Shell Game

osprey

osprey

Active member
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
3,031
OK............This one was going to go into the "Beginner" thread , but , it fits this one nicely too. What part of the Art , i think it's an art , of fly fishing has given you the most difficulty? I wanna bring in the whole thing here too , the knots , casting , reading water , the works. Again , to be fair , for me the hardest part was learning how to "Downshift" I'd be havin a good day , catchin trout after trout , sweating and in a frenzy and not realizing that i'd gone beyond "enjoying" it........there are some good things about getting old.....heh.
 
For me its mending line and keeping a drag free drift. I've been fishing a long time, and I feel like I just can't get the kinds of drifts I want. Maybe I was just never shown how to properly mend.
 
I'd go with what Squatch said. I mean, I think there's 2 main things to be successful in this sport.

1. Being in the right place at the right time.
2. Catching fish once you're there.

Both are skills. Squatch's falls under #2, and is probably the most important detail within #2. But these aren't skills that are ever truly mastered by anybody, we just achieve varying levels of imperfect. Else we'd catch fish on every cast, lol.

I just try to get better at everything every time I fish. Don't look at it as struggling. It would cease to be fun if we actually mastered any aspect of this sport. Perfection is unachievable, so it's not the goal, and failing to achieve it isn't frustrating or struggling. Just enjoy it for what it is, a neverending process of learning.
 
"But these aren't skills that are ever truly mastered by anybody"

Thank God I'm not the only one then. I feel like a novice when it comes to mending, to be honest with you.
 
Same as Osprey-crawling out on the bank after hours of double hauling plus I would go a step further and say being so obsessed with trout fishing I missed out on other things that I got into too late to excel.
Take it from an old goat,guys- try other things and really enjoy your trip-.
 
Sas, a novice compared to who? Sure, there are levels of skill. It's just that the very best are still awfully far from reaching perfection.

It's just no use to get frustrated over the thought that you "could" do better with more knowledge/practice. Else you'll never be happy. Because we all "could" do better than we do. There's no end point to reach and say "I'm there".
 
Well there were a few times I said to myself,gosh[?] I'm good,then I would get skunked.
 
A novice compared to just about everyone I ever fished w/ on this site!
 
Well, to be fair, this site is full of some awfully good anglers. We're passionate enough about the sport to spend time on a freakin message board! Not a good comparison.

And if you fish with someone and get 5, and he gets 10, so what? He made, what, 1000 casts to do that? If he's measuring himself, he's got a lousy 1% success rate. You think he's happy with himself? You think he doesn't think he has plenty of room for improvement too? It's just a neverending game. We're all terrible by any rational measure of success.

And if getting refusals, due to drag, frustrates you, I don't know what to say. Because if you get a little better, sure, perhaps that fish hits. But in the meantime, you convinced 2 others to think about, then "refuse" your fly. The better you are, the more fish you catch, but also the more refusals you get.

Just choose to stop getting frustrated. Measure yourself only against yourself. You do want to get better, we all do. But it doesn't matter where on the learning curve you are. The enjoyment comes from being on the learning curve, period.
 
I've been into fly fishing for only 1-1/2 years. For me, I like being on the water early, by myself. In Northeast Ohio after steelhead season is over you can have the rivers to yourself, as not many go after smallmouth. I just love the early morning.

The second aspect of the "joy of the art" is casting a fly where I want it. I don't do it often enough but when it lands in the spot I want it to that's fun!

I realized early on tht catching fish is secondary.

When I first started fly fishing and learning about all the things you need to know about the sport and how to catch fish I would come home and my wife would ask me if I caught something. I said no most of the time and I could tell she was waiting for me to quit. But I liked being out there. Now I'm able to tell her yes when she asks.

Now that's joy!
 
Although reading the water, the rise form and tying knots can be tough. The part that I found to be the most elusive is casting. It doesn't matter if it's a 70' bomb factoring in the 10 mph upriver wind and having your fly drop right in the feeding lane or tucking a cricket up under some overhanging limbs. Truly great casters make it look effortless. I can pull off a majority of the casts but it feels very labored. I may only get out 3-4 times a year but will make 150% effort every time out to improve my casting. I also like to choose fish that are in near impossible locations. I think the challenge and tough fishing help me improve as an angler.


Sas,

To approach your drag free drift issue from a different angle.... I'd suggest better reading of the water and moving yourself into a more user friendly position. On bigger water, you can usually find an angle of attack that will permit the longest drag free drift. You may need to fish slightly up and across or straight down onto the fish. On smaller streams, you are a little more limited but still want a assess the feeding lie / lane as well as the other currents. There usually is one place that is the best to make your presentation from but getting to that spot isn't always the easiest option.
 
My biggest challenge these days is to actually locate the fly I need. It's somewhere in my pockets and 30 lb vest. Going home and tying up another pattern only adds to the problem. I do need to get organized one of these days. lol

tl
les
 
Two things I suck at are distance casting (can't do a double haul) and spotting fish.

The distance casting is something I have never tried to master because I have never needed to. I very rarely on the stream have a need to cast farther than I am able.

A big part of the spotting in fish problem is just poor vision. I do wish I could spot fish/subtle rises better.
 
Kray,
I'm okay on real small streams (brookie...just what you love haha!), and I RARELY fish large waters, but I have an easier time for the reasons you mentioned. Where I struggle the most is the smaller to medium size waters, which is what I fish most of the time.
 
Stealth.

I'm 6'4 and weigh 250. Needless to say, I'm not very graceful. It's next to impossible for me to sneak up on a fish unless I'm flat on my stomach. Some streams are much worse than others and on occasion, I actually prefer the heavily pressured streams because trout are so accustomed to people that they don't dart as fast :)
 
Sas, if you'd like to get together and work on positioning and getting a good drift, I'm game. The Tully / Reading sewer is a decent sized stream to practice on. Looking at the USGS site, the temps should be below 70 by Christmas. Shoot me a pm if interesred.
 
Before Christmas, ehh? Haha! I'll let you know. Thanks!
 
I'm not kidding. Have you seen the temps over the last 2+ months? That thing has been running in the mid 70's to right around 80 for quite some time. Since the supply is coming from the lake, it won't drop anytime soon.
 
Yeah I've been watching. They stock it in a few weeks, better hope its down by then!
 
You'll be glad to know its around 70 today.
 
Back
Top