Get A Fish You Lousy Bum

Photos By: Justin Dobson     

You’ve heard it before; first impressions are everything.  Whether you’re interviewing for a job or fishing the same applies.  Your approach, set-up, and first cast is crucial.

Doing things right means you don’t wake up late and run into your interview late with a shirt that isn’t pressed.  Consider your fly choice, weight, strike indicator depth, etc. and be tied up and ready to go.  Read the river and consider where fish would be holding to best catch passing food without exerting precious energy.

Don’t lead off with questions about pay or vacation time (although important when planning your next trip).  Approach the water with caution and only get in if you have to.  Ease in, move slow and keep your distance.  The best way to approach a fish is from behind him, staying as far away as your skill allows for you to place an accurate cast.  The closer you get to where you think fish will be holding, the lower you must go.  Don’t be afraid to get on your knees when you need to get in really close (a last resort in an interview).

Leave the tux at home and dress for success.  Move slow, use existing foliage as cover and wear muted colors or earth tone colors that will best camouflage you.  Consider your fly line or indicator drift to avoid it passing over fish.  Avoid slapping the water with your fly line on a bad cast.

Did you eat beans for breakfast?  If you place a bad cast out of the strike zone, act, like it never happened, let it drift through and better it next time.  Don’t drag it through the water or try to recast.

You got an offer.  Think before you place that first cast where your flies should land to get to waiting fish.  And don’t be afraid to counter offer.  If you don’t hook-up on the first cast, think what you may have done wrong and cast again.  Sometimes you get it right on the first cast and sometimes it takes twenty.  But I can guarantee if you show up without pants on, standing tall or dragging feet upstream, you’re going to spook any chance you had at landing that trophy.