction City without floating it down from Douglas City with an experienced guide, because there is no other access to this part of the river. In Idaho, there’s no way would I have caught so many cutthroats on the Middle Fork of the Salmon without a rafting guide, because the only access is by raft or kayak. So, unless you are an expert rafter or kayaker, you will need to go on a guided raft trip.

Guides are not in it to get rich, and their livelihoods depend on satisfying their clients. If the cost of a guide concerns you, consider taking a friend and splitting the fee. It is also a good thing to be loyal to a guide and hire him or her again if you liked the service. And don’t forget to leave a generous tip!

Even if we refuse to give up activities that we love, as we age, we still have to sacrifice some things we used to do or alter the way we do them. For example, there are places that I used to fish that I just won’t fish anymore. The Pit River comes immediately to mind. This river is full of round rocks that have been described as greased bowling balls. I remember it taking me 20 minutes to go 20 feet to cast to a rising trout that I spotted (which I caught). One time on the Pit, I got my foot caught between two rocks and struggled to get it out. This river is now officially off my list.

I also try to avoid areas with steep cliffside trails and fish more easily accessed spots. I don’t backpack into remote lakes or streams anymore, because my back can’t handle the weight of the pack.

While wading you should always use a wading staff. And although I still like to fish alone, I try to take a partner along now most days. If you have a bad fall that renders you immobile, you need someone who can go for help. It is also a good idea to bring a cell phone along (in a waterproof case), in case you have an emergency in a location that has cell service. Keep a first-aid kit in your car and hope you don’t have to use it. Don’t let age-related physical issues stop you. Address your problems with your doctor or a physical therapist. Get on a regular daily stretching and exercise program to stay in shape. Yes, aging will slow you down, but it shouldn’t shut you down. I can remember hopping rocks like a mountain lion in my younger days. Those days are over. Make adjustments to your game according to your abilities as you grow older. Remember what Isaac Newton said, “A body in motion stays in motion.” Take care of yourself, get out there, and keep that line wet!