Honesty Is The Best Policy

[cgyguy]

I have been on this board awhile now and have read many posts where guys are catching more fish in one day than I do all year! All I can say to those that make these statements is" Are you being really honest here?" I mean really, I can see guides having a day on the river like this, as they pretty much live on the water and there will be days when the fishing is PHENOMENAL as stated. However, I have a hard time believing that each night on the water brings dozens of fish regularly to those that regularly post. I have been flyfishing for many years and must be missing something, cause surely, my days on the river do not regularly produce high numbers of fish. Yes, some days are great, but I certainly do not turn those 3 - 5 dish days and times them by three, four, or even five at the end of the day! I do not mean to suggest that everyone who tells of big fish days are not being honest, only that there are a "few" fisherman that extend the truth.

Come on folks, the fun is in the fishing, not always how many you can catch! I guess "fish count matters" with some of you, but please, be honest in your numbers, it really doesn't matter! I floated all day Saturday and passed many boats, and most of the people in the boats I passed were not faring well either. I just find it strange how someone can post huge numbers of fish caught, on the same day, same location, as we were. Maybe we missed you catching one of your 30 fish, who knows, but i highly doubt it.

All I know is that the fisherpeople that we talked to, were out there, mostly fishless, but smiling, because it was a great day, fish or no fish. Truthfully!!!

[scorpiondeathlock]

Maybe they were using different bait than you guys were.

[jonny5]

You must be fishing on the same days as me Seems like it was always a lot better yesterday...

 

J5

 

 

[bigbowtrout]

[headscan]

Isn't there a saying that goes something like "fishermen are born honest, but they get over it"?

[fishinhogdaddy]

FINALLY, cgyguy you said it. What others (me) are thinking. Maybe those "secret" spots wouldn't be so sought after if there were "some" truth to fishing reports from some. Being that I also have 30+ years into flyfishing, consider myself as somewhat of an accomplished fisherman (not professing to be an expert), it makes no sense that after floating the river many times, polling the fishers that one will come back and say they caught multitudes of fish on the same day others catch few. Too many stories and egos I think.

BUT, if you aren't "padding" your catch rates, good on ya. But, others are skeptical. Meaning me.

FHD

[skearns]

For me it is usually quality over quantity...but when i do want to keep track of the quantity it goes like this...number of hits, number of those hits that are hooked and then the number of those hooked that are landed...of course it can be like counting drinks...after a certain number the memory plays tricks...lol...sk

[hydropsyche]

When I post my catch rates here, I usually cut the number in half because I know people like you wouldn't believe me.

 

[bigbowtrout]

I lose count after one.

[reevesr1]

I'm confused. I thought every time you went fishing you were supposed to say:

 

"I lost count after 10 or so". I thought that was a rule. Are we saying now it isn't? What about "A couple in the mid teens, 2 over 20 and 1 24?" Are we saying we are supposed to tell the truth about that too? Man, fish counts and size are about to go WAY down!

 

[echinopora]

Hell, I fished the crow with Brian (Hawgstoppah) and I'll tell you, I don't care how many years you've been fishing, some people are just gifted. I got outfished at least 6:1, he was practically catching fish from under my feet.

 

I hit the bow this morning for a few hours, nothing great. 3 bows at 22, 17, 12 and 2 Browns at 19 and 13 plus maybe 5 microbows. Last Monday morning was a completely different story. I had at least 10 fish over 15" by the time the first ray of sunshine hit my back, and they kept coming till I went home just before noon.

 

I don't think a 20-30 fish day is unreasonable if you've fished the river alot, the trout are on that day and especially if you have a boat. If you take the 6:1 beating I took from Brian, and apply it to my last 2 mondays, well.... thats alot of fish even on a slow morning like today.

 

Rob

[cgyguy]

Hell, I fished the crow with Brian (Hawgstoppah) and I'll tell you, I don't care how many years you've been fishing, some people are just gifted. I got outfished at least 6:1, he was practically catching fish from under my feet.

 

I hit the bow this morning for a few hours, nothing great. 3 bows at 22, 17, 12 and 2 Browns at 19 and 13 plus maybe 5 microbows. Last Monday morning was a completely different story. I had at least 10 fish over 15" by the time the first ray of sunshine hit my back, and they kept coming till I went home just before noon.

 

I don't think a 20-30 fish day is unreasonable if you've fished the river alot, the trout are on that day and especially if you have a boat. If you take the 6:1 beating I took from Brian, and apply it to my last 2 mondays, well.... thats alot of fish even on a slow morning like today.

 

Rob

I didn't say that there weren't guys out there that don't get these numbers. I have myself a few times over the years. What i do respect is those who do live on the water and get these numbers. They are more gifted than me or have much more time on the water then myself, no question. My observation was that those that are exagerating, remember the story about PINIOCHIO (did i spell that right?).....

[EvilWeevil]

I actually caught 4 fish while reading this

[fisher26]

One thing to note as that guys are more far more likely to make a report if they've had success. Thus, we read reports that do not reflect a cross section of experience.

[CDone]

I actually caught 4 fish while reading this

 

well, theres coffee all over my keyboard!!!

 

To the OP, read the report again, 3 guys, all day, 30 fish, thats only 10 fish each. So going by the laws of fisherman, you multiply that number by 6 divide by the number of guides on your rod, count the number of fingers on your left hand and subtract 2 and that should give you a pretty accurate number. And once you've done all that, go fishing and keep or don't keep count, because in the end does it really matter?

