Back from the Fishing Trip

It happened. I had an afternoon to sit down at the table, take a break from all the moving and organizing, and fish.

Ok, so it wasn't quite like what this guy was experiencing in the GIF, but I saw lots of fish in the stream for sure. Look!

For the record, I did not play the solo mode. It actually suggests to get an understanding of the game before attempting the solo adventure vs "The Silent Angler". 😮 Although, this sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. So today I played a 2P game on my own to get the idea of how things work.

Let me start by saying, I was wrong in my last post when I said the fish were trout. That's almost totally right. There are plenty of trout, but also salmon in the stream. There are 8-different species of fish to catch...

As with real fly fishing, there are big fish and little fish. At least that's how I see them. The colour bar and symbols on the tops of the fish cards are: Green, Black and Yellow. Yellow fish take long/are harder to reel in. Green fish are quicker to real in. So the "bigger fish" tend to have more points, but it's going to take you longer to land that fish. Once someone catches 7-fish, the game ends after that round. It's a nice balance of sorting out which to go for when... or sometimes, they bite regardless! 😂

The picture here (right), is my first fish I ever caught on my fly rod, at my kitchen table!!! Not many people can say that. And look! It was a decent fish for my first fish. A Dolly Vardon Trout worth 4VPs. Not too shabby. 🏆

As I became more comfortable with the options each turn and the mechanics, the understanding of things started to unfold as well. It was making more sense after taking more casts and landing a couple fish, where things come into play; Utilizing your finesse, gaining momentum tokens to use, gaining skill cards as on-going abilities to use... All of these things help you in potentially going after a fish you want/need and helps you reel in a fish that's on your line more quickly.

Here's a bit closer of a shot of the player board / reel board. In the background you can see some "hatch tokens". This is another thing you have to pay attention too. Say a die is avaiable in the dice pool that allows you to cast to a fish in "column 5" of the stream. Well if a hatch token in that column doesn't match your fly colour, the fish aren't interested, and you don't get to draw a strike card to possibly hook a fish. So you have to drift your fly downstream (which may or may not be a good thing). Those hatch tokens get you thinking! Once you do land a fish, you take a hatch token from that column (along with the fish) and put it on your reel board. Meaning, now there's less hatch tokens in that column. But here's the neat part - After a round (when all the dice are gone from the dice pool), not only are the dice re-rolled but the hatch tokens drift down stream and new ones from further upstream come into play! I love that mechanic. You always have to be vigilant of what type of fly is needed if you even want to attempt landing a fish you're after. So cool! And that means, as fish are caught, sometimes there's less hatch tokens in a column (reducing your chance to even try to land that fish!)

Speaking of fish (with the exception of the lighting in the pic - sorry), look how great this board is to look at. This stream is full of beautiful trout and salmon, just waiting for a fly to munch on. 😀

Finally, I'll leave you with my fishing story of the day. All fisherman (from beginner to pro) have a "fishing story" or two... or twenty. Often times, people tend to either believe them or not. But I can say to YOU, my fellow ST's gamers that I DID land the biggest fish in the game today! This 8VP Coho Salmon grabbed onto that fly and wouldn't let go. Decent fight as well, but in the end, he lost!! 😁

*For the record, I did go through the fish deck to see if anything was bigger. The answer is no. There is only one of this guy in this stream. There are a few 7VP fish out there I saw as well. But I'll have to wait for another fishing trip before they're caught.

🤣 Ok- Not a salmon... But you get the point 🤣