The post about spotting scopes brought this one to mind, and I didn't want to hijack....

I hear folks touting the 'thrill' of seeing a fish in the water and then catching it. That somehow seeing your quarry before you hook it is somehow more exciting or 'better' than getting a strike from a fish you don't see.

I don't get it. I feel exactly the opposite. To the point that I will not cast to a fish I can see (I'm talking about seeing the fish itself, not evidence of it like rises). I've seen plenty of fish take my fly, but I didn't see them until they moved to the fly.

To me it's like taking an unfair advantage. If you are close enough to see the fish, then for me, that fish is 'safe'. I should have figured out he was there from reading the water and cast to it BEFORE I got close enough to actually see the thing. It's driven a couple of guides I've been with nuts...but I still caught a lot of fish.

I really enjoy the 'surprise' of the strike. That electric sensation of something alive on the other end of the line that comes unpredicted. The feeling of accomplishemnt when you've read the water, placed your dry where you feel a fish SHOULD be, and you get rewarded with a strike. Even casting to a rising fish degrades the experience for a me a bit.

I'm probably just odd, but's that's how I feel about it.

Buddy