Did considerably better this morning - two 12" rainbows and a very
nice brown on wet flies.

I took "Old Faithful" this morning - 8' Ugly Stick with an old beat up
generic fly reel, generic 6 weight line and a tin of old beat up
flies.

I have a tendency to have faith in things that I've used for a long
time. I've owned this rod for at least 20 years and it produces for me
on a steady basis. I honestly don't know why this particular set up
works for me.

The Loomis/Scierra setup is definitely "high tech" - light and
designed to allow for accurate casting. I bought it for exactly those
reasons - with the bad right shoulder, lighter should be better. This
winter when I bought the gear, I played with it in the back yard every
other day or so and found it to be very accurate with the variety of
casting and retrieve techniques I use on a regular basis. I developed
a great deal of confidence that I would be able to use this
combination effectively.

On the water it was a very different story. It wasn't a question of
technique - I've never had a problem with technique and presentation.
Fly fishing is a natural mind set for me mechanically. Mentally too.
It's an interesting dichotomy because, as Scotty will tell you, I am a
sort-of impatient person when it comes to fishing. Fly fishing is
very different in that you have to slow down and think it through. It
was more a question, or feeling, that something just wasn't "right".

By comparison, this morning was very different - everything just felt
"right" - technique was spot on, presentation excellent (hey, it's not
a brag - just something that I'm good at) and I felt better using this
old beat up combination than I did with the new gear.

Thinking about it on the way home (philosophical examination) I also
tend to do the same with other techniques - I will almost always use
rods I built or Ugly Sticks, I use Penn reels in salt and Quantum
reels in fresh and have for years. I prefer spin reels in salt and
bait casters in fresh. Medium rods with whippy tips rather than heavy
sticks - etc., etc., etc.

It's not that I don't like to try new techniques and gear
experimenting to get the new concepts and gear to work effectively.
I'm always trying to learn something new and I do charter with other
skippers a couple of times per year for that exact reason. It's more
a case of being more comfortable with what I've known and used for
years.

It's interesting.