I think we should all have a real fishing hat. I imagine a hat like the characters in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway wearing while they go and fish in Spain with woven basket and bottle of wine. I'll say this over and over again, but fishing should be fun! And I think having a good hat would remind you to have more fun out on the river.
I'll even say this, the goofier the better.
So much of fishing right now seems to be trending towards looking professional or even more so "cool", and there are some really great things from that, but what I have noticed in myself and in others around me is that while we try to become more like the "Fly Fishing" industry, we are losing more and more of ourselves and more diversity among the sport. I am afraid that catching big trout and showing them on Instagram has become more important that remembering where you are and what you are actually doing that day. So I want to break that trend to look professional and I want to move towards having fun.
A couple of years ago I went on a backpacking trip where we had some sort of old western theme and my friend Cody, couldn't help but wear an epic Stetson Cowboy hat. Now I'm not really one to wear cowboy hats, but I think Cody was onto something. During this trip instead of us needing to catch fish, it felt like we were on an adventure. We were goofing off, surprised and excited even before we caught fish out on the alpine lake -- we were having fun.
Personally, I need to remember fishing does not need to be so serious. And I think, weirdly, by not caring as much about what I look like on the river next to other fishermen and women I might remember to enjoy the experience a whole lot more.
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