Yeah, it's good to have a few predictable fisheries to fall back on now and then. But, kinda like having mac and cheese for dinner every night, good and reliable gets old quick.
For me, fishing is about possibilities. That's why I love the ocean. I'm not saying all, or even most freshwater fishing is easy by any means. It's just that in the ocean, virtually anything is possible. Stuff like watching helplessly as 300 yards of backing melt off a 12wt outfit in seconds, seeing the tuna on a buddies line get eaten by a killer whale, having hundreds of dolphin surround the boat and play in the wake, having to look up a weird species of fish you just caught, etc.. etc... Those are just a few examples of things that make it impossible for me to live far from saltwater. "Predictable" stays on the dock.
There are trip planners and others that follow a "rule' of happenstance. Or rather there are bean counters and their are those that meander through this life...What happens happens. I like that. But honestly I don't think about it. Predictability is sort of like that old Patrick McManus chapter about hunting in the future- pay the fee...set your watch and meet your deer with blaze orange streamers tied to it's antlers in the meadow at 2:11 PM...
I wouldn't know what to do with predictability. I love it when I think I have a spot wired. I've found that million dollar rock. It always holds a fish. I always get a grab there. Until I don't. And so it goes. It's called fishing, not catching.
It depends. I love freestone streams. You’re right, they change a lot through a season which requires a lot of adjustments from the fisherman. Tons of fun trying to figure them out.
Tailwaters, especially pressured ones, bring their own challenges which can also be a lot of fun. Super technical and they allow for a lot of experimentation because of the combination of predictability and pressure. I enjoy that as well.
Nothing is as unpredictable as the salt though! You don’t even have to go offshore to experience it either. I fished for about 3 hours yesterday afternoon. Caught a good number of SRC in the 12-15 inch range. I then hooked into something that nearly yanked the rod out of my hand. No idea what the hell it was but it was easily my heaviest fish since chum last fall. Had him on for about 10 seconds, saw a bright silver flash in the depths and then slack line...boo.
I love not knowing what you might hook into fishing beaches....
Water is fluid, you never step in the same stream twice. Trout have territories and favorite haunts. The larger fish take up residence in the best lies, more food less work. In the ocean you have zones. Most fish stay in their zone unless they are on the feed, then the predators come into different zones to feed. Once you understand their behavior it becomes easier to find the fish. When you factor in luck, fishing is very unpredictable. Mems.
Well Scweeet! that does it wrap it up...Swimmy has spoken. So clear with so few words. it's like a haiku, it's unrhymed sort of like the Japanese poetic form. Except it does not that consist of 17 syllables arranged in three lines containing five, seven, and five syllables, respectively.
People who try to be bad ass invariably aren't. That much is predictable.
Wore my Simms hoody yesterday and avoided sunburn in the 91* heat. The snake, or is it digital, camo pattern should have helped me into a fish. It didn't.
After unpredictably losing a rod and reel overboard today i am leaning towards predictable
Overall i agree with others. Predictable is cool. I love the predictable fishing in the south sound over the winter and spring. But there is something about the unknown possibility that is appealing. Nothing has ever provided that for me more than the salt. The ocean in particular but the sound as well.
Today i went out and caught a decent number of predictable coho but in the back of my head, especially early, were the reports of nice kings being caught in the area lately.
When a fish grabbed my fly twice near the boat late morning and I saw a quality 5lbish coho thrash next to the boat before spitting the hook it was a pleasant surprise.
Overall though nothing provides that thrill of the unknown like the ocean.
I fished this weekend at my lakehouse. Its always been a surfing /wakeboard lake for me. We had a little kid over for the weekend and she asked me to catch her a trout. I found the 2wt and headed out using the old paddle boat. I caught a fish every few minutes, nothing over 13”, stocked trout.
I rolled back into the house and explaned to her dad how it was constant action.
The kid wasn’t having it, so we will try again the next time they visit.
I wasnt expecting to catch fish so frequently and i expected the kid to jump all over the opportunity. Oh well.
Half of the pleasure I get from the sport is the hunt. The hours put in studying maps, water data, etc. is rewarding. Exploring wild places is rewarding. When I'm at that sweet looking rock or run, if I trick a trout is gravy. That being said, I do still get frustrated when I don't catch anything on an outing, but I'm really working to eliminate that. Lately, I've been mixing up exploring new water and predictability in the same trip. I explore new parts of a river, but also a few honey holes that I know hold fish along the way. Nice balance that way.
I don't mind predictability if it means pulling so many 24" trout out of my local creek that the water level drops.
But seriously, no. Variety is the spice of life. I think I'd get tired fishing the same stretch of the same stream time after time, even if the catching was good. It might take me a while to get tired of it, but I would eventually.
When I fish with my son predictability leads to incessant demands to fish all the time, so a good skunking now and then will quiet that and restore the cosmic balances of serenity and effort. When I fish though, the most annoying outing is the one where predictably there are no fish.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Washington Fly Fishing Forum
1.8M posts
21.3K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to fishers, anglers and enthusiasts in the Washington area. Come join the discussion about safety, gear, boats, tackle, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!