Patience in Fishing

On Wednesday afternoon a friend and I went with a guide on the Metawee river in Vermont - about half an hour out of Manchester. Over the afternoon we fished in three locations. Each had a lot of very clear water. The Metawee has mostly wild fish (not that they care but it requires even more attention - the fish are more wily). For me most of the day was spent in casting. I got one small nibble and caught a couple of rocks and trees. (About normal for someone of my skill.)

Late in the afternoon we went to a place where there were two deep pools. One shaded by trees and rocks. The idea was to simply drop the hook in the water and let it float down into the second pool. The water was almost black. (The bottom picture shows what it actually looked like.) After about four or five drifts, I got a firm strike. I am reasonably good at setting the hook. I began to play the fish. It felt like a good sized one. My friend had seen a fairly large Rainbow a few minutes before, and that was probably the fish. But a common error among fishermen is to go to the reel too quickly. When the fish first hits it is often better to strip the line in slowly, giving the fish a chance to run when necessary. I went too quickly to the reel and began to reel my catch in, and the fish popped off. That cost me the fish and an informal bet - my friend and I have fished at this meeting for a couple of years. The last time we went out (without a guide) I got a very tiny Rainbow (barely legal) and got a picture. On this trip he got a small brown - but without a picture. Had I landed the Rainbow I would have had bragging rights - having caught two fish to his one (over two years) but as it was we now need to go to Mammoth for the "rubber match" next summer.