Day 2 – When I Learn A Lesson About Competitions

What another terrible day. Started at 8AM on a beat of river that had nice riffles and deep pools. Lost fish I’d not normally lose.  I can’t explain that, except that perhaps in the heat of the competition and wanting to perform well, I ended up performing poorly while fighting fish.

I lost one really nice brown in some rough water – once it was hooked, it began to fight, and then simply turned sideways in the rough water downstream of me.  I tried to turn the fish to bring it in but with the strength of the current and the brown trout holding it’s sideways position, the tippet snapped.  I was so frustrated as this was after I had lost another fish and actually saw fish turn and take my fly but not get hooked up.  I also saw fish taking long hard looks at my fly and following it, but not taking.

Then there were the periods where I was not getting any hits – long frustrating times of drifting, stripping line at different speeds, even going to 15 foot leaders.  Yet other people were coming back and reporting on the numbers of fish caught – some were as high as 15 fish in three hours.

I just couldn’t understand.  The same thing occurred on the second session in the afternoon.  In fact, I was even fishing a section of water which had been specifically pointed out to me that was known to hold large fish.  Sure, I had a couple of takes, but not nearly as many as I had hoped for.  I finally walked up towards my competitor, Claude Bedard (winner of two world fly tying championships, by the way), and asked him how he was doing, hoping in a way that he was doing as poorly as I was.

Nope, he had caught two fish.

So, I watched him for awhile. And finally, it struck me.

I had been under the incorrect impression that it was going to be total size length of fish caught that was important.

Not true.  Three or four small fish are better than one good size fish.  In the competition, you are automatically awarded 100 points just for catching a fish. It doesn’t matter if it was 4 inches or 10 inches.  The size of the fish also gets you points as well – I don’t recall the exact formula, but it doesn’t work for guys like me that were simply trying to locate good size fish in waters that would normally hold good size fish.

And of course, fishing under the heat of the sun in the middle of the afternoon is not the same as having a great evening of fly fishing.

When it struck me, I walked up to Claude, and said something to the effect, “O.K. Now I know what I’ve been doing wrong this whole time.  You’re just interested in catching fish, any size, right?”

He was casting the tiny flies to pocket waters that held small fish.  The smaller fish of course, are less cautious as well, than the bigger fish.  “Easy fish,” as Claude put it. “You’re getting it Ian.  It’s a numbers game, not the size of your fish really.”

Unfortunately, that conversation took place with only half an hour left in the final competition period for the day.

I realized guys were catching some small size fish, but I didn’t realize that that is indeed, what they were actually going for.  I just never thought in terms of it that way.  When I go fishing, I don’t try to catch fish under 10 or 12 inches.  Sometimes it happens, but when it does, it’s more of an annoyance – well.. a fun annoyance, but nothing to take any great delight or pleasure in.  The psychology of competing is totally different, really.  And I hadn’t caught on.  I mean, I even had on a number of occassions,  observed really small fish rising to my fly – but I didn’t spend any time trying to catch it.  In my head, I had been thinking, “too small to bother with” but the guys who understand competing would spend time casting to a small fish they knew was willing to rise.  They’d fish the pocket waters where they knew small, “easy” dumb fish make their home.

I should have figured this out earlier – for the maximum number of points one can get is for a 30 cm fish. I’m used to thinking in inches – and for perspective, a 30 cm fish is less than 12 inches.  So, a 16 inch fish doesn’t get you any extra points.

I also should have read the rules more closely.

Anyhow, between the “nervous” factor and my “psychology” of fly fishing, I think that is why I’ve done so poorly.  It’s unfortunate that there was only half an hour left in the day’s fishing for the “aha” moment to come about.  Well, there is one more session in the morning – hopefully I can make up a little lost ground here, and save myself from placing last!!  Although, I’m not sure there is enough time.