Looking for Pattern Discrepancies on the South Platte River:

Rick described strike detection to his son Tim and son-in-law Nate, as a looking for pattern discrepancies on the river.  

Something just feels out of place, “not right,” or different.  The tiny strike indicator or the tip of the fly line or any section of the leader that you can spot, suddenly breaks the pattern of drifting along, and slightly hesitates. That is when you strike.

All three of them were good at recognizing these pattern discrepancies on the South Platte and hooked many fish.  The strikes were subtle and with the skies overcast and gray limiting visibility, they learned to rely on other clues;  clues revealing a discrepancy in the normal pattern.  

There were changes in the weather patterns also. Cold overcast, with spitting snow would give way to the warmth of the sun. We could briefly warm our hands.  Fish would rise heavy to BWO’s, but then they would stop, only to start up again. Were they rising more when the air warmed up or while overcast?   

What patterns were the BWO’s and the fish following?  What variables changed the pattern? Were the bugs suddenly hatching in greater numbers or were the fish rising in greater numbers?  Did the cooler moist air prevent the duns from drying their wings and therefore they were on the surface longer drawing fish up from below? Was the wind blowing the bugs around too much for the fish to track?  Were our repeated casts putting the fish down? Did we need to just rest the hole?  It was difficult to identify the patterns.  And how do you find the discrepancies when the patterns seem random?

I remain largely ignorant of the creation and its mysteries.

Yet, like many mysteries that come to us, they often occur by breaking through the normal patterns. Windows of opportunity that appear momentarily and then vanish like a clear slick spot on the surface of the currents that allows us to see the large fish hiding in the seam lines.

While we made our casts, connecting to fish, sometimes seemingly “some-thing” of God broke through the discrepancies of our overly patterned lives. And, like the strikes, all very subtle and easy to miss.  Even the discrepancies with their deeper meanings can easily pass through our nets and drift on down the river to be contemplated another day.