In an era where information is readily available on everything, including this sport, it’s a natural thing to turn to the web as a primary source for information when researching a body of water that you intend on fishing. You google the River’s name, look for stretches of river people have written about to decide what stretch is a good place to fish , and you go to that spot. This process is logical and makes sense. However, it also leads to a sheep mentality when it comes to where anglers fish, and for a developing angler can be a bad habit that will ultimately limit your ability to improve as a fisherman. If everywhere you fish or method you use is something someone else told you to do on the water, rather than your own choices based on observation and experience, you will ultimately never develop your own instincts. You won’t have the confidence to expand beyond your comfort zone when it comes to exploring new water no one has told you about, or thinking outside the box when it comes to the methods you use. Having confidence to think outside the box and having faith in what you are doing on the water is everything in this sport. In the fishing sense, confidence is the difference between continuing to fish a stretch of water hard where you have never seen a fish before, but continue fishing anyway because you trust your ability to read water and that the fish are in there, whereas not having confidence is fishing that same water for an hour without a fish, and then walking back to the car to drive to the crowded no-kill fly fishing only stretch because you didn’t want to get skunked and doubted yourself while fishing the first location.
The above is something that I learned, rather than immediately understood. When I first began fly-fishing with my Dad, we would rely on our local trout unlimited chapter for advice on where to fish. As we graduated from local waters to the larger rivers in the Catskills, I would pop into the fly shops for advice when I first started fishing there. After fishing up there regularly for the first 10-12 years or so, I thought I knew the rivers well. The reality was I still had so much to learn. This truth came to me when I began working at West Branch Angler as a fishing guide on my first summer off from college. That first summer, there were a couple of guide trips that we did as a group trip, where I was teamed up with long-time guide John Miller. When I first met him, it was immediately apparent to me that John was the type of dude that always had to be working on some new experiment, whether it be a new stretch of water, new fly he had been tying/using. Something new, conspiracy or not, was always in the works. Admittedly, that first season I was not that type of fisherman. I was a match the hatch, go where I knew the bugs were and fish would be rising type of fisherman. My worst fear was going out for the day with guys and not seeing any fish rising. I also did not like rolling the dice as a guide, and even as a fisherman rarely was willing to burn prime time days on what I believed were more marginal stretches of river. I would choose the safe bet float wise- even if, in hindsight the conditions on a marginal but perfect for that day piece of water was the better choice. I was predictable.
I remember being nervous on that first group trip John and I did because I thought the stretch he chose was extremely risky given the conditions and time of year, and didn’t really know that stretch of river very well. Not having any say however, I just went along with it. That day, I remember watching the way John picked apart the water and it was as if he didn’t think, but knew there was a fish in each spot we fished. And we caught fish- throwing large high floating dries on 4x at rising fish in the late afternoon- something that “never worked” according to me and most other Catskill fisherman that are married to sparse CDC emergers and 6x. It was an eye opening day- and I was fortunate to fish with John several other times that season learning something different each trip that overall resulted in me being more willing to challenge the status quo and experiment when it came to the water and way I fished. I learned how to think like a fisherman, meaning I began to objectively look at and rely on what the conditions were and what the options were to make my choice on where I fished. There was no “best river”, just what river was the best choice on that day based on the circumstances.
In thinking back on this now, another vital lesson I’m glad I took away from that first year, and retain to this day, is learn rather than feel threatened by a better angler. When you are a beginner you are all ears because you know nothing. However, as the transition begins from novice to moderately skilled, and moderately skilled to good, you can easily develop an arrogance that comes with the confidence and skill that you have acquired. You can choose to not listen or learn from a better angler, almost as a defense mechanism to rationalize why that angler is no more skilled than you. Or, you can use and see it as an opportunity to get better, which just by sheer math becomes a rarer opportunity as you become a more and more experienced angler. The fact I can remember the day described above so clearly despite being so long ago alone confirms it was significant in my mind- and I am glad I chose humility. Since then, lessons that are surely derived from that day’s experience and have helped me include:
Fish Marginal or New Water During Prime Time:
As my story above eludes to, many anglers have a favorite stretch or pool that they like to fish when the peak season hits. They go to that location because they know there are fish there and they know the time of year is right. Then, they explore new locations when the fishing is not at its best, because they figure the fishing is bad everywhere so they might as well check out something new. This is turn causes them to think there are no fish in the new spots they explore, because they are fishing that water at the wrong time, lowering their chances of success on that new piece of water. I know it is not easy to roll the dice and check out a new stretch of water during prime time, because you don’t want to risk throwing away a day on what could potentially be a waste of time. But do it anyway. The water you know has fish isn’t necessarily better than the waters you want to try, and the issue is your confidence to expand and routine more than anything. Not to mention the thrill of taking that first fish on a new stretch of water will far outweigh the deja vue you experience hooking another fish on the same bank you have fished 50 times before.
Focus on the Water- Not the Fish
When seeking out new water, focus on the water you are reading/fishing rather than the fish hooked or lack thereof. When trying a new body of water, look for and start in an area that offers a lot of diversity in terms of the water-type available to fish. You don’t want the initial stretch you fish to be all flat water that will limit your options if the fish aren’t rising (and when are they ever on your first trip) and you don’t want it to all be fast water with limited holding water for the fish. This way you aren’t limited and can sample what the stream has to offer and have a better chance of identifying where the fish are.
Get Off Pace With Other Anglers:
If you are the type of angler that is always going to want to fish the river that is the most crowded, but has the most consistent fishing, it’s amazing what fishing water at different times than everybody else can do to improve success. To accomplish this, I have increasingly started to use unconventional take outs while floating to get off pace with other drift boats that are predictably going from obvious ramp A to obvious ramp B- the result being a log jam of boats that are fishing the same stretch of river all day as they time their float to get down to ramp B by dark. Unconventional boat entry points are usually obtained through private access. But lets think about it. What stops you from anchoring/tying up your boat overnight in protected bankside areas, and walking out to your car at locations that otherwise have zero boats putting in or taking out there? This keeps you on different water than everyone else on the first day, and a head start on the second day as you begin a float to the next formal boat ramp downstream. The same thing can be accomplished if wading by parking a car at two untraditional entry/exit points and wading that stretch with a buddy for the day. Bottom line, think about how you can get off pace with other fisherman. Sometimes, pressure is the reason a day doesn’t pan out well- and can be avoided with creative thinking on the logistic side of things. Finally, turning back to point one- ever have that pool that looks so damn good but you never see any fish in it because you are forced to row through it during mid-day/bright sun? Getting off pace can get you on the water that most don’t fish hard because the normal float through that piece of water doesn’t allow you to fish there at the best part of the day. Getting off pace can change that.
In closing, I’ll say that the winter time for me has always been a time where you not only evaluate the past season, but consider what you want to try next as you head into a new year and season- hence the theme of this post. In the first year of this blog and website- I’ve enjoyed the interaction with anglers from different places and exchanging ideas. Thanks for the interest and I look forward to 2018.
You must be logged in to post a comment.