Stepping Outside of the Box

Every once in a while when I'm fishing, I start to get bored with certain aspects of the sport. Sure, there's always the peace and serenity of being outdoors, and all of the other touchy feely stuff that goes along with the whole experience, but sometimes, you find yourself fishing less and less and less excited and interested in fishing. When that happens I just go grab a fishing magazine, any magazine, and look for some divine inspiration. And up and to this point in my fishing career I've always found it, something that keeps me interested, something a little different to try, a technique, something else to master.

Sometimes that thing might take a while for me to gain interest in, sometimes it's fleeting and I won't think of it the next hundred times I head to the river, then I'll see something that reminds me of it and I'll get interested in that facet of fishing again. Over the years it's been everything from tube flies, to czech nymphing, to tandem flies, to different nymphing techniques, to different casts, to spey casting, to two handed rods, to small dry flies, to giant streamers, you name something that involves freshwater fishing and I've either dabbled in it or at least given it some serious thought.

For a lot of us, we might not have the cash sitting around to go do a two week bender in the Salt, or chase exotic species around the world, some of us have a wife, kids, work, a life that ties us to what we're doing. Not that giving it all up and chasing your dreams isn't admirable, but despite all the blogs and articles written on being a "fishbum" the reality for most is that we don't have the luxury of a trust fund and unlimited resources to pursue fish all over the planet, a lot of us are stuck to fishing in our backyards and around the area we live in, and because of that, sometimes we do get burned out.

That's why you have to start thinking outside of the box in your fishing pursuits - try out some new things to keep yourself interested... There's a pile of things that you can come up with on your own just by reading a few articles on fishing, but try doing that and you might find yourself with information overload. So pick one. For me lately it's been two handed rods for trout, just for something different. It's something that I've tried off and on and haven't really ever dedicated myself to learning. Mostly because fishing for trout with two handed big rods seems like a waste since a lot of the time you aren't catching fish worthy of a bend in a rod longer than 12 feet. But put yourself out on some big water on a big river and you'll be able to have fun just learning the casts and the challenge of putting the flies in the right places, or in this case fishing some different water with time tested techniques on a bigger longer rod is actually a lot of fun.

For more ideas read a little piece on my Tip of the Month at - http://tinyurl.com/2gy2s3n but do yourself a favor this off season and pick up a few new tricks for your fishing bag. It will make you a better fishermen and it will keep you enjoying something that's good for all of us, being out in the great outdoors chasing around an animal with a brain the size of a pea...