Confessions of a Mediocre Still Water Angler

I Must Confess

There is something I must confess, I am a hopelessly mediocre stillwater angler.

Georgetown Lake, near Anaconda Montana, is probably Belle’s and Tim’s favorite place to fish. I have no choice but to go along.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come in the boat with me?” Asks Tim. “No”, I reply.

As a wade angler, I prefer solitude on the water. Well, except for my buddy Belle.

Often I don’t even need to get in the boat to catch fish. When the fishing is good and there’s lots of action, there is no one more focused than myself. However, if the fishing is slow I find myself more interested in other things like ducks.

Tim and I often fish out of two boats. He, in our ClackaCraft Driftboat, and myself in my kick boat.

I’d like to tie on flies that I think Tim won’t use and catch lots of fish. And then when he asks, what flies I caught fish on, I lie.

It’s hard to pay attention when nothing is going on. Sometimes  I buy stock. And then as soon as I’m totally engrossed in what I’m doing, fish bite.

I loathe trolling. Well, unless of course I catch fish that way.

An incoming email can somehow prompt me to check my Facebook feed. And then the next thing you know, I’ve lost another fish.

Trout are basically dumb we inflate their intelligence to conceal our lack of skill.  Opportunities exist for the stillwater angler as Montana‘s lakes at times offer opportunities to catch huge trouble.

As a mediocre angler, I get lucky once in a while. Tim on the other hand, and Belle, have the patience to catch numerous large fish.

So if you see me out there have a little bit of pity for this mediocre, stillwater angler.