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> > A bit of wisdom by Gonzo



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TroutnutDecember 9th, 2006, 8:59 pm
Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2737		I just wanted to highlight a simple but profound statement Gonzo made in another discussion.

He wrote:
Sometimes we attribute that success to things that really played an insignificant role.


I don't have much to add, but I think that's one of the most important and least recognized pitfalls in learning about fly fishing. Everybody does it, but we would all do well to try to avoid it. If we're too quick to attribute success to one factor, it's easy to overlook the real lesson.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
GONZODecember 9th, 2006, 10:58 pm
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681		Thanks Jason, but I know you're only using words like "wisdom" and "profound" so that the other guys won't take David seriously and vote me off the forum! :)

Honestly, I only said what I did because I've made that mistake so many times myself--and I felt like such a dope when I discovered the truth of the situation. At such times, I try to remember Edison and the electric lamp. The old story goes that T. A. tried hundreds of filaments before discovering one that would work. When someone asked him why he persisted after so many failures, Edison denied having failed at all. He claimed that he had succeeded in discovering hundreds of things that didn't work!

"If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise."
-- William Blake, "The Proverbs of Hell"

Now that's about the only kind of wisdom a foolish fly fisher like me can justifiably claim! :)

Profoundly,
Gonzo
LittleJDecember 10th, 2006, 11:29 am
Hollidaysburg Pa

Posts: 251		I couldn't agree more. If fly fisherman (myself included) spent as much time working on their presentation as they did tinkering with leader,lines and other random insignificant items, there would be a lot more trout thinking twice about their next meal... Although the more I think about it we really don't need trout to be any more difficult than they already are. So tinker away.
Jeff
MartinlfDecember 10th, 2006, 7:07 pm
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3233		Jeff, thank you for this reminder. I'm going to do my best to make presentation my primary focus from now on, and to make those Little J trout a bit harder for you to catch if I can, knowing all the while that you'll find a way to present a fly they can't resist, whatever my efforts. :)
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell

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