 

Colin

[duanec]

One thing to note as that guys are more far more likely to make a report if they've had success. Thus, we read reports that do not reflect a cross section of experience.

true dat.

'hey we fished the bow for 17 1/5 hours yeaterday and caught absolutely nothing, and here's the pictures to prove it'

i have total skunkage days and days of [comparitively to others] seemingly redonkulous numbers/size.

i have been on both sides of the coin, as compared to the rest of the boats at the launch at days end.

i know which one is more fun. i've also learned to keep my mouth shut.

and i'm just a tourist, not a guide. if i fish with someone else, i'm usually outclassed.

[bigalcal]

I lose count after one.

So true.....as long as i catch one...i'm happy!!

[bigbowtrout]

I actually caught 4 fish while reading this

 

 

[Guest Sundancefisher]

I have been on this board awhile now and have read many posts where guys are catching more fish in one day than I do all year! All I can say to those that make these statements is" Are you being really honest here?" I mean really, I can see guides having a day on the river like this, as they pretty much live on the water and there will be days when the fishing is PHENOMENAL as stated. However, I have a hard time believing that each night on the water brings dozens of fish regularly to those that regularly post. I have been flyfishing for many years and must be missing something, cause surely, my days on the river do not regularly produce high numbers of fish. Yes, some days are great, but I certainly do not turn those 3 - 5 dish days and times them by three, four, or even five at the end of the day! I do not mean to suggest that everyone who tells of big fish days are not being honest, only that there are a "few" fisherman that extend the truth.

Come on folks, the fun is in the fishing, not always how many you can catch! I guess "fish count matters" with some of you, but please, be honest in your numbers, it really doesn't matter! I floated all day Saturday and passed many boats, and most of the people in the boats I passed were not faring well either. I just find it strange how someone can post huge numbers of fish caught, on the same day, same location, as we were. Maybe we missed you catching one of your 30 fish, who knows, but i highly doubt it.

All I know is that the fisherpeople that we talked to, were out there, mostly fishless, but smiling, because it was a great day, fish or no fish. Truthfully!!!

 

LOL

 

Rule 1. They say 5% of the fishermen catch 95% of the fish...

 

I can't speak to who says what on this board but I have friends that feel catching 5 rainbows is a great day...yet other friends that feel catching 50 rainbows is a great day. I have fished with both and know honestly that both are telling the truth. They also fall nicely into the rule 1 above.

[slingshotz]

As a general rule, most people never post all the skunked days or 1-2 fish days they have, otherwise the board would probably get flooded with posts . It's just like the reverse of the news, the ratio of bad news compared to good news is extremely high as a newspaper full of only good news probably wouldn't sell as well.

 

If I'd posted all the bad days I had, I'd probably have 4x the number of posts....on second thought, probably closer to 95% of my posts......

[reevesr1]

I post my bad days. But hell, I post when I sneeze.

 

 

[fishfreak]

On any given river, you can have people who get skunked and people who have phenomenal days.

 

I remember eating lunch while a guy was fishing a pool at the Liv. In half an hour, with multiple fly changes, he caught nothing. After I finished my lunch, I saw what was rising, and caught 5 in just a few minutes. That guy complained of a slow day on the Liv, while I had a great one. On one of the high mountain lakes, I caught 70+ fish in less than 2 hours, while people around me got a handful the whole day.

 

For years, the same thing happened to me on the Bow, where I'd get skunked or catch 1 or 2 in a whole day while I'd read reports of people catching 10+, or my friends would outfish me at least 5:1. However, with adjustments on technique, location, fly type, fly size, leader length, and a whole lot of practice, I now have success on the Bow more often (still with the odd skunkage).

 

I can see people getting skeptical about some of the high numbers of fish on reports when they're not getting much, but I would say for the most part the reports are accurate. People having the big fish days were probably dialed in or had the fly of the day. There are a lot of people here that could talk about how a change from a size 14 Prince to a size 16 Prince, or pushing their indy up another foot, or adding another split shot changed their slow day into an amazing one. Those subtle differences make a world of difference.

[trailhead]

I think that the numbers that people post are generally close, within reason. But I firmly believe that the sizes are boosted by an inch or two.

[ironfly]

I don't get to fish the bow as much as I'd like. I was there in May with a couple guides who could back me up on this; one of our party was a rookie flyfisher, and all he could hook was browns over 20". Plenty of fish were caught by all present, but no-one else got a single 20" fish, and here's this guy who can barely cast pulling in 2-footers. I'm pretty sure he caught less than 10 fish, but not 1 was less than 20". Good thing we like him.

 

Now if this guy had made a post reporting his day, would you believe him?

 

 

[cgyguy]

Fishfreak says:

"I remember eating lunch while a guy was fishing a pool at the Liv. In half an hour, with multiple fly changes, he caught nothing. After I finished my lunch, I saw what was rising, and caught 5 in just a few minutes. That guy complained of a slow day on the Liv, while I had a great one. On one of the high mountain lakes, I caught 70+ fish in less than 2 hours, while people around me got a handful the whole day."

 

Fishfreak - If I caught 70 fish in two hours, I'd quit or lose count, how did you manage to accurately catch 70 fish in a 120 minutes. Let's see.....120 divided by 70 = 1.71 minutes per fish. That is of course if you don't take time out to pee, change fly, or otherwise! WOW!!!

I told you a thousand times to quit exaggerating!!!