Sure, catching fish – any fish – is the basic reason you head out to water with rod in hand. Grab a rod, tie on your tried-and-true favorite fly and beat the water. At least, that’s what I tend to do.
I get to the water, wade right in, and start casting, hoping for a quick bite and thinking about the one to follow. Many times I approach fishing the same way I did when I started out as a child decades ago. Gimme fish, gimme fish now, and gimme lots of them.
Sure, a big fish would be nice, and on occasion, I hook into one I can be really proud of, and I spend an extra few seconds getting a quick measurement along the butt end of the rod before releasing it. But what if I could catch a big one more often? How do I catch the biggest fish of my life? I have my idea of where that fish would come from, but how do I fish for that elusive monster while still retaining the excitement I have while heading to the river or stream?
Fishing for truly big fish can be difficult. Tedious. Time-consuming. I recently came across this piece from Orvis that sheds light on how to go about finding large fish. And guess what? The actual fishing part is just a small part of the process of catching the biggest fish of your life.
