Missed opportunities often come without warning. When I miss a trout
who gently sips at my fly it's often that my timing is off by just a
split second. What hurts the most is when I have been spending the
previous hours diligently figuring out the correct fly placement or
retrieve, or the right pattern or most likely changing all factors
over and over. Sometimes I feel like I add a negative energy to the
set up with my frustration in achieving success. Then an osprey
glides overhead and I get caught up in jealous wonder of her seemingly
effortless, gliding quest for the same trout. My mind wanders off my
game as I look for her snag nest in the treetops nearby and catch
sight of the glorious glacier capped mountain scape that I have
neglected to notice all day. It is then that a trout rises- when I
take my mind off my goal and the energy releases from my line and
allows a fish to come into the vicinity to swipe at it.
