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Luck in angling


Steve Burke

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Tigger wrote on another topic that you can find at http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/nostalgia-t2629167.html:

 

"I know you can help to improve your luck by your methods etc but at the end of the day you can't catch what's not there or what's not feeding....simples.

A lot of these so called "super anglers" are there through nothing but hype. "

 

Now that's something I can agree with. As I posted a while back on another topic I know of several anglers who have a string of big fish to their name, but are capable rather than outstanding. Some of these guys are well-known "names". However, they've simply fished the going swims on the going waters. The law of averages has created their success.

 

Yet there are others, like Alex at Wingham, who don't fish the circuit waters but pioneer new venues. When they do fish places like Wingham they outfish the rest of us mere mortals, sometimes by a wide margin.

 

Edit note: I'd add that what these guys do isn't very different. But it does make a big difference.

 

And as I think Dick Walker wrote, "You can't catch 99% of a fish."

Edited by Steve Burke

Wingham Specimen Coarse & Carp Syndicates www.winghamfisheries.co.uk Beautiful, peaceful, little fished gravel pit syndicates in Kent with very big fish. 2017 Forum Fish-In Sat May 6 to Mon May 8. Articles http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/steveburke.htm Index of all my articles on Angler's Net

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If it was all about luck, half the idiots that I've met on the bank would have caught more good fish but they haven't, which suggests I, by comparison, have made my own 'luck'.

 

If it was all about luck, watercraft simply wouldn't account for anything.

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"I envy not him that eats better meat than I do, nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do. I envy nobody but him, and him only, that catches more fish than I do"

...Izaac Walton...

 

"It looked a really nice swim betwixt weedbed and bank"

...Vagabond...

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Luck? not as big a factor as abilty or just gut instinct and of course watercraft. Take a river you may never have fished before and have no knowledge of, Where would you start?, Just plonk yourself down on the nearst peg and chuck out a feeder and hope for the best?

 

Well some of us might or perhaps some would look for tell tell fish holding areas, like drop offs, inside bends, creases in the water that indicate a change in depth or a hidden feature, rafts of debris, all can be good places to fish. The list is a long list...and then what if your specimen fish has seen all those rigs before, just how do you fool it one more time?

 

Sure luck plays it's part but it is not the major factor, which is why good anglers often have repeat success, they don't rely on luck, just knowledge 100%.

 

 

If it was all about luck, half the idiots that I've met on the bank would have caught more good fish but they haven't, which suggests I, by comparison, have made my own 'luck'.

 

If it was all about luck, watercraft simply wouldn't account for anything.

 

I am in total agreement with you both, luck for me is whether or not its raining as I tackle up, followed by did I remember to bring anything to eat other than the bait.

 

I have been accused many times of procrastinating and had people moaning that I should get a move on and hurry up to tackle up or they will catch more than me. At a new venue I just stand and just look for a while maybe move up or down the waterside a bit then I make a choice and get on with fishing, maybe I stand just looking for anything up to half an hour but that is just my way.

From a spark a fire will flare up

English by birth, Cockney by the Grace of God

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Ah good, I can express my opinion on this in a less truncated way.

 

In the other thread I think I said that the vast majority of anglers wouldn’t want to admit that luck plays as big a part in their angling as it does. I stand by that. A small minority have managed to reduce the element of luck to the extent that they can consistently find the target species, either their watercraft skills a league ahead of most other anglers’ and/or they have intimate knowledge of venues. I didn’t want to mention names but it’s been done now so yes Chris Plumb is one of those anglers. Read his blog and you’ll see that whatever he targets he finds, luck has a tiny part to play (if any) in his angling.

 

My point is that I do think though that there are fewer anglers with that sort of ability than we think. Alex is one and I’m sure that those that move in the right circles will know others but IMO the rest of us rely on luck to a much greater degree.

 

It’s been brought home to me during this season. I’ve had some great catches (relatively speaking) but there’s only one swim where I can be confident of repeating success and it’s because the fish are always there. I’ve tried to repeat the other good days I’ve had with the same tactics, same swim in the same conditions etc without success and I’ve concluded that I was lucky that the fish were there on that day.

 

Last weekend I caught chub from a venue not known for them. Steve had pre-baited and fished the swim (same bait as me) without any joy. We’ve been back to that swim and using seemingly identical methods but still not had another. All I can think is that the first chub moved in just before I started to fish. The water isn’t packed with them so I was very lucky.

