Always learning. . .

[trythisonemv]

Fishing has always occupied a special place in my life. It has been the source of great joy and frustration during that time. The times you put a hurt on the fish and the times you're left scratching your head wondering what went wrong are some of the best memories I possess. Lately, in light of recent events, i have found myself realizing that every single outing provides myriad opportunity to learn. Most recently I spent several hours fishing for walleye ina river i have fished so many times. This time was different as I had never really targeted the walleye specifically before. I had limited time and limited resources for this put and was joined by someone with greater knowledge, time and resources. It was great to see how the system that he developed over a short period of time worked. I arrived before my buddy and had some bites but no fish. Upon his arrival he made one cast and was immediately rewarded with a plump member of the target species. In spite of my disappointment for no being the one to catch I was elated at the prospect of learning his technique which had so quickly enticed a fish. No one ever wants to be the guy who is getting smoked but ive learned that this is the best way to learn. I have also learned that if the person having success offers to assist you, you should accept the help and stop wasting time on prideful notions of figuring it out or not being a burden.   Reflecting back over the years spent fishing my favorite waters with my favorite people I can say with great certainty that I  learn every single outing. It is a constant state of affairs in angling that adjustments need to made and shifts in game plan should be welcomed as too make the best of every situation.   This may seem about the most common sense as a person can think but it so often happens in our youth and stubbornness we think we know best and completely ignore these learning opportunities. If we all pool our knowledge and tactics in life we can achieve greatest success possible whether its on the stream or lake or in business and family. Try to remember next time your buddy is whacking them and he offers you his last jig head to take it and make it count. Ask questions and try your best to understand their approach  so you don't squander and opportunity to learn a trick that you can apply across the board. 

[BilletHead]

25 minutes ago, trythisonemv said:

Fishing has always occupied a special place in my life. It has been the source of great joy and frustration during that time. The times you put a hurt on the fish and the times you're left scratching your head wondering what went wrong are some of the best memories I possess. Lately, in light of recent events, i have found myself realizing that every single outing provides myriad opportunity to learn. Most recently I spent several hours fishing for walleye ina river i have fished so many times. This time was different as I had never really targeted the walleye specifically before. I had limited time and limited resources for this put and was joined by someone with greater knowledge, time and resources. It was great to see how the system that he developed over a short period of time worked. I arrived before my buddy and had some bites but no fish. Upon his arrival he made one cast and was immediately rewarded with a plump member of the target species. In spite of my disappointment for no being the one to catch I was elated at the prospect of learning his technique which had so quickly enticed a fish. No one ever wants to be the guy who is getting smoked but ive learned that this is the best way to learn. I have also learned that if the person having success offers to assist you, you should accept the help and stop wasting time on prideful notions of figuring it out or not being a burden.   Reflecting back over the years spent fishing my favorite waters with my favorite people I can say with great certainty that I  learn every single outing. It is a constant state of affairs in angling that adjustments need to made and shifts in game plan should be welcomed as too make the best of every situation.   This may seem about the most common sense as a person can think but it so often happens in our youth and stubbornness we think we know best and completely ignore these learning opportunities. If we all pool our knowledge and tactics in life we can achieve greatest success possible whether its on the stream or lake or in business and family. Try to remember next time your buddy is whacking them and he offers you his last jig head to take it and make it count. Ask questions and try your best to understand their approach  so you don't squander and opportunity to learn a trick that you can apply across the board. 

                       Spot on Alex,

  Adapt, adapt, adapt. Try to remember and stow in your memory bank when and how you caught each species. Date, water temp depth and flow conditions. It can be repeated year to year. Soon you will learn to adjust places adjusting to water flow and or depth. Fish are creatures of habit, and we must adjust to them because they are not going to adjust to what we want.

[FishnDave]

I was the bull-headed guy wanting the figure out the fish, or entice the my own way... while @Ham was putting me on Chain Pickerel.  He tried hard NOT to catch them before I did.... but when I wasn't catching any, he picked up his rod and caught several.  Seeing it done, I STILL tried to do it my way.  And it STILL didn't work.  He repeatedly implored me to use his rod/fly.  After WAY too many hours wasted, I finally gave in and used his setup.  And caught my first Chain Pickerel.  Painful and belabored learning curve.  Hamilton showed WAY more patience and forbearance with me than I deserved.

So yeah, @trythisonemv ... I know exactly what you mean! 😅

[Ryan Miloshewski]

Even if you did lose a bunch of my jigheads, I'd still give you one! The moment you stop learning is the moment you die as far as I'm concerned. I learned that technique from my big water guide buddy, Brian Ondrejka. I just applied it to a river and it worked like a charm.

And to be fair, I wouldn't have been on those fish if it weren't for you and Tyler. You guys got me in the right direction and then I just figured out a technique that worked. It did suck catching one right in your face on the first cast lol. 

[Ham]

7 hours ago, FishnDave said:

I was the bull-headed guy wanting the figure out the fish, or entice the my own way... while @Ham was putting me on Chain Pickerel.  He tried hard NOT to catch them before I did.... but when I wasn't catching any, he picked up his rod and caught several.  Seeing it done, I STILL tried to do it my way.  And it STILL didn't work.  He repeatedly implored me to use his rod/fly.  After WAY too many hours wasted, I finally gave in and used his setup.  And caught my first Chain Pickerel.  Painful and belabored learning curve.  Hamilton showed WAY more patience and forbearance with me than I deserved.

So yeah, @trythisonemv ... I know exactly what you mean! 😅

It was only frustrating because I so wanted you to get one. 
Now we just need to go back and get BIG ones

[Terrierman]

10 hours ago, FishnDave said:

I was the bull-headed guy wanting the figure out the fish, or entice the my own way... while @Ham was putting me on Chain Pickerel.  He tried hard NOT to catch them before I did.... but when I wasn't catching any, he picked up his rod and caught several.  Seeing it done, I STILL tried to do it my way.  And it STILL didn't work.  He repeatedly implored me to use his rod/fly.  After WAY too many hours wasted, I finally gave in and used his setup.  And caught my first Chain Pickerel.  Painful and belabored learning curve.  Hamilton showed WAY more patience and forbearance with me than I deserved.

So yeah, @trythisonemv ... I know exactly what you mean! 😅

Hamilton is not only a great fisherman, he's a great teacher and so much fun to just be around, especially in a boat.

[JestersHK]

I got some play by play of this day,  but glad you shared with the rest of the group.   I try to learn something everytime I go out with others... Now remembering all those different techniques is where my brain hurts 😆 

Hopefully we can finally get that group trip going and make it a reality. 

[trythisonemv]

14 hours ago, JestersHK said:

I got some play by play of this day,  but glad you shared with the rest of the group.   I try to learn something everytime I go out with others... Now remembering all those different techniques is where my brain hurts 😆 

Hopefully we can finally get that group trip going and make it a reality. 

It will happen eventually 😆. I will be down in october orend of September again this year and possibly have some  time this summer.