SFR Losing Interest

Sorta fishing-related
jaredoconnor

jaredoconnor

Peabrain Chub
I’m not as keen on fishing as I used to be. Not sure what to think about it.

I took my dad on a week long trip during November. The fishing was great, but 2 days into the trip I missed my kids. That was a bummer for the rest of the trip. I think I might be done with fishing trips. I realized I would rather go on a family vacation where I can sneak off for a couple of days, but spend the rest of the trip with my family.

I went fishing for the first time this year yesterday. I fished Snoqualmie. I ran into 5 other people fishing, throughout the day. I caught nothing. It sucked. I’m losing my skills as quickly as I gained them. When I got home, I found myself wishing I had stayed home and made progress on cleaning out the garage instead.

I’ve been fly fishing on and off for 28 years. Never really lost my mojo like this before. Anyone else had a similar experience?
 
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Ive definitely had ebbs and flows in terms of how much I'm fishing. It sounds like your priorities have reshuffled and in a generally positive way, towards your kids and home. And I don't think it's too alarming to dislike a crowded skunking.

I bet those lost skills are mostly rust that would shake off pretty quick, but also trying to fish when you'd rather be doing something else is a great recipe to look like you suck at flyfishing in my experience.
 
My appetite for fishing changes season to season and year to year. Between family support and commitments and work requirements fishing seems to take a back burner.

In your original post you indicated on your family vacation you looked forward to sneaking off for a couple of days. Why sneak off? Can you include them in your fishing time?

What I did was stay at a vacation spot where I could fish, the girls had lots of acreage with trails to ride their bikes, shopping was near by (20 miles away), had yellow duckling races in a stream, went and saw lots of wildlife, went for hikes, day trips to Phillipsburg, ghost towns, sapphire mine etc. When the girls would go to town, was my fishing time. We went to the same vacation spot for decades. That helped our family get excited about vacations because they knew it well.

But I still needed 'me time' to recharge. I always plan a trip, varies on length, that is something I plan for which helps me get invigorated and look forward to. Sometimes I would meet up with my BIL, other times it was just me.
 
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My interest in flyfishing has waxed and waned numerous times over the past 65 years.

The only constant has been my interest in being out in the sticks enjoying nature...and my other interests have always revolved around that fundamental need.

I have found, however, that I'm no longer interested in outdoor activities that require multi-day commitments and extended travel. The more an activity resembles a major project the less I'm interested.

And I truly despise today's air travel and hope that I shall never have to endure that particularly revolting nightmare ever again.
 
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My wife and I both work from home, so me getting river time is essential to both of our mental wellbeing. Lately I’ve been finding myself drifting more to the rafting and camping part of it, focusing less and less on the actual fishing. I still try and float fishy rivers when there are fish around, and I still enjoy the fishing I do. I’ve just switched priorities. It’s made my trips much more relaxing and I come home in a better frame of mind.

Changing target species or techniques (trout spey?) can also revitalize your mojo.
 
krusty said:
My interest in flyfishing has waxed and waned numerous times over the past 65 years.

The only constant has been my interest in being out in the sticks enjoying nature...and my other interests have always revolved around that fundamental need.

I have found, however, that I'm not interested in outdoor activities that require multi-day commitment and extended travel. The more an activity resembles a major project the less I'm interested.
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I have somewhat similar thoughts. I strongly dislike extended travel involving multiple locations. One day to get to my spot, 10+ days on location and then one day to get home. I can only stand 'Are We There Yet?' for a little bit. Short side trips (less than an hour or so away) with the family or fishing is fine.
 
I thought I was all alone, but my fishing time is way down, I like to fish in decent weather, low wind, passable wading conditions, stuff like that, I thought I might be turning into a sissy but no I'd rather do a variety things the last few years and fishing doesn't dominate my time any longer.

I must say I really do enjoy fishing though but at a more relaxed pace and attitude. I like to walk along small water and hunt for natives, even small fish are satisfying nowadays. Also my sessions can be down to an hour or two, no more dawn to dusk stuff. I do like to look around a lot. Running water has always intrigued me.

In lieu of that I like to read, film photograph, walk, some yardwork etc.., really rather vanilla stuff.

Naps, I really like naps in the afternoons.

I guess I'm over the hill...................... Oh, I'm 74, things sure changed in the last 4 years.
 
A lot of these comments resonate with me. My passion for fishing has always waxed and waned, I'll get really into a certain fishery and do it as much as possible, and then my passion for a different activity will pick up and I'll focus on that for a while.

I've always had two major passions in life, 1) fishing / fly tying and 2) anything mechanical / automotive or hands-on crafty type stuff, i.e. building things. I often get caught up in the second one and fishing will take a back seat for several months. I always seem to come back to it though.

I still check in here daily for the fellowship, even if I'm not currently fishing a lot.
 
Interests change. Maybe that's what's happening with you. I have always wanted to and liked to fish since I was 5 years old, and I don't see that changing for me. What I noticed 40-some years ago while I was doing a house remodel and addition is that the less often I fished, the less I felt a need to go fishing. But when I did go fishing, the more often I fished, the more I felt the need to go fishing. That may be like an addiction.

