Fly Fishing the Stock Market: How to Search for, Catch, and Net the Market's Best Trades

CHAPTER 11

A Word About Bait Fishing

Bait fishing, in contrast to fly fishing, is much less “hands on.” You simply cast your bait and wait. Timing isn't crucial.

When my brother and I were small boys, we took my uncle Gus, who was from Greece, on a fishing trip to Hebgen Lake in Montana. It happened to be the middle of May, and ice still covered most of the lake except for the first 20 feet out from the shoreline. My dad helped us all get set up at his favorite spot along the bank. We wormed up before casting out and then sat down, ready for the fish to bite. Uncle Gus did the same; however, his cast was a little too far. In fact, his bait, hook, line, and sinker landed out on top of the ice. He had no idea as he sat down, lit up his cigar, and said, “Boys, we gonna catchie big fish.” My brother and I snickered as we asked him if fish could jump through the ice. He pretended like he didn't hear us and quietly jerked his bait off the ice. Well, we did catch big fish that day—but not until Uncle Gus pulled the worm off the ice and sank it deep in the cold water.

Bait fishing requires great patience: the less hands on, the better. I loved casting the bait, propping our poles up in the rocks, huddling around the fire, and waiting for fish to nibble. Sometimes we waited a long time, but our persistence rewarded us with fish. 

Many investors seek the same hands-off, trouble-free mode of long-term investing. They hear all the rhetoric: that you can't time the market, that the big gains ...