Being humbled on the water is a benefit that I think is lost to most anglers.  I am constantly humbled by the daily events that happen on the water. Whether it is by a fish refusing my “go to” fly of the day, or the schools of bait not being in the places I think they might be. Not guessing what the weather is going to do correctly, or just down right finding no fish on the first or second stop of the day.

However being humbled is a good thing, it teaches you lessons or reminds you to keep your wits about you on the water. We always get the fish because we are always in search of becoming better fishermen on the water. Learning new tricks, learning more about our local environment. Some times it takes getting your ass kicked to teach us these things. I do believe days on the water where things don’t go as planned and you still manage to have a good time and find a few fish make you a better angler and make you a better person off the water as well.

Today we were searching Puget Sound for chum fry and we stuck it out at our first spot just searching, very little blind casting for the first hour of the day, we caught a couple smaller fish, but they just were not in the numbers we were expecting. Eventually I said, “well lets give plan B a try.” We motored for about 10 mins south and found some nice fish that were eating sandlance. We spent the better part of the day in this area and had consistent fishing for the rest of the day. I have fished this spot for a couple of years pretty consistently however standing up high searching the structure for signs of movement I noticed a pocket created by the creek mouth that is either new this year or I have never seen in the past, we cast into it and cracked off the biggest cutthroat we have hooked all year. I truly feel it takes a few seasons to really get to know a new piece of water, and getting your butt kicked is a good reason to be looking for alternative ways to attack.

A humbled angler is a lot more fun to spend the day with than a cocky know it all type guy anyway. So spending some days trying new tricks is not a bad way to spend time on the water.