One of the best parts about having some time off is being able to go fly fishing. We think about it when we’re working, dream of taking off when we’re confined, but strangely enough, few of us prepare very well for our dream trips. We don’t get our lines ready, practice our casts, or shine our rods (just kidding about the rods). The big thing we don’t do is get our bodies ready for the movements and anticipated exercise that, unfortunately, we just don’t do enough of in our general day-to-day lives.
For years, I thought of this only in passing when plans and schedules needed modification due to interruptions because of fitness issues. I know — fly fishing is just a walk in the woods with a three-ounce stick, but you’d be surprised how many incidents occur because of lack of personal conditioning.
A few years ago, our regular group was planning the annual trips when I got a call from John, bailing out of the scheduled outings. He had just come back from fishing the lower Sacramento River. It was early in the year, and John had had three days of excellent weather, hungry fish, and smooth boat rides. What could possibly have gone wrong?
The lower Sac often fishes well in the early part of the year, and this year was no exception. The preferred method of extraction is indicator fishing, a technique that can be more challenging to the unfit body than the light touch of a 4-weight rod and 7X tippet. John’s excellent three-day trip left him with some great pictures and a sore right shoulder. He had torn his rotator cuff and was in considerable pain — not just from the shoulder, but from his doctor’s prognosis that he would have to cancel all his fishing plans for the next nine months to allow for surgery and an extensive rehabilitation period.
What happened to John was caused by the repetitive stress of an unfamiliar motion — the hook set while nymphing with a bobber from a boat. “Hit it!” the guide yells as the indicator twitches, and you lift your rod with all the grace of a bull rider struggling for balance. Sometimes there is a fish on the line, sometimes not, but the motion is pretty much the same every time, and that goes on all day, except that the guide has given up yelling at you by noon and is now just trying to keep the boat in the right lanes so you will have as good a day as possible.
The set causes problems because it requires you to lift up and downstream repeatedly, an activity that we seldom practice unless we are bullfighters or have small children to hoist overhead. It is not the weight of the rod, but the sudden pull from the shoulder, a pull resisted by the gear, that eventually results in your being in rehab.
The point is that it makes sense to prepare our bodies for an upcoming fishing trip at least as well as we prepare our equipment. Doing some simple exercises will go a long way toward making your next trip safe and the months thereafter physically useful and productive.
If you’re someone who exercises regularly, adding a few sets when you’re getting ready for a trip won’t be any hardship. If you’re not, getting in shape for the trip may take a little more effort, but I have endeavored to keep that in mind with the routines that I will recommend. Basic shoulder exercises would have helped John, as well as triceps extensions in some form or another — examples to follow. These are simple exercises that we can all do at home or in the gym — or in a motel room, if you’re reading this before you go fishing tomorrow, which is probably too late.
I work the following six exercises into my weekly workout regime, but before I was doing that, I used to start a month before an upcoming trip and tried to do these three times per week, as insurance so I wouldn’t get hurt. The best equipment I have found to complete this program is a pair of light hand weights (bottled water will do) and a pair of resistance tube bands with handles ($8 to $30 from Amazon). If you’re a gym kind of person, a double arm cable machine, which is found in most gyms, will get the job done. Note that before doing any exercise program, it’s important to warm up with a brisk walk or a few minutes of treadmill before undertaking any exercises.
Exercise 1. False Cast — General Arm and Shoulder Warm-Up
Equipment: hand weights, 1 to 5 pounds, or standard 16.9-once water bottles.
Reason to do this exercise: To warm up the arms and shoulders, increase casting stamina.
Stand erect with one weight in each hand at shoulder height. Starting with the right side, extend your right arm upward in a casting motion while lowering you left arm in an exaggerated hauling motion. Return to the starting position after each extension. These moves can be done at the same time to simulate a hauling cast. Repeat 12 times on each side (two sets). Lighter weights are better to start with. You will actually be doing this with a fly rod when you are fishing, so increasing the number of repetitions will be more beneficial than increasing the weight lifted.
