Many DIY anglers want to improve and succeed on the water. We want to catch more fish and bigger fish using various techniques. Though this may be our goal, I often see many anglers expect these results without putting in the time. They focus all their efforts on finding a secret location and fishing the right fly rather than developing the skills to succeed in many scenarios.
Now, I do not consider myself an exceptional angler. I am a passionate DIY angler who enjoys sharing my journey and what I learn on the water. This article aims to share the most critical lever that helped me go from a beginner to a competent angler.
Time on the water.
We live in a world with so much information available to anglers. We consume many books, podcasts, blogs, content, and seminars to become better anglers. Over the years, I have gone to these sources for my fly fishing knowledge, and don’t get me wrong—they have made a difference in my success on the water.
While this learning has served its purpose over the years in my fishing, it plays a small role in my overall skills and success. To become a better angler is like anything else: spend more time doing it. Time on the water is the most significant lever in growing as an angler.
The more fishing you do, the more situations you are exposed to. This leads to many experiences in the memory bank that you can use on future outings. Through observation, you learn and pick up on things no podcast can teach you. It’s hard to understand when, where, and how to fish specific hatches from a book. Or how to anticipate strikes from a podcast. So much in fly fishing is based on observation, connecting the many dots on the river to solve the equation for that day. While off-the-water learning can tell you what to look for and where to start, nothing replaces firsthand experience in fly fishing.
For a DIY angler who works full time, I spend a lot of days on the water—sometimes too many (according to my fiance)—and I have been for the past six years. This time on the water has exposed me to various situations and consistently provided me with opportunities to fail and test my skills.
Although I may be able to read how to perform a reach cast, I will only understand the concept once I get on the water to see and feel how it is properly performed. I will learn it through hundreds of scenarios where I must successfully perform the cast to catch a trout. That is how skills are learned—on the water. There are no shortcuts, just a compounding of skills from many days of fishing.
Now, spending more time on the water is a skill in itself. While I know life is busy and fishing time is finite, here are two suggestions that may help you find more time on the water.
One, stop making excuses. I see myself and other anglers talking themselves out of a day of fishing for various reasons. Sometimes, these excuses are valid, but often, they are stories we tell ourselves that reflect our doubts about a day of fishing. It may be the weather, the river flows, the long drive, whatever it may be; these excuses limit the days we fish. Do your best to get on the water, no matter the conditions.
Two, change your mindset going into a day of fishing. If you go out solely to catch fish and don’t, you will leave disappointed. This will limit your excitement when going out again, resulting in fewer days on the water. Rather than going fishing to catch fish, go fishing to learn something. This mindset shift allows for growth and a fun time on the water. No matter how the fishing is, you can be satisfied knowing you learned something new.
I hope this article inspires you to fish more often and enjoy your passion for fly fishing. Fishermen fish for various reasons and may not care to grow as anglers. I respect that and know it’s not about the fish caught but the experience had. I’ll be the first to say that. Though I have found joy in the pursuit of trout, and improving at my passion brings me joy, which is the perspective from which I wrote this article.
Fly fishing is a lifelong passion that will keep us learning. The best way to learn is through firsthand experience on the water.
