posted by Alex on May 7
Getting skunked is something we’ve all experienced, probably more than we’d like to admit. I’ve got a slightly different definition of getting skunked than most guys. In my eyes, getting a fish to at least make an attempt to eat my fly is better than it being ignored all day. So whether I get the hook set or not, it counts for something.
Getting skunked to me are those days when you’d swear there was no living creature in the water you just covered. You make cast after cast, drift after drift, retrieve after retrieve, and nothing happens.
The more time I spend doing this fishing thing, the less of those days I get to experience. I guess it’s a sign I’m either getting better, or maybe, I’m just getting better at putting myself in the right place at the right time.
For some reason, irony always has to show it’s sense of humor…
The more times I can get out, the better a fisherman I’ll become. Yet at the same time, the more times I get out, the more times I’m going to experience a good skunking.
Kinda funny, isn’t it?
Some guys make excuses for why they didn’t catch fish.
“It rained in Mexico last week.”
Some guys go into denial, and just tell lies.
“I couldn’t keep em off my line!”
Some guys blame the spot
“This spot sucks! I told you we shouldn’t have come here!”
I’m one of those guys that blame my gear when the frustration gets to be more than I can handle. Not so much my rod, my line, my leader, or that kinda stuff.
It’s always my fly’s fault.
Which is probably why I spend most of my time at the vise after a good skunking. I’ll obsess over the smallest details. You know, the stuff that really doesn’t matter to the fish so much as it matters to the fisherman.
I’ve got fat hendricksons, skinny Hendricksons, different color variation Hendricksons. Hendricksons that sit low in the film, that sit on the film, and that sit high in the film. Downwings, spent wings, parachutes, catskill wings, duck wings, synthetic wings, and triple wings. Hendricksons with eyes, Hendricksons without eyes. Hennies with an egg sac, Hennies without an egg sac. Don’t even get me started on trailing shucks. And of course, they’ve all got to be tied in 4 different sizes. Once I’ve got all my bases covered, I’m pumped. No way I’m getting skunked the next time I go out- cause I’ll have the fly they want.
Somehow though, the fish know what I’ve got up my sleave.
I know this because the next time I go out, they’ve got a new favorite- the one variation I didn’t think about. The compara-sparkle-cripple-half spent-egg sac-spinner with a touch of lime green in the thorax-Hendrickson-that sits just off the film- in a size smaller than they’re supposed to exist.
Back to the vise…