Inconsistent Results

I believe concentration has a good deal to do with an individual’s success on-stream. Assuming you read the water right and look for signs of what the fish are eating that day, your ability to concentrate pays off.

Bill

Oh grasshoppers

Confidence you must have.  Feel you must have. Reading waters you must do. Luck will not carry you on trips you take. The one who catches you must ask for guidance. A Sensei you do need. Ask and you shall receive. Believe and you will catch.

Glenn,

It seems that I tend to use different techniques on the various sections of Montauk. Often you can see the fish just laying on the bottom and not really interested in anything.  U have seen this, you have a real good drift going right toward a fish and it just moves over to let the fly slide by.

When nymphing, it is so critical to constantly experiment with the right depth for ur flies.

One good piece of advice I have received was:  If you are catching fish, change flies.  If you are not catching fish, change flies.

Just a personal opinion, fish in the parks are fickle. They see so much pressure that often times when there is a lul (fish are not biting) it may be the time of day, something changed in the water (depth, clarity) , other fishermen put the fish down from feeding (somebody walked thru the stream) , or the moon is in the wrong phase.

Watching guides out West, if we are not catching fish, they will change the depth we are fishing.  Flies are changed, or the basic technique is changed (nymphing, streamers, drys). Drys are easy cause you can see the fish rising.

Like Bill said, you just have to pay attention to what you are seeing in the fish behavior and water conditions.  Concentration and motivation certainly are key components.

Then, sometimes the fish are just not into what you are offering.

Oh Grasshoppers:

Worry you do too much. Fishing you do but catching is wished for. Enjoying the experience is what we are really after. Concentration – yes. Changing depth – yes. Better dead drift – yes. Changing flies – yes. Thinking – yes. This “Legend” you speak of may have been off the next day because he tried to use the same techniques as the day before.