We’ve all heard it, maybe even said it ourselves: “I did everything right… so why didn’t it eat?” It’s the phrase that comes out around the dinner table after a tough day on the water. An angler sits back, frustrated, expectations unmet, replaying the cast they thought was perfect. From their perspective, they checked every box. However, the truth is that in fly fishing, that mindset never helps.

Because the anglers who get the most out of these trips don’t sit around blaming the fish or the weather. They’re the ones asking questions. Why didn’t my fly land where I wanted? The tarpon followed but didn’t eat - was it my strip, my angle, or the fly itself? The permit saw my crab but didn’t move - what should I try differently next time? How could I have beaten that tarpon faster?

That curiosity is what separates the frustrated from the fulfilled. I’ve seen it a hundred times: one angler sulks about everything that went wrong, while another is grinning, excited not just about the fish they caught but about what they learned and what they’ll do better next time. Same conditions, same flats, completely different outcomes. The difference isn’t skill, it’s mindset. Well, maybe skill, but that skill was learned through mindset and curiosity.

Consider children and how quickly they acquire new skills. At one point in their lives, almost every answer and every question boiled down to “why.” Why is the sky blue? Why do you do it that way? Why didn’t that work? It’s that same relentless curiosity that makes them learn so fast. Somewhere along the way, many of us lose that. But the anglers who keep or learn the curiosity - who approach every day on the water with patience, humility, and a willingness to learn - are the ones who keep improving long after everyone else plateaus.

Not to be repetitive, but. Even the best quarterbacks throw interceptions, but they also step right back up and complete the next pass. They don’t let one mistake ruin the next opportunity. Fly fishing is no different. Every missed shot, every fish that didn’t eat, every blown cast is just another chance to get better. Opportunities, without opportunity, we can’t even ask the why. Check back next week for some thoughts on this.

So the next time you catch yourself thinking, “I did everything right… why didn’t it eat?” — stop. Be humble. Be curious. Ask why. After all, it’s only fly fishing. And if you let it, it will teach you more than just how to catch fish.