MAINE - Life in the Slow Lane
Nice color to that bow. I love fishing the rain. First the fish bite. Second most folks head for cover leaving the streams all to yourself
Zig
In the light line game hooks become super critical. They have to be needle sharp and mashing down the barbs help. I carry a small slip stone and am constantly touching up the hooks, especially with nymphs that are constantly bouncing off the bottom on rocks.
Long sweeps with the rod when setting the hook. Keep in mind, you have a limber rod in your hand. Hook size is also paramount as a proper size for the "average" size fish expected will result in most of them setting the hook themselves when they chomp down on the fly.
On a 3 weight a #12 hook is about as big as you should go generally speaking. On a 2 weight I stay #14 and under. It's amazing how big of a fish you can control on even a #20 hook and smaller. You can't yard on them, rather you have to let the rod do the work.
You're catching the fish so you are doing it right. Just keep doing it!
Zig and I both noticed that it didn't seem to take as much of a jerk to set the hook. I noticed trying to set it the way I would have with my 6wt generally resulted in a loss. I also noticed that the hook would tend to pull from the fishes mouth more often if I tried to "yard" the fish in, and usually this happened at my feet, where I probably should have used my net.
I have been using some bigger sizes on my 2wt. I think the wood duck heron from the swap was an 10 or 12. I'm not really sure at this point, but most of flies I have intended to use were 14,16, and 18's. I haven't had the chance to try too many, and had no problems casting or landing fish with these flies.
I hope to pick up something to sharpen hooks with at some point, as I can certainly see your point about dull hooks hurting your chances.
T Bone
When I lived down in the flats I got caught up in the bass game. You know, the Ranger boat and the tournaments. Used to fish Turtle town pond there in Concord. Some huge bass in there.
Back then, a good worm rod for bassin to me was one I could put the tip of under a heavy wooden kitchen chair and flip the chair over when I set the rod 
trust me when I say, it takes that kind of hoss power to get through 9 inch grape worms.
The bad news was when I had enough of the bass gig and went back to trout fishing with a fly rod. My Sage 7 wt was my go to rod in them days. You can well imagine what happened. Either the fish came flying out of the water on the hook set, or I ripped the lips out of em.
Gary Borgner was the savior when I saw his slip hook set in one of his videos. If the hook is sharp it really don't take much.
I think we've gone to far with the high mod carbon rods in a lot of cases. I see a lot of guys going back to glass and cane because of the softness of the rods. A stiff carbon rod can tear a slot in the jaws of the fish on a hook set. And if the rod don't give and the drag is set to the heavy side a fish can slot his own jaw.
It's easy to diagnose if this is going on. If the fish jumps and throws the hook, yup. Or, you get ready to slip the net under em and they spit the hook.
Trout fishing is about finesse, not brute force. I learned that the hard way.
Thanks for the information Koda. I understand completely! And those were things that happened to me the other day in the first few tries with the 2wt. Over and over! Then I started getting the hang of it by chance.
You know I was just thinking tonight about how far I've come in my rod handling ability. There was a time last year that I thought I would never beable to cast a fly and that I would always find myself in a giant knot of line for my efforts, and yet... Here I am and you saw where I am at with casting, now I am working more on finesse type skills like making my elk hair caddis skate on the surface of the water and wiggle like the caddisflies that are hatching around it, getting a nice bait fish imitation with my streamers, and setting the hook more efficiently.
I am loving it and I'm proud of the bounds I have made. I'm sure Zig can probably agree with me as he is part of the reason that I have really developed as much as I have.
BTW thanks for all that too Zig!
T-bone i was merely a friend that wanted to take you fishing , I love to take new people to the sport to catch fish ... Hell any type fishing and new people and kids are the best
. nothing makes me warmer inside then to see a big smile with a bend in the rod or fish in hand .
