Today is a cold and rainy day. Cold and rainy days in late fall are awful, and the funny thing is that they’re only a few meteorological variables away from being cold and snowy days. Unless you’re a bad driver, flurries in late fall are great days. But try as I might, I couldn’t will the atmospheric conditions to bend in my favor. So, today is a cold and rainy day.

Call it what you will, but days like this have an effect on people. Even fly fishers, the heartiest breed after postal workers and Alaskan crabbers, will stick indoors on days like today. Sure, there are some days when I will say “forget it” and hit the water, regardless of conditions. And there are certainly the fishing bros in the culture that thrive on “killing it” when the weather stinks. That is a young man’s game. Younger than me, at least.

I don’t feel guilty. There are plenty of things I don’t feel like doing on days like today. Some of them, a lot of them really, are more important than fishing. There was a time when I would feel guilty for not wanting to go fishing, irrespective of the weather. I lived on a top-tier trout stream, and was minutes away from smallmouth, spring creeks, and mountain brookies. But there were just some days when I wasn’t feeling it. Why was that? Was I not really into fishing as much as I thought? Was I losing interest? Am I a fair-weather fisherman that only likes fishing the heavy hatches with size 10 dries to dopey, fat fish?

Questioning your own intensity or passion based upon an exception is unfair. It is one thing if you never want to go fishing. Choosing to sit it out for a bad weather day or some other perfectly good reason? Don’t sweat it. Those things which we love, people not excluded, are going to inevitably wear on us certain days. If it, or they, are truly important to us, we have to be open to the reality that the disinterest could all be our perception. Certainly bad weather creates great fishing opportunities. Gear innovation has done nothing but allow being on the water under any and all circumstances. Fish gotta eat. The onus for not wanting to be out there is on us. And that’s okay.

We have to remember that fishing is about fun. For some, it is a career that puts food on the table. But it should still be fun. The oft-quoted maxim of “too much of a good thing” rings true here. Taking a day off shouldn’t make me feel guilty or like I’m missing out. Taking a day off should give me pause, and an opportunity to gain some perspective. Do one of the dozen other things I need to do. Plus, I could be saving myself for a better day on the water tomorrow. After all, today is cold and rainy.