Be good at one thing, or modest at several?

[PV_Premier]

It seems that every few years I go through an internal struggle of whether I am trying to do too much...be it in life, relationships, work, fly fishing, etc.

After spending quite a bit of time in Idaho this summer and appreciating the simplicity and beauty of modest sized wild cutties on dries, only finally tying on a dry/dropper on Sunday for the first time all summer, I am wondering if I try to do to much...and should just focus on a couple things...

Valley trout and steelhead, the Truckee area, Trinity, occasional coastal steelhead, Upper Sac and McCloud, now exploring Idaho and Wyoming...while it is refreshing to be able to fish a new place "every river day", you lose out on the intimacy and relationship you build with a body/bodies of water.

It is also easy to become quickly overwhelmed and difficult to decide what to do/where to do. I still have never fished Hat Creek, Pit River, Carson, Owens, or completed the California heritage trout challenge. It's embarrasing to say I have not visited the NFYR, Pyramid Lake, or Lake Davis in the last 3 seasons, but it just adds to the "stress" of feeling stretched too thin.

Maybe it is time to refocus. I am not spread nearly as thin as some of you guys as I do not fish warm water or saltwater at all.

Happy hour musings...for what they're worth.

[yubaman]

I have had some same thoughts as you. Went a couple of years not getting to NFY as well. Several years since I have been to the McCloud. Never done the Pit???? Have not fished down low on the Truckee yet this year????

But, fished new stretches ( to me) of the Middle Fork Feather, and had some great fishing. Fished MF Yuba some more. Fished new stretches of the Blackfoot in Montana this year, staying in a new town.

Fishing seems to have this tug of war with our soul at times . . . go to those waters you know and love, or head to new places. I seem to go in spurts. Not much Rhyme or reason to it that I can ever put together. Fishing the Coast for Steel much more these days . . . absolutely love it. Don't fish the LT much these days, gets pretty crowded for me.

I was able to fish quite a bit in June, and then have been bogged down and very busy at work since then. I am looking forward to spending a lot of time on the Truckee in 3 weekends however.

Damned if I can come up with an answer either, usually a good bottle of Cab gets me headed in the right direction though . . .

[WLREDBAND]

Don't be afraid to try new techniques and fisheries. Everything new that you learn helps makes you into a better angler. I'm a firm believer in the adage of the more angling skills you have the better angler you will be, so it pays to diversify. A classic example is I was in Patagonia a few years ago with a group of four (total) and the guide took us to one of his honey holes. The issue was, it was lined with streamside vegetation including walls of willows and it was almost impossible to make a cast to where you needed to be. I was the only person in the group who could spey cast (even though all we had were single handed rods) so I went last. Even though I was the last person through, I caught more fish than all the other guys combined (and it wasn't even close!) because I could make the cast. Needless to say, after that trip, the other 3 buddies all learned to spey cast!

[Bob Loblaw]

I'm the guy who watches fishing videos and fast forwards through the Bonefishing and yawns at Tarpon and doesn't understand or care for the challenge of Permit. I flip through magazine articles about Pike and Muskie and Redfish.

I want to be the best trout fisherman I can be, and I know I'll die a frustrated man, knowing I only scratched the surface.

When I was younger I was a pretty good distance runner and ran quite a few marathons. Some friends talked me into a couple of triathlons and I could never get that bug. Why be mediocre at three disciplines when you can be good at one?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Question?

We have 3 great freestone river up Interstate 5 above Redding, California.

Upper Sacramento river, Lower McCloud river and Pit river.


Who has fished all three....... a lot......... for decades?


I fished the Upper Sac and the Pit a 'ton' for maybe 40 years now but only fished the McCloud a few times?


Had a cabin in Dunsmuir for 10 years and love the town and the river.

My brother Dick and I fished the Pit forever and that is my all time favorite river.......but not in these high flows today.

I know quite a bit about the entire McCloud river from talking to it's regulars for decades....a great river too.

[MThompson]

Why would you even bother fishing in California if you can spend time in Idaho and Wyoming? One thing I realized a couple years ago when I started getting back into fly-fishing after being away from it for over a decade was that it sucked. Hate to say it. And that's coming from someone who spent a shitload of time on the water for trout and stripers. I can't speak for steelhead fishing but it's hard enough as it is. Obviously there are still good fisheries here but you need to take a number to fish them. The simple equation of less people and more trout seems like the way to go if that's your thing. It won't be like that forever out there either.