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It came to me while fishing the Taylor River near Gunnison, Colorado, a stream I
used to tramp along with my father many years ago: the sudden insight—fishing
doesn’t have to be a sedentary activity. I know the angling stereotypes—a fat
guy sprawled in a lawn chair, cooler of beer at the ready, drowning a worm in
some fetid lake.
But my father never fished that way. He’d come to Colorado from
Ohio for his vacation each summer and, man, could he cover the water. He fished
miles of stream each day, walking almost continuously, fishing on the run as it
were. He died almost 20 years ago but whenever I fish, I see him ahead of me,
charging along the stream, flushed and happy. He wasn’t consciously trying to
exercise but he enjoyed being on the stream so much, and his vacation time was
so short, that he knew how to make the most of every second.
So now I’ve found myself emulating his approach because fitness is such a great
byproduct of his technique. It will keep your partner or friend from being bored,
too. Instead of sitting morosely on a rock while you spend hours fishing one
riffle or pool, your partner (or fishing-averse friend) can hike along with you
and enjoy the stream. Not a bad way to spend the day together.
My favorite aerobic-fishing memory? One September, three of us ran down the
five-mile Molas Trail in southwestern Colorado, crossed the Animas River, and
fished three miles of Elk Creek in the Weminuche Wilderness as fast as we could.
It was full of eager brook trout that we caught and released. Then we ran back
down Elk Creek and chugged up the Molas Trail to the road, the snow-covered peaks
of the Grenadier Range shining above us. Now that’s aerobic fishing.
Want to try? Just follow these simple guidelines:
- Find a section of stream at least 500 yards long with a path alongside. The
path doesn’t have to be smooth. Clambering over rocks and busting through brambles
is good exercise. So is climbing up the bank to the road when the streamside route
is blocked, then scrambling back down again.
- Lakes work as well as streams. If you fish a lake, look for one with a
shoreline path. The ideal lake is just big enough to walk around in about 30
minutes, fishing as you go.
- Don’t stop. The object is to cover as much ground as possible. Don’t make
more than two casts in any one place. Fish as you walk. You’ll get good at
casting as you move, as well as picking out the best places to present your lure
or fly while you’re moving.
- Wear running or walking shoes, not waders. Waders are clumsy and you can’t
move fast or comfortably while wearing them. And they clump heavily as you walk,
scaring the fish. Sneak up on them in sneakers. Don’t be afraid to wade in the
stream and get good and wet. You’ll be moving fast enough to stay warm.
- When you reach the end of the section of stream you’ve staked out, turn
around and fish it back the other direction. Use your downstream fishing
technique one way, then switch lures or flies to fish upstream as you go back.
You’ll cover the water thoroughly this way and if you catch one, other fish
still lurking in the pool will have time to calm down from the fight before you
return. Fish have short memories!
- Look for excuses to increase the exercise potential of a given stretch of
water. For instance, if there’s a steep bank down to the stream, go up and down
three times instead of one before you start fishing.
- If you’re fly fishing—and who isn’t these days?—make at least 15 false
casts before you present the fly. Who says walking a stream is a legs-only
activity? Sawing the air with 20 yards of fly line is a great strength builder.
If you want symmetrical development, cast with either arm. Such dexterity will
come in handy when streamside bushes make casting with your dominant hand
impossible.
- Let’em go. If you catch a fish, release it and reward yourself with a
200-yard run up and down the stream, celebrating as you go. It takes too much
time to gut a fish and put it neatly in a creel. Besides, who wants to hurt the
little fellows? Consider barb-less hooks to lessen damage in this catch-and-release
style of fishing.
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