Five stages of fishing

[Zoran]

Found this image online. Do you agree to this philosophy and where you are at the moment? I am on my way out of trophy hunter stage and I think I am entering stage of Method.

I have:
Tenkara rod
Orvis Fiberglass small stream rod
Winston Small stream rod
Diamondback euro rod
Nam trout spey rod
Nam spey rod
Hardy 8wt 10ft salmon rod
Bamboo rod
…

 

[Jake Watrous]

How long does each step take?

I’ve been on “Trophy Numbers Hunter” for 40 years. I wanna catch all the fish and the biggest fish in every body of water I’m allowed to fish or “allowed” to fish.


Edit: removed list of gear as I misunderstood.

 

[Zoran]

That is not necessarily bad. You must be at a happy stage of fishing life. Your own Nirvana!

 

[Zoran]

I listed my fishing rods to point to fishing methods. That is how I understood Methods stage.

 

[DanielOcean]

How long does each step take?

I’ve been on “Trophy Numbers Hunter” for 40 years. I wanna catch all the fish and the biggest fish in every body of water I’m allowed to fish or “allowed” to fish.

Not sure why we're listing gear, but I have and fished the following in the last year:

1 x 000 weight
1 x 0 weight
2 x 2 weight
1 x 3 weight
1 x 4 weight
4 x 6 weight
2 x 8 weight
1 x 11 weight
1 x 12 weight
1 x 13 weight
1 x 17/18 weight

1 x 7 weight spey
2 x 8 weight spey
1 x 9 weight spey

Holy shit! I am seriously behind.

 

[Zak]

I'm one step forward, two steps back on those stepping stages.

 

[clarkman]

Personally, I can be at any one of those stages depending on the day and depending on the fishery.

 

[_WW_]

Those steps pretty much define my day.

 

[Tom Butler]

I think I got one foot on the method step and one on the master step. I like big fish, and I like numbers, but as long as I get ONE, I'm good for the day. Maybe that makes me a beginner. I learn so much from folks here maybe that's my true location. Some days I have trouble deciding how I want to fish, anything from Euro to Boo.

 

[onefish]

Everybody who chases steel here on Vancouver Island is a master due to very low run size. The rest of the stair thing seems rather elitist to me.

 

[Nick Clayton]

Been fishing for nearly 40 years now. Not a whole lot has changed. I want to catch em on the fly if I have my choice, but not against gear fishing if that's what is required.

Beyond that, I just like fishing.

 

[Mossback]

I just like fishing

Yup...
No real reason to do something unless you like it.
Fishing is fun, regardless of how or why you do it.

 

[Chucker]

Labeling yourself as being at one of those “steps” says more about you than it does about fishing.

 

[Stonedfish]

Someone should list how many light rain shells and pairs of Sealskinz socks they own.
SF

 

[Jake Watrous]

Someone should list how many light rain shells and pairs of Sealskinz socks they own.
SF

Patrick, is that you?

 

[Josh]

The journey IS the destination.

 

[ifsteve]

The problem is that they are quite mingled especially the "master" stage. And that stage is utterly dumb anyways. I actually feel sorry for guys who say the just want to go fishing and don't care about catching anything. I get you can enjoy a day on the water without catching the fish. Lord knows I do it all the time. LOL BUT I still want to catch fish badly. If I didn't then what is the point of going? I can enjoy being in nature of whatever you want to call it in cheaper ways than fishing!!

 

[Merle]

The one stage I always see missing on those stage lists is "catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself". For me that was one of the biggest milestones when I was starting out.

 

[Nick Clayton]

The problem is that they are quite mingled especially the "master" stage. And that stage is utterly dumb anyways. I actually feel sorry for guys who say the just want to go fishing and don't care about catching anything. I get you can enjoy a day on the water without catching the fish. Lord knows I do it all the time. LOL BUT I still want to catch fish badly. If I didn't then what is the point of going? I can enjoy being in nature of whatever you want to call it in cheaper ways than fishing!!

Totally agreed. I too never understood this concept. I can stand in a river and enjoy nature without spending 1k+ on gear if that's all it's about.

There are a lot of really cool extras that come with a day spent on the water, but all of those things can be achieved without bringing a rod or making a single cast.

 

[Zoran]

Some of my friends here think fly casting competitions and people who compete are dumb because they are not targeting fish. I personally never watched it. Except Whitney Gould once. It was impressive. She was not fishing there.