Fly fishing, what I have learned:

Water temperature can not be too warm or too cold
Wind can not be too high or too low
There has to be a hatch
The hatch quantity can not be too large or too small
You have to be at the right place on the lake to see the hatch
You have to identify the type, the size and the color of the hatch
You have to have a fly that matches the hatch in type, in size and in color
You have to know how to cast said fly
There has to be fish, trout specifically or none of this works
The trout have to be fooled by your fly enough to strike
You have to know how to set the hook
Congratulations you have caught a fish!
Now release it.

BTW, I got a new AOTY sponsor!
Yak Rods! They sent me some $50 off gift certificates for their custom kayak fishing rods.
Still a little much for my income level, but if anyone is interested just let me know.
Looks to be mostly custom bass fishing rods.

Thanks Shannon! I am marking my calendar to try for 26th or 27th.

The GOAT board is so inspiring to me - really awesome! Congrats Snopro on taking the top spot for now - well deserved.

Just a reminder to people who happen upon this thread without previous years' context: The GOAT board was a bit of an experiment. The points totals are correct, I believe, but the individual fish it links to are sometimes incorrect.

Quote from: Nobaddays on May 05, 2024, 01:46:59 PM

I guess Jed better get signed up and get back out fishing pretty soon.

If he wasn't busy organizing BCS for us every year I'm sure he'd be well over 2200 GOAT points.  It wouldn't surprise me at all for Jed to sign up, catch a 20" crappie on a ned rig during BCS, and give me a big leapfrog.

I'll sign up and get out there eventually. Planning a tournament and a graduation party on the same day is a little harder than I anticipated. Hope you can hang out for the Luau after the awards ceremony. There will be some awesome food. I hope. Maybe.