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| First you catch the fish |
This year I decided to really try my hand at trout fishing. I have been fishing since I was a little kid and have mainly went lake fishing for bass, perch, pike, and others. Trout fishing always remained a mystery to me.
A few years ago I tried trout fishing at a creek near my place. I didn’t have much success because I didn’t know what I was doing, and trout fishing is much different than bass fishing. I got frustrated and gave it up for a while.
I went this year on opening day of trout with Jen’s Dad. He showed me a few tricks and helped me to figure out where the fish were and how to cast to the right spots. It was great. Since then, I have tried to hit the river at least once a week. Each day I’ve gone home with at least one nice size rainbow trout.
While I’m on the creek, I have a lot of time to think about things in my life. And I’ve learned a lot about myself and life on those fishing trips. So I decided to write down some of the things I’ve learned and share them. It may be a little hokey, but what the heck…
1. When your hook gets snagged, relax on the line and 95% of the time it’ll work its way loose.
Don’t let the stress of hitting a snag get to you. In fishing, you let the line go slack and the current will most likely pull the hook (or sinker) off the obstacle. If you instead pull and pull some more at the snag without trying to relax the line first, you could cause the snag to get worse. That means there’s a good chance your line is just going to snap and you’ll loose it all – your hook, spinner, and bait.
If you are working on something and hit a problem, step back for a second or two. The snag you hit in life may be a big one or a small one… In that first moment, relax and figure out if it is something you can let work itself out, if you need to pull some, or you need to tug with all your might.
2. If you’re snagged and it won’t come loose, there’s no shame in cutting the line. Just make a clean cut and leave as little damage as possible.
Of course there are times when the snag is to great to come undone on its own. You could have hooked a tree root, your sinker got caught between two rocks, or something like that. When that happens, you have to cut or break the line. Try to do so in a manor that will cause the least amount of damage to the area… you don’t want to leave 20 feet of fishing line underwater.
Some snags in life are just to great to overcome. You are not going to win every battle and sometimes you have to walk away. When you need to choose this path, do so leaving as little damage as possible and move on to the next
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| Then you clean the fish |
3. If you get a strike and miss, cast to the same spot.
You’re reeling in your line and it goes tight, you pull and feel the strike. Even if you do everything right, you sometimes loose the fish as you are reeling in or maybe the hook never was set properly. There’s a good chance that fish went back to where it was. So check your bait and cast right where you did before. It could still be waiting.
Life is full of opportunities. If you take a chance and only partially succeed, try again! You know the opportunity is there, it’s waiting for you. Don’t give up so easily and go back for more.
4. Try reliable spots first.
There is one spot on the river I fish that I almost always at least get a strike. I go to that spot first. Always. No matter what.
If you have continued success with a formula or procedure, then try that way first. If it doesn’t work, then move on.
5. If they fish aren’t biting, don’t waste your time at one spot. If the fish aren’t there, they’re not going to bite.
Why waste your time when you don’t think there are any fish in the area, or the conditions aren’t right? There are plenty of spots along a river where the fish maybe. So try one for a while, and if you get nothing, don’t keep saying ‘one more cast and I’ll move on.” Just move on and try another spot. The worst that could happen is you don’t have any luck at the new spot.
Once you realize something in your life is not working for you, make a change. Identify what the problem is and take action.
6. Don’t be afraid to move to a new spot you’ve never tried before.
When I started fishing at the river, I would always stay to a 50 yard area that was easy to fish. As I became more comfortable with the river, I started to move up and down to new areas I never tried before. I had success at some, and nothing at others.
When working on a project and the tried and true does not seem right, then shake things up. Try something new you never did before. Break out of your comfort zone and go with it. At work lately, I find myself writing in new ways and taking new directions that I previously discarded because they were not the ‘traditional’ way of doing things. This has made me more aware of my comfort zones and more comfortable with breaking down those walls.
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| Then you grill the fish |
7. Leave things the way they were when you arrived.
To me it is important that when I leave the river, I leave no trash behind. If I change hooks, I pack the old hook away and throw it out when I get home. I don’t leave packaging on the ground from worms or hooks or water.
This is a lesson I believed before I started fishing, but spending more time in the woods has really brought it back to a main thought in the way I live my life. If you are working on equipment that other people use, and you make changes to that equipment, normalize the equipment when you are done. At work, there are few things as frustrating as when someone changes a setting and does not set it back. I have spent hours trying to get equipment to work right after someone has ‘made a change’ for their project.
8. Ask other fishermen where they have success, what kind of bait they use, and for advice.
Each time I go to the bait shop near my place, I ask what people have been buying, what they’ve been catching, and if there are any spots the folks there would suggest I hit. I learned some valuable information about the river and the fish in there. At first I was nervous about asking, but once I explained I’m just starting to trout fish, the folks opened up and were great about advice.
There are no stupid questions. That is a rule I try to live by. It is better to ask if you don’t understand something, than to fail over and over because you were afraid to ask.
9. If the other fishermen won’t tell you anything – and even if they will – observe and learn.
This is my first year really trout fishing. So I’m trying to learn all I can about where the trout sit, what they eat, what water temperature they like, and on and on. Some fishermen are odd creatures… they don’t like to tell their favorite spots, or bait, or anything. Hell, some don’t even like telling you if they caught anything. (I’m looking at you elitist fly fisherman!) So I’ve taken to asking first, then observing. I’ll watch where they are casting, what type of bait (or lures) they use, when they arrive and leave. From that I’m learning a little more each day about the best places to cast, and how to be a better fisherman.
At work, there are a few reasons why people won’t give you information about equipment or procedures (I won’t get into those). So if I ask a question and am not provided an answer, I will pay attention while the person is working on the problem and see if I can figure it out for myself just from observing. It doesn’t work all the time, but I have picked up a few tricks.
10. Just have fun when you can.
Not sure I have to explain this one.
