Bass Fishing HomeBass Fishing Forums

Go Back   BassFishin.Com Forums > Serious Conversation Only > Techniques, Strategy & Presentations

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 10-17-04, 09:30 AM   #26
macgyver
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to macgyver
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

[quote author=Marty link=board=news;num=1097857775;start=0#15 date=10/16/04 at 19:41:21]
I have to disagree Tom. Do you not agree with me that when I have access to a small portion of shoreline that it is luck whether or not there are fish within casting distance?[/quote]

Well in this instance I say it's skill, or perseverance more than luck. Why not fight through the obstacles in your path to fishing other parts of the shore line? Why not get waders? Why not work your way through brushpiles? Why not get a inner tube and float out around to where you can have more access? To me these are the reasons people WIN TOURNAMENTS, and others don't. It's not luck that makes one person work harder to get to the fish than another. It's DESIRE

[quote]After all, what is luck? To me, it is things that happen to one, good or bad, over which the person had little to no control.[/quote[

Well that pretty much sums it up, however to me the questions is how much can we really control, by our knowledge and experiences? You would KNOW when would be better times to fish a spot than not to if you had all the knowledge for that decision. So putting yourself there WHEN the fish are is a lot eaiser when you KNOW the patterns.

Quote:
And how do you account for all the fishermen who don't know what they're doing and catching fish? Surely, it can't be attributable to skill. What about the guy drowning a worm under a bobber hoping for a bluegill who gets bitten by a 10# bass? We know that such things do, in fact, happen. What skill was involved other than his knowledge that his bait needed to be in the water?

Sorry, but I see luck as playing a major role in fishing, at different levels, and in many different ways.
Yeah and those are the guys I shake my head at, and WISH WERE ME. Absolutely Luck can play a factor, but the odds of it playing a factor to those who play the percentages, and know the patterns of the fish, on any given situation, then lucks pretty much doesn't exist. Because if he does catch that 10lber then it wasn't luck that put him in that spot based on patterns. All of this is just my opinion of course
;D

Lizards
macgyver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-04, 11:12 AM   #27
Slayem9
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to Slayem9
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

LR, I'll take my bassboat over an inner tube any tournament-day! I can't paddle fast enough to be in time for the weigh-in! ;D
Slayem9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-04, 03:31 PM   #28
Infisherman1
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to Infisherman1
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

luck has got something to do with fishing, I had bad luck today. I caught my 5 fish limit for my tournament, but two bass jumped out of the livewell and back into the water *sigh*. All the fish I caught were on senkos though, and I had never caught anything with them before so at least I got more confidence in a new lure from the tournament and I established a very effective pattern for caching a quick limit.
Infisherman1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-04, 08:22 PM   #29
mike0062466
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to mike0062466
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

[quote author=lizardsrule link=board=news;num=1097857775;start=25#25 date=10/17/04 at 08:30:53]

Well in this instance I say it's skill, or perseverance more than luck. Â*Why not fight through the obstacles in your path to fishing other parts of the shore line? Â*Why not get waders? Â*Why not work your way through brushpiles? Â*Why not get a inner tube and float out around to where you can have more access? Â*To me these are the reasons people WIN TOURNAMENTS, and others don't. Â*It's not luck that makes one person work harder to get to the fish than another. Â*It's DESIRE
[/quote]
Lizards, I don't think that's the point. Sometimes lands are posted or otherwise inaccessible. Suppose I fish a 200-yard stretch of a four-mile bay, which, in fact, I do on occasion. That's a small area of a large body of water and I can't control whether the bass are there or not. Therefore, I still maintain that it is good luck if there are fish available for me to catch. The fact that I may not wade or go tubing is irrelevant. Given the way I decided to fish, it is either good or bad luck if the fish are or are not there. If I've been blessed with the good luck of them being available, then I can put whatever skills I have to use and to try and catch them.
mike0062466 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-04, 08:53 PM   #30
Slayem9
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to Slayem9
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

Knowledge is evident when you fish the right shoreline or structure, but are enable to get a bite. Bad luck happens when someone comes up behind you and catches that one fish that blows away all the 5lb or less limits that everyone struggled to catch.

