Breaking a routine

[Bart]

I met up with and met for the first time Beeber2 a forum member. He drives about 30 miles to fish a stream(McMichael) that is my area, about a ten minute drive on some back roads for me. Now here is were the routine break happen, even though this stream is 10 mins away I never fish this spot. I am/was stuck in a routine of going to water that I know, the same few spots over and over again.
Don't get me wrong, I like new water and I travel for work so I can if I so choose to wet a line in a lot of new place. But I find my self in that comfort zone of "I know this water I know where the fish hold, blah blah blah". How many of you, are like me with this?
So thanks to Beeber2 for waking me up. On to the fishing report

I met Beeber2 at one of the townships open spaces parks and it was already late, I was late. I parked, got geared up and started to walk down the trail. Beeber2 being a smart guy didn't wait for me and start fishing. He positioned himself just off the trail so he could see me coming (smart man). I spotted him and we did our hellos, he got out of the stream and we continued down the trail.
The pool that I fish (only because Beeber2 was a gracious fishing partner) was alive with activity. I started nymphing and missed two right away. By the time I settled down the eveing hatch was coming on. I tied on a sulfur and missed 3 on the dry. At this point I could no longer see as it was getting quite dark (I said I was late).
We walked back to the parking lot talking as we went. We parted and promised to meet up again. Even though the outing was short I had a good time.
This forum is full of great people, go out and met one.
Bart

 

[PennsylvaniaJesse]

You are right about breaking the routine. I have been fly fishing primarily small mountain streams for the last 10 years. Recently a buddy of mine built a new cabin on Penns and has been sharing his place and fishing holes with me. This year I finally got to fish the green drake hatch and landed a few trout, one included a nice fat 15-16" brownie.

So, for me, a change of scenery and a good friend have made all the difference for me this year. Im looking to do a little more searching and try some other places too. Many thanks to my friend Ray.

 

[GenCon]

Bart, McMichaels creek is one of my favorites. I think it is underated.
As far as reaching out to other members. I have been doing that since I joined. Also have other members reaching out to me as well.
I have met some outstanding people who happen to be either seasoned anglers or newbies. Does not matter. They have all been great to meet. Pa Fly Fish has been good to me.

GenCon

 

[pcray1231]

Good advice on fishing with others, it helps a lot.

Regarding the routine. Yes. This is something that ALL of us have struggled with at some point. There's something to learning a waterway like the back of your hand. You see it in all of it's conditions and it helps you understand how things change. So perhaps it's an important step in the evolution of a fly fishermen. I had a year or two in State College where Spring Creek became my go-to.

But the downfall is that you don't become a very well rounded fishermen this way. How one stream responds can be totally different than another stream. And you see that on this board all the time. One person claims that you should fish at these times, and not at these times. That this technique works, and not this one. Somebody else disagrees. They're both right, because they are fishing in different places, and the same logic does not apply to both.

It's also not the best way to catch a lot of fish. Every stream is hot at times and cold at times. But those times are different. Some fish better when high, others when low. Water temperature trends differ from stream to stream. Storms hit one valley and not the valley 4 miles away. If you fish the same stream all the time, your gonna get lucky and hit it when it's hot sometimes, but also get unlucky and hit it when it's cold. In the latter periods, there is somewhere relatively close that is hot, and if you are interested in maximizing success, that's where you should have went. Consider it a goal to pick the location that will fish best on that particular day. There is good fishing in this state 365 days per year, 24 hrs per day.

Some say I'm a cherry picker. That's true, and I'm proud of it.