Luck in angling

[Anderoo]

Actually Steve, it was Alex - but maybe it originally came from you!

 

Tigger, I wouldn't call an entire river a hot spot Over the years friends have been kind enough to take me to some fantastic bits of water they've found and share their fishing with me, and I try to do the same thing in return. I have even taken up invitations to have a cast in their swim at times! But that's nothing to do with luck, that's one friend sharing their knowledge with another.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Anderoo

[Steve Burke]

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...

 

I've done the same and I can't even swim! That was in my youth and I'm neither fit nor keen enough to do so now. Yes, it caught me more fish, but Tony Miles would still have caught more.

 

That brings me onto another point. The more you put into your fishing the more you're likely to catch. Equally the more you think about your fishing, rather than blindly copying others, the more you're likely to catch.

 

Some go fishing just to catch. Others simply go fishing to unwind in the great outdoors. For many it's a mixture, that often changes as we get older. Each type of angler though can succeed in their own way. Success isn't simply pounds and ounces.

 

Yet it's human nature to look up to those we consider successful, and in angling it's results that count. I have to admit to be being embarrassed when someone asks for my autograph, although as I keep out of the limelight these days it happens a lot less. I always of course oblige as years ago it was me wanting the autographs.

 

But in reality not everyone who writes or appears on radio or TV is that successful at catching. It may be just that they can write or otherwise communicate well. Indeed, some of them aren't nearly as good as some of the members of this Forum.

 

I'm certainly not going to name names, but it's no secret amongst writers. What I will do though is highlight one writer who is very successful indeed and someone I've got the upmost respect for. And that is Tony Miles.

 

Which neatly brings us back to the beginning of this post.

[Tigger]

Just about to have a trot on the WA..wish me luck!!

 

 

Make sure you catch tm ! Since there's no luck involved in angling if you blank you are either a mediocre angler or doing something very wrong.

Not my opinion, as I know for a fact that if the fish arn't feeding you ain't gonna catch no matter what you do or who you are and whether the sun shines out of your brown eye or not.....apart from using a net or electro fishing that is

[Mark Wintle]

I won't add much to Steve's excellent post only to say that there are vast differences in angling ability amongst anglers that the best tackle, coaching and determination won't always overcome.

 

I'm currently writing a book about big roach due out next summer and I'm looking at many of the great roach anglers and their catches. Common factors abound from location skills, understanding their quarry, excellent bait presentation and feeding to grim determination to overcome horrendous runs of blanks.

 

Match fishing brought home to me the skill gaps between the best match anglers and average pleasure anglers. Average anglers often are skilled enough to catch a few in ideal conditions with no real pressure but the top match anglers (and some of the best big fish men) can catch when the going is tough. Earlier today I've been going through photos with one of the very BEST big fish anglers in the game. He'd already had two big chub this morning and was going out again this afternoon on the trail of a enormous chub.

 

You'd find the truth about luck if you took 40 anglers and made them fish the same 40 peg matches for an entire season, say 40 matches. The law of averages says that each should be in each position once. But it would not work like that. Half a dozen of them would dominate, a few would get the odd prize and many would win nothing.

[Anderoo]

If you look back at the really old posts on fishing forums, there were quite a few 'names' posting. Contrast that to today, and apart from a few, most now don't post at all. Some have dropped away for various reasons, others banned. However, when you read those old posts it's quite noticable that some were very poor communicators, some were very arrogant and couldn't get on with people, and some really didn't have much to offer at all.

 

Sorry to keep mentioning Alex as many here have no idea who he is, but talking to someone like that, who avoids the spotlight and yet could be all over the mags and TV if he chose, really hammers home the difference between luck and skill.

 

I remember he came to one of the AN fish-ins recently just to chat to people, I wonder if he's planning to come next year?

 

The best anglers do everything just a little bit better. We are all 99% the same as a chimpanze...it's the 1% that makes all the difference!

Edited December 13, 2010 by Anderoo

[Steve Burke]

Not my opinion, as I know for a fact that if the fish arn't feeding you ain't gonna catch no matter what you do or who you are and whether the sun shines out of your brown eye or not.....apart from using a net or electro fishing that is

 

 

Sorry, Tigger, but again I disagree. The fish may not be feeding but sometimes you can induce them to feed. It's called the "induced take". It doesn't apply just to salmon, that of course don't feed in freshwater. It equally applies to trout, and there's been a huge amount written on the very subject. The same goes for predators like pike, and a lot of my own lure fishing is based on the induced take.

 

Finally, I come back to Tony Miles again, who's written a lot about chub and the induced take.

[Anderoo]

Make sure you catch tm ! Since there's no luck involved in angling if you blank you are either a mediocre angler or doing something very wrong.

 

Come on Tigger, I reckon you're on a bit of a wind-up! Are you saying that if you blank, it would have been impossible for anyone else to catch? If not, it just means the other person was able to catch when you couldn't.

[Tigger]

I'll try to explain my post about luck when angling as I belive it has been misinterpreted.....

 

As I have already said numerous times an angler with a good understanding of watercraft/ fish behaviour and angling skills obviously has the bigger advantage over Mr Mediocre. However fish being a species that is not sedentary means that swims are variable throughtout the year/seasons/weather conditions. Also the old adage of taking a horse to water but unable to make it drink is also true in angling. How many times have you seen fish that are refusing to feed no matter what bait or tempting method you have presented it in ?

In this case even Mr Wonderful Super Star Angler will BLANK- fact. This is known as being unlucky.

 

Therefore both Mr Wonderful and Mr Mediocre angler need a degree of luck on their angling outings.

[Tigger]

Come on Tigger, I reckon you're on a bit of a wind-up! Are you saying that if you blank, it would have been impossible for anyone else to catch? If not, it just means the other person was able to catch when you couldn't.

 

 

You've completly missquoted me, I suggest you go back and read the post properly rather than chopping bits of post up and put words into my mouth. We can all chop peoples posts up and turn it into something else.

[Steve Burke]

How many times have you seen fish that are refusing to feed no matter what bait or tempting method you have presented it in ?

In this case even Mr Wonderful Super Star Angler will BLANK- fact. This is known as being unlucky.

 

Therefore both Mr Wonderful and Mr Mediocre angler need a degree of luck on their angling outings.

 

Your first statement isn't a fact, and I'm afraid saying so doesn't make it true. See what I wrote about the induced take in post 29.

 

Your second statement I do agree with wholeheartedly though. And this seems to be the point you've been making.