For those of you who, like me, have memories of fishing that pre-date memories of school, think back to as many fishing partners and trips as you can. Even those people you only went fishing with once. Then try to recall times where
success or failure of a fly fisherman seemed to lie strictly on fly fisherman’s confidence. If you think about it in these terms, I bet you can remember numerous times, when an angler’s, confidence or lack thereof, either doomed them or buoyed then until they started catching fish. At times success of a confident fly fishing angler can be attributed to persistence. An angler, confident in their abilities is just going to fish longer when things don’t start hopping right away. But other days when all things are equal, fisherman with most confidence often catches most fish.
Three quick stories come to mind illustrate this. First off let me say there have been plenty of times when I have been on both sides of confidence equation. A few years ago, I was steelheading with a couple of fly fishing buddies. Unlike me, though there guys weren’t purists. And we were using terminal gear. Although were just dead-drifting jigs, very similar to fly fishing, I felt about as coordinated as a monkey performing brain surgery. As day wore on more and more steelies were caught. Huge steelies, biggest I had ever seen! None by me. I could feel my confidence shrinking. And I mean my confidence in all kinds of things, like being able to read river, being able to detect a strike. Things that had no connection to me using unfamiliar gear. The pressure inside my head built, until I HAD to catch a fish. I didn’t catch one fish that day, although I finally had a strike, and set hook so hard I jerked it right out of fish’s mouth. And I fished longer and harder than anyone else on trip.
Another story is almost reverse. Here in Maupin, Deschutes River fills with fly fisherman every May and early June for Giant Salmonfly hatch. It is a carnival of fly fishing. One year I was drifting with a couple of accomplished angler’s, who were nevertheless apprehensive about fishing such a well-known hatch, A hatch documented throughout fly fishing literature. With crowds of angler’s as spectators to one another. Despite all drift boats and bank angler’s I know a spot or two constantly overlooked and are rarely fished. I set both guys up with exact rigging I use. Put them in best two spots and made lunch, while they flogged water to no avail. Despite their long fishing experience they were unaccustomed to big water and feeling of being in a spotlight, and seemed to do every action with uncertainty. After lunch I nailed numerous trout with virtually no effort. Pointed out fish lying behind rocks and caught them. It was a display they still talk about some years later.
