You might think it would be great if things moved along in an orderly and predictable manner, but, with the exception of the stock market, I don’t think so. Most of the fun in life ( and in fishing) comes out of the unknown and unpredictable. What will happen tomorrow? - what a wonderful mystery.

Anybody who thinks this fly fishing thing is all about catching fish just doesn’t get it. If that is what it is about for you, you can save yourself a lot of time and money by going out to the trout farm. Don’t get me wrong, catching is an important part of fishing, it just isn’t everything – or even the most important thing. We all have fantasies of the big day where you catch big fish on every cast until your arm hurts, but how much fun would it be if it were like that every time. No mystery, no challenge, no need to learn anything, just the certainty of another boring day of hauling in fish after fish. I think a little of this would go a long way. I know it wouldn’t hold my interest for long. This is why there aren’t long lines at the trout farm.

It is frustrating sometimes when the hatches don’t come off as planned. All of the fly shops and guide services have hatch charts that tell when the hatches should come off. If you’ve been fishing long enough on the same river, you already know not only the time of year, but also the time of day that the major hatches will come off. They should but sometimes don’t. Even the most consistent hatches don’t always come off when they should. Sometimes a hatch, even a major hatch like the Blue Winged Olives, is a no show for the whole season. On the other hand sometimes serendipity smiles on you and you run into a hatch that is totally unexpected and everything you would have hoped for if you could have imagined it. Why does this happen? I’ve puzzled on this quite a bit and have some half baked theories but I don’t know, and I don’t think anybody else does either.