All you can say is, "I have something in my eye." :'(
Slayem9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-04, 08:55 PM   #31
Rob Mak
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Rob Mak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Rochester, New York
Posts: 19
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

marty that is bull
any 200 yard chunk of that bay will look and act alot like the 200 yards you work. it will have the same drop offs the same channel points the same weeds. in some places it will have trees and or bushes. to find a pattern on a chunk of a given lake the bass will be in one of these spots. it just takes finding the right one with the right lure.this is NOT luck it is an educated guess.


zooker
__________________
there ain't no such thing as a bad day of fishin

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

US ARMY

Rochester, New York
Rob Mak is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 12:23 AM   #32
catfishtonyd
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to catfishtonyd
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

Sorry Hula. Having two fish jump out of the livewell after you caught them, isn't bad luck. That's carelessness or inexperience on your part. No luck involved. Next time you'll know to be ready. Good job on keeping 'em healthy though.

Get a little landing net like trout fishermen use. Makes it a lot easier to get fish out of a livewell.

catfishtonyd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 02:05 AM   #33
Guest
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

Luck? It's luck if you don't know why you're doing what you're doing.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 10:18 AM   #34
fredhatch
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to fredhatch
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

Dont know how to respond to this. if it's luck, I need some because my supply is out and if its skill, mines on vacation.... the little I claim to have. 8)
fredhatch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 04:30 PM   #35
Slayem9
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to Slayem9
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

If there is such as thing as an average angler , (one that depends on luck over 50% of the time because he doesn't have a clue where the fish are 90% of the time), I'd have to qualitfy as one.

It may be difficult to judge what an average angler is because of all the variables involved. But, there are exceptional anglers that always have nice annual Tx weights, that are 20 lbs or better,than the average total weight in the club. Is it because they prefish more tournaments than most, are more experienced on many of the tournament waters, have better equipment, are more versatile overall and lucky?? If so, it's the edge that makes them more successful. So, for the above-average angler to do poorly, it can be said he miscalculated, versus that he was unlucky.(i.e.Roland Martin staying in a creek that only held dinks for three days)

For the below-average angler to come in fishless, it can be said he had bad luck due to the fact that he's a shore pounder or strictly top water, for example. If he wins a tournament on top, with two fish, (which I've seen happen), he's certainly lucky, but not necessarily skilled.

I fished a tournament on the Mohawk R. with a popper dude. That's all he had confidence in. He thought that by buying $120 worth of recommended river lures before the Tx, he would attract fish like a magnet by just having them in the boat.

The foggy morning of the Tx, he caught the first fish over a submerged sandbar that I had to remind him of, found prefishing and which I directed him to cast to, after it missed my Spook. The smallie that jumped was easily a plus 3 lbs. His line snapped, and that's all she wrote. He gave up. I started culling by 9:30 am, before the fog lifted and continued to cull until the sun was bright at about 11 am.

I threw 5 lure types and caught fish on each kind (the same as in practice). But my partner saw that lost fish as an unlucky omen and cast like a robot for the rest of the tournament. He was inexperienced in the use of the many fine new lures in his box; he didn't see bad luck as temporary or new opportunities as possible; and he refused to believe that if another angler was tuned in, that he could follow his lead.

Two hours before weigh-in, he gave up and stopped fishing all together. Â*I kept casting with the same concentration and thought, even after the sun came out and the bite died, (because bgger is better and a few ounces can win!) I came in first place.

Was I lucky, or just thorough? His luck was a frame of mind that determined the next 6 hours; my luck changed to destiny after my first fish. I had faith that the patterns would hold, based on my success the evening before, and which was confirmed in the fog.

Am a still average? You bet ya! : I'm I lucky? More often than not.

Sam
Slayem9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 08:04 PM   #36
Jag
BassFishin.Com Active Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 351
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

You can get lucky on a particular day but over the long haul skill wins out. How many people fish local tournaments or are in clubs where year after year some of the same guys always finish the season in the top five or six places?
__________________
"The difference between the almost right lure and the right lure is really a large matter -- tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." Biscoe, Arkansas
Jag is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 08:35 PM   #37
BassNva
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to BassNva
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

luck won't put you in the top6 that's for sure.
BassNva is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 08:50 PM   #38
mike0062466
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to mike0062466
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