You have developed cause of your passion for the sport and willingness to keep trying . you already have surpassed me in the tying game 
cathcing the fish will come you have a great foundation you talk ot the right people, you def. pay attention to alot more then i did when i 1st started . yes i had mentors , but it was very basic learning it was mostly from watching and many ,many, many hours learning to cast, ask my wife i almost gave up a number of times
, i had cheap old gear and it took me a while . i had great flyfisherman to watch and had some great very productive flies to use but my fly fishing really evolved over about a 5 year span, i really wasn't much further along at that point then you are now ,, once i moved and lived in the area i just came from i really learned how to fish the rivers and brooks, i was a lake trolling fisherman until i sold my boat ... if i didn't i prob wouldn't have fly fished as much . it has come a passion of mine nothing like landing a nice fish on the fly , unless you do it its hard to explain, i think it holds diffrent meanings for everyone, i enjoy the peace and quiet the sound of the water and the the beautiful fish that can be had , it really only use to be about the fish but seems more these days it more about the total expirence , fish or not .
i contacted the newbie and i am excited to get down on the river and show him a few things . I am still learning , i learn from you t-bone , koda, dave , etc..... being here and on other sites def. has helped the curve. Fishing is not easy but becomes much easier when you can learn a few critical things , time of year, type of food, location of holding spots (this rarely ever changes ) . when you nail these things down you can consitantly catch fish . doesn't mean you will everytime . i went back monday for a hour or so to the spot i was getting all the rainbows and didn't even have a sniff, i know they are there but just not hungry it happens .... But i was always told you just don't know unless you go and when you get there you may find a big surprise 
one important thing i can say to end this : give a spot a chance espically one you know hold fish , it only takes one thing to change to turn them on and if you fish 15 min and leave you may miss that magical moment ...
Both of you guys are living proof that you don't need $1000 in gear to hammer the fish. 
Zig, anyone who reads your words can tell you've spent some time on the water, and by George, you paid attention.
T Bone, I see one day, and probably not that far off, becoming the next Charlie Poole. He loves to tie, his flies look proper, and they catch fish. A man can carve out a living tying flies. Charlie always had a role on him that would choke a horse, and that was AFTER he bought the rum & coke You combine selling flies with materials and fly tying stuff you'll have plenty of business. Hell, Charlie ran his shop out of his garage. It don't take that much space.
As we evolve we learn some things easily, some not so easy, and some after a bad taste of crow. I learned in the bass game that you could get em to hit by pissing them off. I accepted it, used it, and let it lay right there.
We had a camper up at Goose Hollow along the Mad River for a spell. Got to know that river and caught a lot of fish from it. We had spots that got names over time, names like Partridge Corners, Beaver Spills, Wounded Knee......Oh we had a pile of em.
Well on one occasion I left the wife off at Wounded Knee, I was going to fish up stream and she was going to fish down stream. After a few hours I worked my way back down to where we started out, quite fishless as I couldn't get a take that day to save my life.
Much to my surprise, she was in the exact same spot I'd left her at. "Lazy are we today?" I asked as I came up on her. "No, what you catch?" Nothing I replied. She went over to the shade and pulled up her creel. I could see a big tail sticking out. She had 4 of the fattest trout I'd seen in a long while. Crow time. She said she knew there was trout in that hole, she even saw them darting out to grab passing insects. So she kept casting into that pool and said she pissed them off! She said they hit so hard she had all she could do to hang on to the rod. Well I'll be, I never thought you could piss off a trout to take. I tried it later, and low and behold, slam!!!
I now believe, you can break down a trout much like you can break down a buck deer. When the Benoits were the rave for running down big bucks I did that for a few seasons. It was amazing to see it first hand. You picked up a good track and you stayed on it hard. Every time you jumped the deer it would go less distance. Constant pressure on it caused it to snap. Eventually, you could walk up on it to about point blank range and finish it off. The nervous system seems to shut down and they just stand there staring in disbelief that something keeps dogging them. A buck shot like that is worthless to eat. The animal is so stressed and tensed up the meat is like leather. Needless to say, that method was short lived for me.
