Tear Up Your Fly Fishing Resume G&G

Fredrick

Fredrick

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Has anyone else gotten slack from fellow anglers when trying to teach/correct their technique or knowledge. Or even better yet your on the stream with someone your catching fish and their not but they refuse to ask or try what's working for you . I know I have many of these experiences from anglers and almost all are from people that have been fly fishing allot longer then me. long story short don't let your pride get in the way of you improving your skills . Nice article from G&G on this subject




http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fishing-lifestyle/tear-up-your-fly-fishing-resume/#comments
 
Fred, there are a lot of guys out there (mostly older) who just want to catch a fish the way they want to catch one. I know guys who only want trout on dry flies or smallies on poppers and can't be bothered to rig up nymphs or huck streamers. I think it's because once you've caught a certain number of fish, some folks are good and only want to catch them in their preferred manner going forward. I enjoy nymphing and streamer fishing as well, so I'll use any method, but that said, I only fish for wild fish now. That's my old-man thing. No more stockies for me.
 
Fredrick wrote:
Has anyone else gotten slack from fellow anglers when trying to teach/correct their technique or knowledge. Or even better yet your on the stream with someone your catching fish and their not but they refuse to ask or try what's working for you . I know I have many of these experiences from anglers and almost all are from people that have been fly fishing allot longer then me. long story short don't let your pride get in the way of you improving your skills . Nice article from G&G on this subject




http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fishing-lifestyle/tear-up-your-fly-fishing-resume/#comments
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Good thread, Fred.

While I'm always willing to help a fellow FFer, I usually only give advice or help if asked. As you posted above, a lot of guys don't want to be helped; why that is, I can't answer (how else does one learn stuff) but I respect their wish to do things on their own.

There is also the opposite; the angler that wants to hang out to get a free FFing class on the stream. Like I said, I'm willing to help anyone, but that aint no good either....lol.
 
Depends, is the advice you're giving unsolicited? From the article, Tim Rajeff is quoted as saying he doesn't offer advice unless asked. If you're going to offer me tips without me asking, more than likely I'll politely ask you to mind your own damn business.

For example, here are some unsolicited writing tips, in bold: ;-)

Has anyone else gotten slack from fellow anglers when trying to teach/correct their technique or knowledge. Or even better yet you're on the stream with someone, you're catching fish and they're not but they refuse to ask or try what's working for you . I know I have many of these experiences from anglers and almost all are from people that have been fly fishing a lot longer then me. Long story short,don't let your pride get in the way of you improving your skills. Nice article from G&G on this subject.
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Cowboy I completely understand wanting to catch the fish the way you want especially while trying new techniques. And allot times while I'm out I have a game plan on what I want to work on while fishing . But when an opportunity comes to fish with friends everything is on the table no fishing politics involved .



Afish yeah I'm going to adopt the same policy with advice . You can lead the horse to the watering hole but it doesn't mean it will take a drink.
 
I'm picking up what your putting down . In my defense I didn't know this paper was going to be graded or I would have checked my grammar instead of just freehand typing .


tomitrout wrote:
Depends, is the advice you're giving unsolicited? From the article, Tim Rajeff is quoted as saying he doesn't offer advice unless asked. If you're going to offer me tips without me asking, more than likely I'll politely ask you to mind your own damn business.

For example, here are some unsolicited writing tips, in bold: ;-)

Has anyone else gotten slack from fellow anglers when trying to teach/correct their technique or knowledge. Or even better yet you're on the stream with someone, you're catching fish and they're not but they refuse to ask or try what's working for you . I know I have many of these experiences from anglers and almost all are from people that have been fly fishing a lot longer then me. Long story short,don't let your pride get in the way of you improving your skills. Nice article from G&G on this subject.
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I've been fishing so long now[72 years] catching fish is no biggy-outwitting peabrain is where its at- I know that I am far superior and more evolved than the finsters so if they don't take they were to blame[wrong time of month,moon whatever..
Suspect many like me- it's getting them to take the way you want them to- that's the fun of it--and having an excuse to spend money on your latest hopefully sure thing...so,yeah,chances are the other guy could fish circles around you if he wanted to but long way past first stage,numbers count point.Go easy on the expert advice bit-if we really wanted to know we would ask...ain't that proud.
 
I like to throw large attractor patterns to likely holds on large freestone streams here in the east or small rivers out west. I would help if someone asked but they probably wouldn’t think of asking the guy who just snagged his rig in tree.

Sometimes I’d use a dropper.

 
After a while (30 or 40 or maybe more years), sometimes you think, "I bet I can make him take a ___". so that's what you do. I think the only time its stupid not to at least listen to advice is if you are going get mad about not catching. I didn't really have any mentors growing up as fly fishing goes. Most people i fished with thought i was crazy for fishing with flies. I had to figure things out myself for the most part. Some people like to figure it out for themselves. I think the timing of the advice is what matters.
 
