The Mental Game - Confidence

I got a call from a discouraged local angler last spring, looking to spend an afternoon on the water.  It was mid May and Bob had just explained he had fished every single day of the month and had yet to catch a trout.  This was the type of trip I jumped on, as it presented an interesting challenge. Could I help turn things around for him before he gives up fly fishing in VT all together? 

​I met Bob a few afternoon’s later on a mid sized stream that held both wild and stocked fish.  It was a gorgeous afternoon and the river looked great, running just a touch off color and a bit on the high side. The water temps were cooler than average for mid May, but the trout had been very willing to eat a nymph the whole week.  I knew it would be a good day to get Bob back on track.  Dawning waders, and getting to know each other, I Identified what I believed to be his issue before ever seeing him cast a fly.  Bob explained he fished Montana once a year and always did well, but when he got back here he just had no confidence that a fish would eat his fly, or if there were even trout in the river to eat his offering.  After a short amount of coaching the problem was remarkably clear, Bob was getting bites, his confidence was so low that he talked himself out of setting the hook. At first, even when I told him to set he would half set and not hook or feel the fish.

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