Tim J. wrote:

It's probably just crappy fishing technique, but I've never caught more or
less fish after the cigar. Well, maybe less fish, but there's not much doubt
in my mind that I can't blame that on the cigar.

As someone who is known to enjoy a cigarette by the stream, I can
honestly say that my best fish have been caught right after taking a
smoke. When I was in western NC, I adopted the practice of approaching
the stream and sitting down for a smoke before I cast to any really
promising-looking water.

I did it to slow myself down and really savor my surroundings, and
the fish seemed to like it, too. And the fact that I had smoke on my
hands/breath/whatever didn't cause any refusals on their part.

Of course they were just dumb, mountain hillbilly fish, not urbane,
discriminating, west-coast fish, so they probably just didn't know any
better.


Chuck Vance (heck, they probably smoked as well)