 

To use a footie analogy I think that for those not in the ‘premiership’ the lower tables are less well defined than is being suggested. It’s not as easy to rank anglers in terms of ability because luck is a significant factor……..and I wouldn’t want to rank anybody anyway.

It's never a 'six', let's put it back

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I'm not superstitious and I don't believe in chance, but I do know that I won't catch much if I am not wearing my lucky hat :rolleyes:

Let's agree to respect each others views, no matter how wrong yours may be.

 

 

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity

 

 

 

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Intresting point, the fact that this particular part of the river is a good fish holding are is for a very good reason, perhaps the fish feel safer here, or more than likely it holds more food. What do you think it is Rusty?

 

Well it looks like a productive swim but so do other parts of the venue so there must be underwater characteristics which aren’t obvious from above. It just seems to suit the fish at the moment but if things change (misguided snag removal for example) they might move, who knows?

It's never a 'six', let's put it back

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I do agree that luck can be (and often is) a big factor in fishing - but I maintain that it doesn't have to be.

 

As I said (in a roundabout way) in the other topic, no 2 people do things exactly the same. A successful angler can show me his bait, rigs, give me exact measurements to hot spots he's discovered, explain how and why he does his baiting - but he can't tell me why he chose not to recast that 3rd rod in case it spooked any fish moving into the swim. It's little things like that which make some people better than others.

 

I also believe that all this can be learned. I don't go in for all that innate genius stuff. All the exceptional anglers I have been lucky enough to meet have had a few qualities in common, notably enthusiasm, intelligence, and a desire to experiment. They are not immediately successful, they work hard at all the little problems via experimentation, and have the ability to learn the lessons. Some are solved quicker than others, but I suppose the important thing is that they realise that there is something to solve in the first place.

 

This doesn't mean they're better people than the rest of us or enjoy their fishing any more, but people like this are not successful because of luck - and the rest of us are capable of it too, if it interests us enough.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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Well it looks like a productive swim but so do other parts of the venue so there must be underwater characteristics which aren’t obvious from above. It just seems to suit the fish at the moment but if things change (misguided snag removal for example) they might move, who knows?

 

Perfect example Rusty - I bet an exceptional angler like Tony Miles in his youth would don a pair of trunks and walk the whole stretch, just to find those little depressions and snags, and within a day he'd have mapped it all out and used that knowledge to catch more, and bigger, fish than the rest of us...

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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I am in total agreement with you both, luck for me is whether or not its raining as I tackle up, followed by did I remember to bring anything to eat other than the bait.......At a new venue I just stand and just look for a while maybe move up or down the waterside a bit then I make a choice and get on with fishing, maybe I stand just looking for anything up to half an hour but that is just my way.

 

I think so too.

 

I'm sure Andy 1984 will back me on this. Any time we go somewhere different, I always get out of the car and go for a walk before I grab any tackle. I fail to see the point in hitting the first place that looks comfortable. If I think the bankside needs shearing to get a rod in, I'll do that. If the depth can't be gauged visually, I'll plumb the place. By using your eyes, you can often rule out a very large percentage of any water. I can't remember the last time I fished a faceless bowl, with no features. There's always something, even if it's as simple as one side looks like it has more shade. Just examples but I think 11 hours of thought out fishing will produce better than 12 hours of hoping.

 

I have to ask, how many times have you had to explain your reasons for fishing a certain area?? Probably very few. If you actually had to, you'd probably surprise youself at how many reasons you come up with and that's what watercraft often is, a collection of subconcious ideas, collated during your years of fishing.

 

How many times have you thought, "This bit looks ideal"?

 

Why is it ideal? Next time you go fishing and stop somewhere, ask yourself why you stopped. If you can't come up with a damn good reason, other than it looks comfy, it's probably time to look somewhere else and use your brain.

¤«Thʤ«PÔâ©H¤MëíTë®»¤

 

Click HERE for in-fighting, scrapping, name-calling, objectional and often explicit behaviour and cakes. Mind your tin-hat

 

Click HERE for Tench Fishing World forums

 

Playboy.jpg

 

LandaPikkoSig.jpg

 

"I envy not him that eats better meat than I do, nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do. I envy nobody but him, and him only, that catches more fish than I do"

...Izaac Walton...

 

"It looked a really nice swim betwixt weedbed and bank"

...Vagabond...

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So the guys who CONSISTANTLY win matches,catch bigger fish etc etc are more "lucky" than others then?

 

Didnt one of the great golfers say something like "the more I practice the luckier I seem to become"?

Edited by BUDGIE

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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