Getting Denied

We all have those days where NOTHING goes as you plan.

Yesterday the Goldens laughed at us - especially me when one spat my fly back at me. And Dad's stunning Bonefish actually felt like a bit of a consolation prize.

On my knees - pleading for the Golden to eat my Crab - which it did and promptly spat back at me! I quite happy there is no photo of me with my head in sand near to tears!

This morning I gave up in disgust after hours of frustration caused by being denied by nine Bonefish and three permit. It felt like I was fishing a pool on a trout stream that had had someone thrashing the water half an hour before you got there. The fish were beyond skittish and none where interested - when I got my fly presented well enough - in eating anything I threw at them! And I won't even mention the disdain with which the Milks treated me this morning.

Dad having a go a tailing Golden - one of the most frustrating tailing fish to target thanks to their ADD-like behaviour!

But I suppose this is what adds to fishing, and fly fishing especially, to being such an addictive pastime. It is a of fly fishing life that you will, no matter what you do, have the odd day where you total and utter get bat and get left feeling like a school boy after trying to pick up a varsity girl.

I find it motivates me to get stuck in harder next time, record the lessons and maybe even rethink strategies. And sometimes one must simply accept that today was not your day.

There are also days that exactly opposite where nothing can go wrong - even the guy fishing the flats for the first time manages to hook two Bonefish while casting blind!

Its the unpredictably of it that keeps me coming back for more. The fact that it's never quite the same. You are so often forced to acknowledge and adapt. The best fly fishermen I know are so because they are unbelievably good at assessing a situation and adapting to it. Its easy to be a good fisherman when the fish are biting!

Screaming reel!

Bonefish detail