Trout Games
By Neil M. Travis, Montana
Anglers are evolutionary creatures. When they first start fishing
they just want to go fishing and catch some fish, generally any
fish, but they want to catch some fish. If they persist at fishing
they usually evolve to the next level; catching lots of fish. Then
they generally move to wanting to catch big fish or even trophy
fish. Somewhere along this evolutionary line they may become fly
fishers, tournament anglers, or, horror of horrors, angling writers.
Some people never evolve beyond wanting to catch a limit or getting
just one more trophy for the wall, but many anglers find themselves
seeking ways to put more challenge in their angling experience, and
they begin to invent ways to make angling more exciting.
Years ago JC and I would play a game we called trout golf. It was
a game that we played against ourselves, and the score was just a
fun way to add a greater challenge to our times on the stream. Since
most of our fishing in those days was dry fly fishing the rules of
the game was basically quite simple. You counted each fish that rose
to your fly, the number of fish that you missed when they rose, the
number of fish hooked but lost, and finally the number of fish hooked
and landed. Foul hooked fish did not count as fish hooked and landed.
It wasn't serious, we never competed against each other, and it was
all based on memory. It was just a fun activity.
In recent years I have changed the rules a bit by adding some
handicaps. I fish a high mountain lake that has a good population
of brown and rainbow trout. The lake has some excellent hatches
during the summer season and I have limited myself to only fishing
dry flies to visible trout. Some days I only cast to trout that I
have seen rise to take a fly off the surface. Since the lake has a
generous population of trout in various sizes on some days I decide
that once I catch a 20 inch fish or an 18 inch fish I will quit
fishing. Occasionally that means I only catch one fish, and some
days I never have to quit until I get tired of casting.
Years ago I knew an angler that only fished with dry flies. To
further add to his handicap he tied only one pattern and only two
colors; light gray and dark gray. He tied them from size 8 to 28,
but they were only in those two colors. His theory was that color
was only a secondary consideration when choosing a pattern, and
size and presentation were far more important to success. In the
course of the season when trout were feeding on dry flies he was
generally just as successful as all the other anglers, and in many
cases he out fished the angler with a box full of more exacting
patterns.
Today many states have specific regulations that specify that you
must use barbless hooks, but JC and I were advocates of barbless
hooks way back in the 60's. Many people thought that was a handicap,
but we always believed that a barbless hook penetrated easier than
a barbed hook, and was much easier to remove from the fish or from
your own ear, if that became a necessity. I still fish with barbless
hooks, but I never have considered it a handicap. I did know one guy
that took the entire game one step further. He broke the barb
completely off his flies so that a fish could never actually get
hooked at all. He considered it a success if a fish rose and took
his fly.
Whether you chose to play one of these games, or if you invent
your own game I hope that you can always remember that fly-fishing
is all just a game, a game that you play because it brings you
enjoyment and relaxation. I have been fly-fishing for nearly 50
years and I still believe it's the most fun a person can have
standing waist deep in icy cold water trying to catch a fish
with a hook, some fur and some feathers. ~ Neil M. Travis, Montana/Arizona
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