Moving towards the water is always a mystery. Remember that fish live where they’re not supposed to live. The last place you’d expect might be suitable for a small population of something. That could mean a few fish to hand. It also might mean access to and knowledge of your own spot. Someplace you found.
Fish live in places that don’t make it into the guidebooks. Fish thrive in places that aren’t covered by any particular regulations. There are branches of rivers that aren’t on maps, ponds that won’t show up on satellite imagery, and entire creeks that haven’t seen a person in decades. We’re thorough. But nature is very big and we’re very limited. Even in the 21st century, we’re very limited.
Of course the unfortunate inverse is also true. Streams that should hold fish don’t. It could just be the unseen ecosystem. It could be pollution, overfishing, or a near-infinite combination of negative influences. Still, it is always a mystery. The guidebooks and state agencies may say one thing. The truth may be something entirely different.
What’s left then but moving towards the water? Initiative is more than flipping through a book or scanning message boards. Exploration and mystery. Head into the woods. Slide your skiff into the back channels. Duck behind the strip mall, step over the trash bags, and move towards the water.
Going where others know to go and where others go is a sure way to find fish. The fish you find might surprise you. But there isn’t mystery. And there isn’t the same payoff. You’re still putting together the essential components of the equation. Water + fish + problem solving. Good things happen. But there isn’t mystery. There may be fish. But often we’re after more than fish. More comes with more hiking, more paddling, more exploration.
There is a real payoff when the subtle clues start to come together. The eye begins to key in on the places where a fish should be. The foam lines. The undercut banks. The ledges, drop-offs, and rock piles. Follow the shoreline. Follow the baitfish. Follow the shadow, the wake, and the struggling insect. Those are the guides. Watching those is how we can be thorough.
The struggling insect, floating over the dark pool, in the secluded stream. The kind of place a fish would be if a fish was there. Clues pieced together from exploration. The solution to the mystery rising into view.
The payoff comes long before you cast; long before you hook and land the fish. The payoff comes with the swirl.
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