Exercise 2. Triceps Pull Down — Left and Right Triceps
Equipment: Flexible rubber bands at appropriate weights or cable pull-down machine; weights, 2 to 10 pounds.
Reason to do this exercise: Good triceps conditioning without a lot of weight.
Place the bands at the top of a securely closed door at shoulder width. With one band in each hand, face away from the door and raise your elbows forward to shoulder height, hands holding the cable handles. Lean forward slightly. Press your hands downward and slowly let the tension in the bands bring them back to the starting position. Two sets of 12 repetitions is a good place to start. As with most of these exercises, more repetitions will build strength and endurance better than just increasing the tension or weight.
Exercise 3. Deltoid Pull Down — Top of Shoulder, Deltoid
Equipment: Flexible rubber bands at appropriate weights or cable pull-down machine; weights, 2 to 10 pounds.
Reason to do this exercise: Strengthens deltoids and structure that supports the rotator cuff.
For this exercise, lock both band handles behind the top of a securely closed door. With your back facing the door, grab the handle of each band at shoulder height to add tension to the band, then extend your outstretched arms downward to the thigh. Two sets of 12 repetitions to will keep your body in balance. Who knows — some day you may need to cast with your other arm, and you will be ready.
Exercise 4. Rotator Squeeze — Rotator Cuff
Equipment: Flexible rubber bands at appropriate weights or cable pull-down machine; weights, 2 to 10 pounds.
Reason to do this exercise: Strengthens the lateral support of casting muscles in the shoulder.
Now change the positioning of one of the bands to a secure, mid-torso location at the side of the door. With your elbow tight to your ribs, pull the handle in toward the middle of your body about six inches. This is not much motion, but six inches should be all it takes to strengthen this part of the muscle group. Do two sets of 12 repetitions on each side.
Exercise 5. Rotator Extension — Rotator Cuff
Equipment: Flexible rubber bands at appropriate weights or cable pull-down machine; weights, 2 to 10 pounds.
Reason to do this exercise: Strengthens the lateral support of casting muscles in the shoulder
Leave the band secured at the side of the closed door where it was for the previous exercise. This starting position is similar to the Rotator Squeeze, except instead of pulling in toward the middle of your body, you reverse your stance and pull outward from the starting position. Once again, with your elbow held tight to your side, pull the handle out away from your core about six inches from the center of the body. This is another small movement with a substantial effect. Again, do two sets of 12 repetitions on each side.
Exercise 6. Nymph Set — Deltoid, Rotator Cuff, Lats
Equipment: Flexible rubber bands at appropriate weights or cable pull-down machine; weights, 1 to 4 pounds.
Reason to do this exercise: While all the activities in this group are helpful, this series of motions is particularly important to practice for muscle conditioning. Have fun with this exercise: imagine you are setting the hook on one fish after another from the most realistic positions you can imagine.
Lock both bands under the bottom of a securely closed door. While the top and sides of most doors securely hold the band handles during these exercises, the bottoms of some doors are not as closely fitted. Make sure your door will not let the handle slip under when pulled. Facing the door, pick up the left band handle in your right hand and the right band handle in your left hand. Simultaneously raise the right arm to the sky (if you are right-handed) to mimic the motion of a nymph fisher setting the hook when indicator fishing, pulling parallel to the floor with the left hand in a motion that resembles a strip set. Do two sets of 12 repetitions on each side.
Do these exercises three times a week for general shoulder conditioning and your chances of not experiencing an avoidable injury will go way up. If you’d like to add a couple of additional exercises, I’d recommend a bicep curl, a core rotation motion, and of course, you can never go wrong with sit-ups for lower back protection. Please remember that these exercises are targeted at preventing the kind of injury that my friend John suffered while indicator-nymphing from a boat. Of course, different exercises would be beneficial if you were planning on doing different kinds of fishing. If you found this workout useful and would like to learn more about conditioning for Euro nymphing or weighted-line casting, contact me at hours2long@gmail.com.
