You’re not going to catch it.

Wait. Let me make it even more plain and simple: you’re not even going to be able to get your fly in front of it.

I know you can see the fish. I know that you haven’t spooked it, that you’ve been catching trout all day, and that all you have to do is get it to see your fly.

The only problem is that it isn’t going to happen.

The particular fish in question is right behind a log jam or a culvert or a root ball. It is decently sized. It is quite visible. But it has the one thing going for it that gives it the upper fin: it is the uncatchable fish.

There are lots of uncatchable fish out there. Everyone comes across them while fly fishing. Moving upstream you’ll notice a spot that likely holds a fish. It has structure, it has depth, and it has that fishy look about it. But then, as you try to ascertain how and where you’re going to cast, you hit a snag. Branches, rocks, or some manmade features are between you and the fish.

The fish is in the perfect spot. Its probably getting a steady stream of insects and disoriented baitfish. And it certainly has ample shelter. This presents you with the predicament at hand.

You can’t cast from above, as you’ll get hopelessly tangled or swept away from the fish’s lie. You can’t cast right on top of the fish, because it’s not going to see a fly that is essentially behind it once it hits the water. Sit there, figuring out something creative with weight and angles and all that trigonometry, and all you’re doing is wasting time.

Sometimes, the spots or even specific fish are infamous. Everyone knows about the big brown trout with it’s head in the culvert. Everyone has seen the huge tail of the fish that lives under the downed elm. So and so claims he drifted a weighted sculpin from twenty yards upstream and hooked into that fish… but it got off, naturally.

I’ve spoken to some anglers that have fished long and hard enough to best some of these uncatchable fish. At the end of the day, the code that cracks the equation seems to be this: fish ceaselessly. Like, be in that spot day and night, rain and shine, summer and winter. The fish will make a mistake and move. When it does, you better be ready with your wits and your A-game.

I’ve also spoken to anglers that have fished long and hard, only to be bested by these uncatchable fish. In fact, I am one such angler.

I’m reminded of the words of the mother in Johnny Cash’s, Don’t Take Your Guns to Town. Knowing her son’s headstrong foolishness, she warns:

Don’t take your guns to town son

Leave your guns at home Bill

Don’t take your guns to town

Like the intrepid yet foolish young gunman, anglers who give these fish an inordinate amount of attention are in store for heartache, disaster, and lost flies. Time, energy, effort, and a right state of mind can be compromised by going after some of these fish guns-a-blazing. Maybe they’re meant to be left alone. Maybe they’re supposed to teach us patience. Maybe they’re for someone else.

Truth be told, there are no uncatchable fish. But there are a lot of fish that you and I aren’t going to catch. So perhaps we shouldn’t take our flies to their town.