“Taking Your Chances” with Brown Trout on the Battenkill

This is the picture I should have been posting this morning, but alas I didn't "take my chance" when it presented itself. So I must be content with this imaginary brown trout. photo-illustration by James Daley

In this country, the phrase "to take your chances" usually means to try something that may end up being a disaster—as in "You're taking your chances driving on those bald tires." But across the pond, they have another way of using this phrase. 

I watch a lot of English soccer (which they call "football," of course), and they use slightly different wording to express something quite different from the American version. To "take your chance," in this instance, means to make the most of the chances presented to you. So, for instance, if a player is presented with a good look at goal and buries the ball in the back of the net, the announcer will say that he "has taken his chance well." Alternatively, the losing coach might say that the reaon his team lost was that they  "didn't take their chances." Because good scoring chances come infrequently in soccer, you must "take your chances" if you want to win.

This meaning of the phrase was driven home for me early this morning on the Battenkill. Eric Rickstad and I hit the water at 5 a.m., hoping to tempt some big. . .

The post “Taking Your Chances” with Brown Trout on the Battenkill appeared first on Orvis News.