Sight fishing

[CR]

For a fly fishing story I am writing, would love to know IF you prefer sight fishing and more importantly, WHY? What is it about sight fishing that you find most compelling?

 

[Pete]

Actually, no....
If I can see the fish, I tend to strike too soon.

 

[lightenup]

For a fly fishing story I am writing, would love to know IF you prefer sight fishing and more importantly, WHY? What is it about sight fishing that you find most compelling?

I love to sight fish. I think it is the anticipation, being absolutely sure that a fish is there, and watching it react, or not, to whatever your plan of attack is. Sometimes I do what Pete said, but that is part of the fun..restraint...

 

[tomfly]

I enjoy sight fishing not just the catching aspect it allows one to observe the behavior of the fish. I have stood on the bank and observed fish using 4 or 5 different feeding stations. This changed a long held belief that I had that a fish would only hold and feed in the same spot. If I did not see the fish I would have made the assumption that there were more than one fish feeding on those stations. On a different occasion I was walking down the stream and saw a fairly large rainbow holding in a section of the stream where most people do not fish. The fish was huddled against the bank in roughly 6 inches of water. I thought to myself how many guys walked by this fish without noticing him. I watched him for a while. He did nothing he seemed to be content just laying in the current. He did not appear to be Nymphing or any sign of feeding. I said to myself this opportunity does not present itself often. I position myself about 20 feet up stream from the fish and let a small Henryville drift down to him. He was eager to take it. I hooked him and fought the fish despite the fact that I had a light tippet. While fighting the fish a crowd of observers stopped to watch the fish make run after run in a desperate attempt to free himself I knew I would never land him with an 8X tippet. But I gave a gallant effort. On the forth run he was off. I did learn another lesson from observing that fish. I was able to remove another misconception that I had. Until that day I believed that a large fish would never hold in shallow water.

 

[Trout Nazi]

I like sight fishing more because of the observation also. I caught fish in the Gamelands once the same way. The place was packed, head to tail-out, with almost everyone fishing the far bank. As I sat there wondering why I wasted my time even trying, a saw fish rising in a foot of water 40 feet out, behind everyone else. So, I ended up catching an 18" brown behind everyones back. Couple of minutes later I caught a 16''er out of the same spot.

 

[JeffK]

With out a doubt - I prefer sight fishing. Sight fishing gets the old hunter-gatherer instincts going in a way chuck and chance it can't. It sharpens your skills of observation, and a big part of fishing in my mind is slowing down and observing the natural world. I'm always surprised how many fishermen don't see all the trout you can see most times fishing. You can see the trout under most normal conditions. How many people just wade in the water and keep at it even with all those dark shadows heading into hiding. I have a lot more success spotting fish. That should make sense - throwing a fly where a fish is should do better than throwing a fly where a fish is supposed to be. Finally, lots of valuable fishing information is gained through observing fish. Where are they? What is their mood? Are they feeding? Are they nervous? Are they sitting on the bottom in a neutral mood? Are they off the bottom and ready to feed?

A lot lost in not watching the fish in my mind.