Though you can't run down a trout, I think the continual passing of a flashy fly passing in their feeding lane eventually causes them to hit it just to get it to stop. Obviously, you have to know there is trout in the pool, or be very confident, less you'll waste a lot of time in one place.
On another occasion, I was fishing the Andro up in Berlin. It was a pristine stretch of water, and of course, the best lairs looked to be just beyond casting reach. I figured wading out would get me in position but the bank dropped right off and would have went right over my waders. Hmmmm. The Andro appears to be a slow moving piece of water, I think because of the size of it. It's actually really moving out and can wipe you right off your feet.
As I stood there on the bank where the river took a good turn, thinking about how to get in the feeding lanes, I happened to let go of the coil of line I had in my hand. The fly sank just about at my feet, drifted a few feet, and stopped. And then it came alive! A nice 4 pound Brown. I dropped the fly in the same spot. Wham! This time a 19 inch rainbow. WTF??? I stuck the fly rod down in the water and back towards me. There was nothing there!
It was about then that the great light bulb went off. Over time, the river had made a very pronounced undercut in the bank. Here was deep water, secluded from predators in the sky, and right next to a constant wash of flowing by food. A trout paradise. Anyone fishing the river knew the fish had to be out there, and so they had really little risk of seeing a fly and being caught. Since that day I always look for sharp bends in a flow of water
If I'm on water that gets hit pretty hard, like the Pemi in Bristol, I look for the obvious lairs. Knowing that those have most likely been fished out, I look for the not so obvious. The guy that just left the spot comes running over to assist in the netting of the fish, convinced that I must have some secret fly. Never making the connection that it wasn't the fly, but rather where it was put 
Ziggy, you are spot on my friend. The most valuable lessons come from the water and the fish, and, you have to be out there to learn them. The only other way I know how to gain them is from old timers, and some of them just ain't talkin. But usually, if you take the time to chat with them, you'll see a twinkle in their eye after a spell, and then they share some wonderful secrets.
I sense Stephen is one of those guys. He don't say all that much sometimes, but when I browse some of his photo albums I know that he knows some serious lore Lee is another one. I'd be watchin him like a hawk on waters he fishes
I sure do love to tie, and who knows maybe someday I will open a fly shop in my garage. Under Uncle Sam's nose even. LOL! But I have heard once you are in the business the joy fades and right now I'd rather just enjoy it and keep fishing.
I have heard exactly what you claim, as I believe I read it in a Lefty Kreh book. Infact that sort of landscape occurence is something some people have tried to duplicate in rivers by laying conrete forms that undercut the bank. They made these for two reasons, to help the trout flourish and to keep the river banks from continuing to erode as quickly. I'm not sure where I got this information as I have sought out so much and its origin is of little consequence to me. I just try to sponge up as much useful information as possible.
I do so have to agree with Brandon's thinking. The best way to learn anything is directly from the source, and in this case that is the fish and water. Only so much can be taken from text and pictures. The feel, taste and smell of a morning on the river is so much more than these media can give you. And yet aside from that pleasure there is still the sensations and feelings that you learn as your rod and line interacts with the fish and the water, helping you learn to manage it better and developing your fishing skills. As Koda mentioned no amount of reading can teach you these things.
Well it was raining but not getting over to the place with the rainbows yesterday had me itching to get over there rain or not i was going , as i got there all decked out in my rain gear it let up was a bit chilly but the fish seememd to be hungry fishe dsome streamers with no luck for 30 min decided to go to the nymph didn't let me down was on fish got 2 pretty quick nice rainbows and then fished and missed a few i let ling go too far down current and when the hit happened my 3wt just didn't have it to get a good hook set on the other side of the pond lol oh well it was fun fished until noon just before i left i was luck enough to land a really nice 16" bow was great couple of hours will be at it again tomorrow at some point .
few pics enjoy
+Hunting and Fishing "Thats What I Do"