29.03.2024

Are Anglers Required to Have Patience?

Then the idea of patience can be retired, because patience is now replaced by expectation. As a guide, I sometimes struggle with how much information to give someone vs. letting them figure it out on their own.

I guess it goes back to the whole “If you give a man a fish thing. It is most definitely a practice in patience.  I get torn between wanting to get the task done and wanting to allow the person to learn.

The time spent fishing, is not necessarily the time spent catching, however it can be time spent building knowledge and experience. This when applied properly can lead to interpreting the behavior of fish. Once that experience is gained and turned into knowledge and understanding it can then be use to teach others the art of fishing.

I also don’t want the other person to think that I am dragging them along. If they get frustrated then it is of no use. They will dismiss everything that they are doing as busy work. The goal is at the end they either know how to do it or have enough information to figure out how to do it on their own. It’s a balancing act.

True Fishermen are not Patient – They are however Expectant. Armed with experience and past knowledge anglers know the right times, right places, and the right baits, so they are expecting to catch fish. You see “expect” is an interesting word. It means looking forward to something. I never pick up a fishing rod and reel that I don’t fully expect to catch fish.

An experienced angler expects to catch fish. He did not wait, he was not patient, he filled his time watching and learning from water around him, absorbing all the subtle hints.

Therefore, the difference between anglers who regularly catch fish, and people who don’t, may be that true anglers have little patience when it comes time to go fishing. They have done the planning, have the gear ready, and are ready to go. Hold them up with gear loading problems, re-fueling issues, problems at the ramp and watch them begin getting a little grumpy.

If patience is a virtue; I suppose that means that some anglers are virtuous and I guess that really pleases many, but most really probably care less; not because they regarded fishing as being terribly important, but because they suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant, and not nearly as much fun.

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