At first glance, rock climbing and fly fishing couldn’t seem more different. One is vertical, adrenaline-fueled, and physically intense. The other tends to be quiet, rhythmic, and meditative, but for those who’ve spent time doing both, the similarities run deeper than you would expect.
What ties these two seemingly opposite pursuits together is a shared reverence for wild places and a passion built on patience, excitement, and a profound love for the outdoors.
Persistence and Patience
In both rock climbing and fly fishing, there’s a slowness that contrasts with the fast pace of modern life. Whether you’re standing knee-deep in a cold mountain stream or staring up at a rock face, success often hinges on stillness, observation, and awareness.
In fly fishing, you’re not just aimlessly casting. You’re reading the water, watching for rises, and checking for hatches. These factors inevitably lead to casting, and recasting…swapping out flies and casting again. It’s practicing patience and mindfulness in pursuit of catching one of those gorgeous native trout.
With the ladder, climbing also requires an incredible amount of those same skills. Reading the route and knowing when to try a different approach or technique. The trial and error that goes along with climbing has certainly tested my patience (and sanity) for a time or two!
Patience isn’t a passive thing in either sport. It’s active, intentional, and cultivated through experience.
The Adrenaline Rush
That patience makes the moment, when it finally happens, even more electric.
In fly fishing, it’s the sudden strike of a trout and the rush of setting the hook. In climbing, it’s committing to the crux move, trusting your feet, and feeling your fingers lock into just the right hold. Both are split-second decisions made with full presence and intensity.
These surges of adrenaline are quick yet all the more rewarding because they’re hard-earned—moments of clarity in a process that demands focus, respect, and time.
Where the Wild Things Are
Both sports are inseparable from the wild places in which they happen.
To fish, you chase the seasons and the hatches, at times hiking several miles into pristine alpine lakes; where you may even meet bears and moose or winding through old forest rivers. To climb, you seek out sun-kissed granite in Yosemite Valley, the gorgeous purple quartzite at Devil’s Lake, or the sandstone towers of the black hills. Both pursuits turn you into a preservationist, not just a visitor. You learn and live by Leave No Trace and protect the beauty of nature.
There’s humility in these sports as nature sets the terms. The river doesn’t guarantee a catch. The rock doesn’t care about your beta. And yet, you keep coming back. Not because of certainty, but because of the way these places make you feel…grounded, alive, and connected to something far bigger than yourself.
Different but the Same
Rock climbing and fly fishing are not just about a summit or a catch, but a state of mind. A flow. A feeling of being fully immersed in the present moment.
They’re about learning to read the landscape, respect its power, and find joy in both the effort and the outcome. They reward those who show up, put in time, adapt, and care deeply.
Climbing and Fly Fishing
Whether you’re tying on a dry fly as the trout rise around you or chalking up for a 5.12’s crux, keep in mind, you’re practicing the same art. The art of patience, presence, and a deep, enduring love for the outdoors.
