| Fly Fishing is such a traditional sport many refer | | | | having been made to compensate for our lack of |
| to as an art form, and compared to other modes | | | | understanding. At best, some of the assumptions |
| of fishing, incorporates so much to learn in terms | | | | may have been correct to some degree, but |
| of casting technique, and more particularly the | | | | could never be proven or confirmed. At worst, |
| study of the trout's diet, and their imitations, that | | | | some were just blatantly wrong. |
| it can distract anglers from focussing sufficiently | | | | These assumptions have been cycled for so long |
| on their quarry's habits and behaviour. If you want | | | | they have just been accepted as fact. The Trout |
| to catch more Trout, and particularly larger Trout, | | | | have been considered 'Unpredictable' because their |
| you need to know more about the Trout than | | | | behaviour or actions didn't always fit what we |
| you do about casting and their diet. | | | | would have expected when fly fishing. No-one, it |
| The deeper I looked, the more things just didn't | | | | seems, had ever thought about the possibility of |
| make sense. I reared both Brown and Rainbow | | | | their actions not matching our expectations |
| Trout in my lounge room aquarium and studied | | | | because our beliefs could be flawed. |
| them closely. From atop steep banks of clear | | | | I started evaluating alternative possibilities. |
| pools on the stream, I experimented and studied | | | | Gradually I put the puzzle together. Eventually, |
| them. | | | | those long standing questions had answers. The |
| There was finally but one conclusion I could make. | | | | trout behaviour then became extremely |
| We, as fly fishermen, to a large degree, have | | | | predictable. I started taking advantage of these |
| been kidding ourselves for a very long time. | | | | findings. Having realized I didn't need to imitate |
| Looking realistically at many of the trout flies, it | | | | anything to induce takes, I was able to construct |
| seemed that the trout must either be half blind, | | | | flies which could do specific jobs for me rather |
| or quite stupid, to accept many of them as the | | | | than imitating anything. |
| insects being imitated. Either way, it detracted | | | | With each of the situations I encountered on the |
| from the achievement of having deceived them. | | | | water mastered, the results just automatically |
| The more I critically analyzed the whole routine of | | | | followed. I had seemingly mastered the sport of |
| fly fishing, the more assumptions I recognised as | | | | fly fishing. |