Printable View
For me it was stubbornness and stupidity not to change technique and try something else. So the jounger you are and the earlier you start to adapt and Chang e with fish demand the better you become. For me I was slow in changing and excepting new ways. Now I am open for change and new challenges within each technique, this could be easy to a steep learning curve and that has to do with each individual needs and perception and willingness to adapt and improve.
Jannie
A lot of the times it is the exposure we have and the way our "mentors' fish and how they fished by the people that showed them how to fish.
They had very little exposure and thought it is the only way.
I recall at one Nationals in Ugie about 14 years ago, when Edoardo Ferrero took out his fly box and showed the North Country spiders, nobody believed him when he said that he sometimes uses it as a dry fly, with some floatant on. If someone said to you this hood with thread and 5 barbs of feather will be effective as a dry fly or subsurface as a wet fly, it is a bit hard to swallow
Something I enjoy doing personally is fish for various species on the same piece of water and target a specific species at a time. This forces me to think out the box and use different techniques and flies. Often you get surprised by catching unintended targets on techniques you never thought would work for them
There is a reason for the old addage "10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish". The more you think out of the box, the more inventive you become with your fishing. Also having done all types of fishing and bringing those ideas to your fly fishing will bring paradigm shift to your fishing. By studying the feeding habits of the fish you are pursuing, you will realise that one method of fishing is not going to bring you constant success.