Fish a stream with no fish?

[Hairstacker]

Jay mentioned in another thread that he saw someone on another board pose the question, "If there was no fish in a particular stream, would you still fish it?" What say you?

[Fats]

No... unless all I was trying to do was practice my casting. Theraputic on it's own but far from fishing!

[David Lee]

I've done it ..... but didn't know it was lifeless at the time .

Come to think of it , most bodies of water I've fished have been void of life once in a while !!

D. -

[jbird]

Mike

The thread I was referring to was posted a long time ago in a forum that hadnt yet been tainted by negativity, so i guess people werent worried about puting their heart on their sleave. (imagine that for a second. lol) There were guys waxing poetic and talking about the beauty of their fly "alighting on the meniscuss" and thats what flyfishing ment to them. No disrespect to them whatsoever, I wish I could get excited about NOT catching fish. Dont get me wrong, I love everything about fishing. Getting skunked sucks but I still love being out there. But the fish are what its all about for me.

[Phil Synhorst]

Fishing a stream that is known to have no fish. Is that the equivilant to women saying they are going "shopping", not buying, but shopping. Go through all the motions, but at the end of the day, what do you have?

Even if you're a rookie trying to learn to "read the water", you need to have a fish strike to know you're reading it right.

Is this some sort of Zen experience for flyfishermen? If so, I think that is just one more reason for the gear guys to think of us as elitists and snobs.

[Hairstacker]

Is this some sort of Zen experience for flyfishermen? If so, I think that is just one more reason for the gear guys to think of us as elitists and snobs.

Phil, actually, I think it is just one more reason for the gear guys to think we're nuts. :lol:

Speaking for myself, I would never knowingly fish a stream that I knew to be barren. Without a doubt my time on the water is more than just about catching fish but there must be the possibility of a hit . . . preferably a topwater one. :lol:

[Darian]

I guess I'd fish a stream with no fish if it was necessary to test a pattern or some other related objective.... :confused: Otherwise, Don't think I'd be interested.... :|

[flounder]

I would fish a river with no fish, but I wouldn't use a rod, reel or fly. . .
;)