Thursday, February 16, 2012

Five Stages of a Fisherman

A lot of discussion going on over at PA Fly Fish based on this post by Rick Clark on the WFN site, specifically the five stages of a fisherman.  Rick states them as follows:
Stage 1: Catch A Fish
Stage 2: Catch the most fish
Stage 3: Catch the biggest fish
Stage 4: Catch a difficult fish
Stage 5: Enjoying fishing independent of catching

I find myself enjoying those stages at different parts of my fishing outings.  My first goal is to catch a single fish.  Once I get the smell of the skunk off, it was a successful trip.  Having accomplished that goal, my next goal is to either catch a lot of fish or catch a big fish.  I'm happy achieving either one of those.  Of course, they work together.  The more fish you catch, the better chance you will catch a big fish.  It's just playing the odds.  Catching a difficult fish is a goal when it presents itself.  If I find a fish in a difficult lie and I decide to go for him, then I'm happy when he takes and I'm hooked up with him.  I don't head out in the morning with the intent to target difficult fish in the stream, I take those situations as they present themselves.  And of course if I don't catch anything, then I find myself in stage 5, I'm just happy to be out there and not working.  So to wrap this up, I don't think the stages are a progression that you go through as you grow as a fisherman.  I think the stages happen as you progress through your day fishing.

What do you think?

No comments:

Post a Comment