What's it take to be "good"

[Anderoo]

Sometimes which fish from a group takes your bait is luck, but in other cases the angler can manipulate the behaviour of the individuals in the group to select the bigger fish.

 

See for example Tony Miles in 'My way with chub'. By feeding in a particular way you can split the shoal so the smaller fish behave in one way and the bigger fish behave in another. Once separated, you can target the bigger fish, as they will be in a different part of the swim. All by fishing blind, too.

 

Similarly, regular feeding of a swim when chubbing often creates a situation where the biggest fish takes up the dominant feeding position, so when you come to fish it, you catch that one first.

 

That's not to say that luck is irrelevant of course, just a couple of examples of how applying knowledge of fish behaviour can make an angler appear lucky, as 'they always catch the big ones'.

[Phone]

Anderoo,

 

Time and again I've caught the "specimen" carp in any given swim at the edge of a baited area - just lucky. I was trying to say that bad luck is just an excuse for bad fishing. Fishing is a sport that has a lot ofthe metaphysical intangibles like lucky lures or lucky fish rod (how many times have you caught all your fish on the "left" rod?). Rituals play a vital role in an anglers confidence. For some anglers faith and divine intervention provide a type of luck no fish should mess with (may or may not be religious).

 

I myself used to carry an otolith. Do you have a hat or trinket? For me, Murphy's law - "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" - dooms me if I use braid - I have NO CONFIDENCE in my ability to use braid. Nature always sides with the anglers hidden flaw.

 

Maybe "CONFIDENCE" should be on the list?

 

Phone

 

Edit: WoW!! you should have been here yesterday. Now that's bad luck????????

Edited June 17, 2013 by Phone

[Andy Macfarlane]

Aye I'll go with that. I cannot sit for long if I'm not confident in what I'm doing, probably to the detriment of my fishing.

[Steve Burke]

An interesting topic, and slightly different to similar ones we've had in the past.

 

Firstly, I agree with Sportsman. If it's specimen fish you're after the single most important thing, far more than your tackle for example, is to fish the right waters. For as the old saying goes you can't catch fish that aren't there - regardless of how skilful an angler you are.

 

In most sports skill is recognised. In angling less so. Just why is that?

 

I think it's because there is indeed a greater degree of luck - but only up to a point. The probability is that in the long run luck will average out. So in the long run the more skilful angler is certainly very likely, but not guaranteed, to have better results.

 

One point that doesn't seem to have been mentioned is that you can become a more successful angler if you learn from your failures. If I struggle I like to work out why. I reckon that's one of the single most important reasons why my results have improved compared with years ago.

 

My mottos are "If at first you don't succeed, try something different"; and "If it isn't happening, make it happen".

Edited July 3, 2013 by Steve Burke

[Phone]

Steve,

 

WHY? - is the most unanswered question in angling - either way. good or bad.

 

Phone

[TrevBoy]

 

shows how random a catch can be - mind you with that much bait samples thrown in I am not surprised!. Jump to near the end for the catch, if you can't be bothered to sit thru it all

[Anderoo]

Good video, it looked very selective to me, rather than random.

[TrevBoy]

I meant random from the angler's point of view - its pot luck if the fish actually takes the bait rather than the free offerings. I would be inclined, having watched that, to put V little bait out, just some smelly gb to attract them in....but what do I know?!

[Anderoo]

I just stumbled on this, which sums up my point rather nicely

 

[Phone]

Anderoo,

 

I like that

 

Phone