Hope is your greatest tool. You keep the faith that the fish you’re after are in the river and in the mood to play. It is a game of persistence and perseverance, and perhaps just a bit of madness. These fish return to rivers during some of the most turbulent weather of the year. You must be prepared to face some of the most extreme conditions imaginable, from snow, sleet, and bitterly cold winds to endless, drenching rains, and even arid dry doldrums in the high desert.
Pursuing a fish that doesn’t eat and that has survived such harsh and difficult conditions is like going on a quest. You go out on an adventure to “slay” an aquatic dragon and whether you’re swinging flies or nymphing or whether you’re chasing steelhead or Atlantic salmon, tiny sea-run trout or monstrous Chinook, every anadromous fish you catch takes a little part of your soul. Yet it is a part of you that is given freely...
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