How much of fishing is luck versus skill?

[Slayem9]

When we have a good day, how much can be attributed to skill and experience versus just plain, good luck?

When I think about all the great days I've had, versus those that I'd just as soon forget, I wonder if the bad ones were due to bad luck (some of which we bring upon ourselves by a bad mind-set) or because the fishing stunk? What makes fishing stink?

The obvious reaons fish aren't biting are the stuff of magazine articles. Weather fronts, water too cold or too hot, too much algae/ to little oxygen etc., etc. Whatever the reason, the turnoff will usually be revealed in a poor weigh-in by even the best anglers.

When fish are biting (indicating the generally active mood of the fish population), feeding and gorging are the most obvious reasons given. Â*Schooling fish demonstrate this better than at any other time and solid patterns are easy to discover and take advantage of. Skill and experience does play a part in the biggest fish, but anyone can catch numbers in this situatution. (Guess you could call it luck that you decided to fish this body of water, on that particular day, under ideal conditions! Â*

Obviously, when you catch large bass on tough days, part is luck because, of all the miles of shoreline you cast to, your lure hit the jack pot of fishing and your lure was struck immediately. Fighting a large fish that jumps and surges powerfully, brings skill back into the equation. But luck is also a contributor since: the nick in your line didn't break the real lb. test of 2 lbs., or that defective hook didn't snap, or the fish didn't wrap the line around the trolling motor, etc., etc.

The fact that you knew what lure to use for a certain shoreline or structure, indicates less luck was needed, than skill and experience. Location, location, location or, in other words, the strike zone, is the most dominant factor of fishing success or failure. The best lures in the world, in the most capable hands, won't matter a bit, if the lure isn't where the fish are. The secondary elements of angling success are, the proper set of lures, worked properly. Sounds simple, but experience and skill make it so.

The odds are used to a great degree in backgammon and poker. Go against the odds, and only freak luck will allow you a few wins. Better anglers play the percentages, just like good card players. They, in fact, raise their luck by basing their fish locations on probability. Before BASS banned prior-discussion before a BASS tournament, many pro anglers hired local guides to fish with their scouts a week before the contest even started. I'm a lifetime member of BASS and would get phone calls from out-of-towners, Â*inquiring whether I would be interested in guiding, all expenses paid, on a local water.

I think that is what probably happened to Roland Martin 10 years ago in the Hudson River Classic. He stayed in a creek that held bass 2 weeks before he even got to the state, but could only cull dinks for two days and placed way down the list. (I know, because I fished that creek 2 weeks before with my club and caught over a dozen bass per outing weighing over 2 pounds!) Â*But, the real action was 30 miles south, the weekend of the tournament. Bad luck, bad judgement combined, along with inexperience on that body of water, resulted in fewer options. Did he listen to bad advice, or just hold on to false hope? Â*??? Â*:-[Classics aren't won before hand anymore; there is just too much talent that do their homework, have what it takes to reduce the odds of failure and most important, to change with conditions. The rest of us mortals have to contend with more luck-less skill and need to tell ourselves that we're better (or luckier) than the next guy, if only for a day. Â* ;D

Sam Â*