Looking at the illustration, you begin
to realize all the fish shown have one thing in common. All
the fish are facing the same direction. That direction is upstream,
or into the current. Fish that would face downstream would all
eventually end up all the way downstream. As in the ocean.
Fish face upstream because that is
where their food comes from. Think of it as being in a dining
room, and the waitress bringing you a plate of food — but
the food is hanging in the air above the plate.
That is what the
fish have, a moving dinner plate. The food comes to them floating
on the surface of the water and they have to make the decision
to take that food in a split second. Wait too long and it
has floated past them. And if the fly you offer doesn’t look
like the food the fish has been eating? You probably won't
get the fish to take your fly.