Now that I'm older I want to do things for fun. So whether it's hiking, fishing, or cycling, I want to do it when conditions are favorable. Last fall I was set to begin a multi-day hike on a Sunday, but it poured down rain like hell, so I got a motel room in Winthrop for the night and began hiking on Monday, when the weather was supposed to be stable for several days. I won't go steelheading when it's ice or snow or 90 degrees or hotter. I just go when conditions are more pleasant. I'm in Escalante now, meeting some hiking partners for dinner. We start Monday, but by the middle of the month, it gets too damn hot for me to enjoy hiking. So being choosy is a luxury that comes from being retired.
 
Jared it may be time to figure out a different fishery. It seems like a lot of the year round guys have a target for a month or two and then move on to a next target. And the next target, like Salmo says, may not be fishing. Maybe it's mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, trail running. Whatever you can do to get you out of the house and headspace that makes you ever conclude that cleaning the garage is time well spent. Garage cleaning should be done only in the most miserable of weather and under considerable duress. Nobody ever has deathbed regrets about failures to organize garage junk

Right now ish there are big fat surface cruising lake trout on the reservoirs off I90 at Sno pass....There's a fishery to figure out that then vanishes in a couple of weeks when those fish go back down deep...

Or... Escalante, damn that sounds fun like Salmo G is doing. Slot Canyons, slick rock, Capital Reef, Indian ruins.....Shake it up a notch, bring the family, nail down a fantastic bunch of weird new memories!

Or if you can't shake the garage stuff, maybe I overstepped in criticizing what could be a passion... how much you charge an hour? :)
 
You might be ready to give up the euro rig and get into trout spey. It is a constant learning process, the casts will never be mastered, the technique although dead simple has many nuances that need to be refined if you want to actually catch fish. You will never get the numbers of fish you did with the euro set up, but it’s not about the numbers, it’s about being outside, observing, and continuing to learn.
 
I did pick up a liking for BFS fishing in the last 5 years and I do have a very good time fishing hardbaits for trout, bass and panfish in my local river the So. Branch of the Potomac in the West Virginia highlands. I can competently cast sub 1 gram spoons to amazing distances. I did take a lot of practice to get to that level, another expensive hobby. I do switch out all my trebles for barbless singles, man those trebles are vicious things. I've got the birdsnests issues mostly solved too.
 
Well, with age my passion for the sport is still there, but my physical ability to do what I did 40-50 years ago is certainly not the same. I cant spend 12 hours on the water anymore…I cant hike as far, even standing long hours takes a toll on the back. I just spent a considerable amount of time chucking streamers, and my body told me to try another method not so physically demanding, so I began to fish drys and soft hackles (which was still productive, but far fewer casts per hour).

I used to be a hard core off roading enthusiast…not so much anymore…now I more enjoy fs roads and not focused on climbing boulder fields.

But I still love being in the outdoors…I hope that never changes…
 
krusty said:
And I truly despise today's air travel and hope that I shall never have to endure that particularly revolting nightmare ever again.
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rsagebrush said:
Naps, I really like naps in the afternoons.
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Agreed.

I find myself fishing out of boats more or doing floats. Busting brush is losing it's appeal. And, I'm trying out new fisheries since we have lost 99% of our steelhead fishing.
 
WDFW Bass Week takes place annually in July. If that doesn’t reinvigorate folks passion for fishing, likely nothing will.
SF
 
I have not lost interest. And can’t see it happening anytime soon. That said, I don’t have kids and all my immediate family outside of my wife is 3000 miles away.

If you still have the itch, but are just bored of the fishing you have been doing as of late I think @Wadin' Boot advice of trying new fisheries is a great idea. That helped me a ton after living in MT, ID, CO and within a stones throw of one of the best trout streams in New England before moving to WA, I got legitimately depressed with the stream options available to me in western WA. I chased some little blue lines but it was not the same. Then I found salmon, SRC, bass, trouts in lakes, lingcod, etc.. Now my plate is full year around.

If you are just not feeling it now, take a break. No harm in that. Then, when your kids are old enough, maybe take them out to the local pond with a can of worms to catch panfish. Time with them, maybe a little fishing for you. Maybe sharing the sport with them will reignite your own passion down the road.
 
I took a 4 year break, didn't stop fishing completely but just didn't focus on it. Now older, I just like to get out and fish a little in a beautiful spot. It can be just hanging out with a buddy or alone. I find sea run fishing a perfect outing. Just hit the tides right and you can be done before the family gets going. I don't have kids, but caring for mom is similar in many ways. I like to be there to cook dinner for her and catch up on her days.

Hang in there! Enjoy the family and I'm sure the passion for fishing will come back whenever you're ready! Cheers!
 
Life has its ups and downs.
I like to catch a fish when I go fishing.
Big, small doesn't matter. I just want to fool'em.
Lately I just can't get motivated to go wet a line.
Is the river to high, muddy, or do I have other things that get in the way of fishing.
Cost of fuel has gotten me in an uproar.
O'well I'll get over it a go fishing soon.
 
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