Search Month: June 2024

Prospecting is a strategy for covering water. It’s about pace. The truth is, we’re searching for something on every cast, no matter what our approach is. But what we call prospecting is a bit different. It’s about canvassing an area, casting a wider net, searching for that next fish and then the next one. Then we take that data about where and how trout are feeding, and we use it to inform our next decision.

You’ve probably heard this a lot: “These trout have been caught on that fly before, so they won’t take it.”

Or this: “Once trout are caught on a fly a few times, they learn that it’s a fake.

But trout don’t have to be caught on a fly to learn that it isn’t real. In fact, just seeing one bad drift after another is enough to put trout off of a particular pattern . . .

Complaining is not a bad thing if it accomplishes something productive — or if it’s kinda fun. Or if it draws attention to some of the absurdities around you.

Some things need to change. Because there are plenty of influences and influencers leading us all down a road to nowhere, or really, to a place that loses the depth of this fishing experience — of what we love about the woods and the water in the first place.

Whatever you believe, take a stand for it. That’s what we try to do here with the Airing of Grievances.

Big trout after dark are never predictable. And they give you everything they have — right now. So your tippet better be strong.