Agree that it's best not to offer advice unless it is solicited.

It's true out on the water.... and it's even more true here on our forum where the experience level of the poster is not as readily apparent. This is especially true on the matter of fish handling.

"On the spot corrections" are rarely welcome and usually backfire.
 
Surf Cowboy wrote;

I think it's because once you've caught a certain number of fish, some folks are good and only want to catch them in their preferred manner going forward.
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This is a great observation and at least in my case very true. I have caught so many thousands of trout in over fifty years that I could hardly care less if some guy below me is high stick nymph fishing and hammering fish one after another. I prefer to only cast to rising trout with a dry fly and if my head is in the dry fly mode that day I will sit on the bank waiting to see a rise rather than changing my terminal tackle to fish nymphs.

Now there are some mornings where all I want to do is get out onto the water at first light and throw 4" - 5" long streamers on a WF#7 sink tip until the mist burns off but that is not the norm for me.
 
I would never hire a guide unless for access issues or the need of a boat. That said, I'd instruct him or her that I will not take kindly to advice if I don't ask for it. If someone wants to engage me in a discussion of techniques, I am happy to engage, but if they explain what I am doing wrong, I will probably resent it.
 
"Agree that it's best not to offer advice unless it is solicited.

It's true out on the water.... and it's even more true here on our forum where the experience level of the poster is not as readily apparent. This is especially true on the matter of fish handling.

'On the spot corrections' are rarely welcome and usually backfire."



With fish handling there is often a misguided effort to "educate the ignorant" in a judgmental way. With fishing technique there is the further danger that you think the other angler is not enjoying his day because he has not hooked and/or landed the same # of fish that you have. This is a rash judgment most of the time, and you can usually anticipate your error when they are not asking for tips.
 
Allow me to explain:

If I have caught a few and you sidle up to me and express YOUR displeasure in not "catching," I would likely say something like what follows.

You: "I ain't catchin' shite."
Me: "I caught a few."

You: "Really?"
Me: "Watch this (hold my beer)."

Me: [throws a sloppy cast into an overhung bush just above a nice slack area behind a rock].
Me: "Throw it in there with a very soft cast and then tug ever so slightly on it until it drops. Keep a tight line."
You: "Uhn-huh?!"

[PLOP]


Me: "Got him."
Me: "Crazy, ain't it?"
 
The salmon river is a great place for pro tips. Tons of free, unsolicited, and bad advice.

I agree with above and do not give unsolicited advice.

When asked on the river if I've caught anything I usually lie and say no. When steelhead fishing and I'm really getting into them I sometimes don't even cast when people are in sight. Scumbag move I guess but I'm protective of a few spots.
 
I don't care if the guy next to me is hammering fish anymore then when I'm hammering fish. I'm not in competition with anybody not even myself.

When I'm smallmouth fishing I don't care to catch 100. When the fish are cooperating and I know where they are I like to break out new patterns or techniques that I want to learn how to fish. If my catch rate goes down I attribute it to not doing something right with the new pattern or technique and I become obsessed with figuring it out. Don't care to know what the next fella is doing during those moments.

When they aren't biting I still enjoy the figuring out process but I would be open to a brief friendly conversation as long it's not done in a master to grasshopper manner. I don't want stream side gear reviews, tying, entomology, Latin or casting lessons anymore then I want short iron and putting lessons on the golf course.
 
I read this article yesterday, glad you posted it. The best part was Tim's quote about not offering advice unless asked, words to live by. My "real " job involves coaching a sport so often it is hard to switch gears. Eight hours a day of instruction on mechanics will some times get me in bad habits in other aspects of my life......just ask my wife.
 
In 20+ years of FF I never offered advice unless asked. Just last spring I was fishing a stocked stream and I was catching a lot of fish. There was a guy just downstream that fished down through ahead of me and I didn't see him hook up once. He seemed to be spending more time tying up than fishing. So before I got out of the stream to move around him, I asked if he want some help and he said no. I got out of the water and was going to walk downstream and he said I could fish below him. As I walked over to talk to him before fishing, he explained that he wasn't being a **** when I asked him if he wanted help, that he is a guide and really didn't need help. I felt like a total *** and will NEVER volunteer to help someone if they don't ask for it. Lesson learn. Found out later he a nice guy and we fish some of the same water and will probably fish together in the future.
 
Fredrick wrote:
I'm picking up what your putting down . In my defense I didn't know this paper was going to be graded or I would have checked my grammar instead of just freehand typing .

Don't let Gambler see you typing like that, cause he will correct your paper for no charge.:):):)
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