So often, for me at least, the fishing on familiar streams is comfortable & somewhat predictable. I may or may not catch fish there, but I've formed (through experience) an idea of what will & will not work there. I can relax & go through the motions, enjoying myself. It's when the fishing gets tough that I start to get really methodical. That's when it becomes challenging.
Another challenge is on days when the stream is busy & crowded with other anglers. Great weather during a big hatch can have the stream as busy as a shopping mall the day after Thanksgiving. It seems like every pool or run that you normally fish is already heavily fortified. What to do? Well, you can go back to the car & drive to another stream, but if that's not an option then you've got to go exploring.
Someone told a long time ago that when the stream is crowded with anglers, you don't want to fish those more popular spots for two reasons: 1) any fish that are in those places were probably put down by the anglers before you & 2) the trout might not even be there - having fled the stampede of anglers to hide out in other locations that are quieter & have cover. I have found this to be true.
I can remember one day fishing a 2 mile stretch of stream that I thought I knew like the back of my hand. I could tell you everywhere the trout were & where to cast & how to mend your line on every spot along that stretch of water. Then one day I went there to fish & it was very crowded. I had never seen it so busy with anglers. Every single fishing spot I came to as I walked along this 2 mile stretch was occupied by other anglers - I mean every spot. There was no place to fish!!......or so I thought.
Well, without going into a long story about my heroics, let's just say that I went exploring that day & hit a lot of the "in-between" water that I would always just walk right past - & it turned out to be a very good day.
Okay, hurrah for me; but that episode got me thinking as I drove home that night. Why didn't I know there would be fish there? Why did I always walk past those spots on less crowded days? Shouldn't I have known better?
The next time I went back to that 2 mile stretch (about a week & a half later) it wasn't crowded at all. I could have just about any place on the stream that I wanted to fish, but I went back to the "in-between" water & met with success again. That really drove it home & made a point to me: I didn't know that stretch of stream as well as I thought I did. Human arrogance strikes again!!
You probably don't have that problem. You probably keep en open mind when reading a stream. But for me, especially when the stream gets crowded with other anglers, I'm going to go exploring & hopefully learn something new about a section of stream that I arrogantly thought I was an "expert" on. Wish me luck!!!