Man vs. Trout

You are the intruder, you are in the fish's domain. The trout is much more familiar with the surroundings. Therefore you begin at a disadvantage. Furthermore your desire to catch the fish, although strong, is undoubtedly less powerful that the trout's instinct to survive. Beware. Treat that trout with the utmost respect. Act with extreme caution. Err on the conservative side in all that you do. Aim at avoiding offering all of those half chances of detection. Aim at total deception. If you feel that the trout can possibly get a glimpse of you - shift back, drop lower. If you feel your leader might be a fraction short, lengthen it, and so on. With an ultra-sensitive attitude to approaching the fish and to avoiding detection you will be tuned for success

This was taken from Les Hill and Graeme Marshall's Catching Trout, a book dedicated to trout fishing in New Zealand. It quite accurately describes my daily struggles.

I spent lots of hours on the trout streams this week. Blessed with good weather and willing fish, I was stoked to be outside. I wish I could say that I fished well though. But alas, the trout kicked my butt. I had two hooks straightened, broke off a couple, had a bunch shake the hook during the fight, and spooked an embarrassing number. All I can say is that I was simply humbled. I was lucky enough to get a few in for photographs though. What an awesome week...