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Knowledge vs. Experience

by Benoit Farcy

We always say that nothing beats experience. In my humble opinion, a great amount of knowledge is almost as valuable. It is possible to gain knowledge almost anywhere, even on the road. On the other hand, we need to get out and fish to gain experience. Here are two ways to improve!

The two worst seasons for a fly fisherman are fall and winter. The forecast, the weather, the cold water, the ice, these are all factors we have to take into consideration when it’s time to decide if we go out and fish or stay at home around the fireplace.

It is now possible to improve at fishing without leaving the comfort of our home! Remember when we were kids at school and the teacher gave us homework to do? Most of us didn’t understand at the time why we had homework as we already spent multiples hours practicing at school daily. Now, at an adult age, I know why. We need to do our homework in order to work effectively when we get into a real-life situation. That's what I’m talking about here: Those cozy moments around the fireplace are the best time you can have to search on different subjects.

Nowadays, it's possible to browse the internet and try to learn as much as we can. We have a worldwide database at our fingertips. This means we can search and find techniques that are used in Europe and adapt them to our North American fishery. Doing that kind of adaptation and research can mean that we will be able to present a fly in a new way our fish has never seen, which can make a difference between skunking, or taking the fish of a lifetime.

When catching a fish with a new technique, it helps us understand more about fishing in general and is a great reminder that homework always pays off. We can then share this new information with our friends and they can add their own vision to it.

At the end of the day, we only fish a few techniques for our catches. All around the world, there are thousands of different techniques, flies and types of presentations that are used and that are waiting to be discovered and tried by us. 

Fall Fishing, it's a thing?
by Benoit Farcy

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