[quote author=zooker link=board=news;num=1097857775;start=25#30 date=10/17/04 at 19:55:33]marty that is bull
any 200 yard chunk of that bay will look and act alot like the 200 yards you work. it will have the same drop offs the same channel points the same weeds. in some places it will have trees and or bushes. to find a pattern on a chunk of a given lake the bass will be in one of these spots. it just takes finding the right one with the right lure.this is NOT Â*luck it is an educated guess.


zooker [/quote]
Sorry, Zook, I still disagree. I learned--as I'm sure everyone else did--shortly after I started fishing that only 5-10% of the water holds fish, or some similar numbers. Just because there happens to be some access to a small stretch doesn't automatically mean that there are bass available.

As far as points, there are none, as far as dropoffs, they're way beyond the range of a shoreline caster. I do not have the option of boating around to find structure and/or cover. I have to draw from the potential of water I can reach and sometimes that potential is zero. Fish are not everywhere.

In tournaments, pros are zooming around all over the lake. If it was the case that bass are located in any given stretch that someone pulls up to, then they wouldn't have to waste all that gas running away from that spot.

Believe me, I would love for bass to be present at any spot I have access to, but things aren't that cut and dried.
mike0062466 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 09:11 PM   #39
BassNva
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to BassNva
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

i never run far,even in a tournament.i firmly believe there are bass all over.either they're biting or not.
if they aren't agressive then you just have to work a little harder.
BassNva is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-04, 11:31 PM   #40
Slayem9
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to Slayem9
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

Apart from a few scattered rogue fish, I look for real estate that has a concentration of baitfish nearby. If I can find many forage fish to the side of the boat or straight down, I pretty sure bass are in the area. If no baitfish are present, I've found no bass or at least no bass willing to bite.

If shorelines are uniform, without major dropoffs and points or flats that have little cover or rocks, few bass will be roaming those areas. Buck Perry, the father of structure fishing, wrote over 50 years ago that bass are only in an area of any lake that is limited to 10-15% of its acreage. In my experience, (except for prespawn and spring) that's pretty accurate. He didn't say active or inactive - just bass.

In a 100-1000 acre lake, that's a lot of unproductive water.

Sam
Slayem9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-19-04, 03:12 AM   #41
bassguy2004
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

Merriam-Websters Dictionary says:

Luck:
1a. a force that brings good fortune or adversity.
b. the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual.
2. favoring chance.

Skill:
2a. the ability to use one's knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance.
b. dexterity or coodination especially in the execution of learned physical tasks.
3. a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability.


So, which is it? I really don't believe luck has anything to do with fishing. I don't have a boat to fish out of but I have a float tube rigged with a depth finder. I use it to locate structure on the bottom and cover on the bottom. I also use it to locate fish. Skill. Sometimes the fish are there and sometimes they aren't. Sometimes I catch them, sometimes I don't. It takes skill to make a cast precisely where you want, and the correct distance to where you want. It also takes skill to take a lure (which is not real) and coax a largemouth or a smallmouth (which are real) into taking the lure. Making it hop or dance in some way that is appealling to the fish. Skill.
  Reply With Quote
Old 10-19-04, 07:31 AM   #42
Slayem9
BassFishin.Com Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 0
Send a message via ICQ to Slayem9
Default Re: How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

The definition of luck:

Roland Martin and RickyClunn in the same tournament.
Martin wins by a lunker.

25 members in a club tournament; few limits over 5lbs.; winning weight, by an inexperienced guest, who had never fished the lake before - his only fish, that weighed in at 6.5 lbs., won first place and I forgot to mention - caught on a Rat L Trap, in open water, 1/2 hour before the weigh-in. (true story)

Good luck example:
My boat coming off the main river with one fish each, 1/2 before weigh-in, stopping at the mouth of the creek (which had been unproductive all day). We cast out of desperation to some rip rap and culled for the final 30 min. to win the tx. My partner won by a pound; I came in third.

Right place, right time.

Sheer luck!

Sam
Slayem9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Disclosure / Disclaimer
Before acting on the content posted, you should know that BassFishin.Com may benefit financially and otherwise from content, advertising, links or otherwise from anything you click on, read, or look at on our website. Click here to read our Disclosure Policy and Disclaimer.


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:27 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
© 2013 BassFishin.Com LLC