[Colorado.Mackinaw]

Anglers enjoy the thrill of the chase but landing fish is the name of the game. I reckon many of you would rather drink beer over tightlines with an overstocked slimer but on those tough days a long way from home, a fish is a fish. Anglers become partial to one species over another and imagine you’d spit out your coffee upon hearing the trout replaced the walleye as the most sought after fish. That slimer everyone loves to hate is often forage for an even bigger predator so doesn’t that mean I’d be easier to catch….. If one happens to hit a guy’s lure while he’s out chasing eye’s its considered garbage unless it was then torn in half by a trophy fish. Trophy trout are just as hard to catch as trophy eyes, bass, pike, lakers etc. and landing one is just as special. I often see fat healthy stockers come out of some pressured water and understand there not big by accident. If you’re out catching fish than your having a great day whether you’re playing dink trout jumping out of the water or fighting a mighty lunker draggin the boat around. Isn’t fishing luck anyways

 

[troutnut]

NO! Otherwise we would all be Slayers.

 

[dropshot]

Luck?

I don't think the regulars on this site give themselves enough credit. The preparation, techniques, planning, and communication put in before actually fishing are seldom considered when any success is attributed to "luck."

There are so many "little" ways that a fish avoids being landed - old line, bad knot, wrong bait or lure, dull hooks, etc. Finding any fish, much less the species you want to catch. Making them bite - retrieve cadence, action, depth. Weather patterns, time of day, location.

Finally, the "hot tip."

Nothing better than a reliable tip that fills in the Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? But since every day is often a new (different) day, the hot tip is at best dated information.

My hat is off to those successful on our heavily pressured front range waters. I know that your success is more often effort than luck and why it's called fishing, not catching.

Tight lines!

 

[redleader]

I'm lucky I got to fish as a kid.
I could of ended up a golfer, lol.

 

[pistoldog]

If it was just luck, I'd have been bored and given up fishing for golf a long time ago.

 

[Zman]

I'm lucky I got to fish as a kid.
I could of ended up a golfer, lol.

Lol I used to do both...learned from playing baseball as a kid and I have one of the ugliest golf swings you've ever seen...but it goes straight...one of my friends who took lessons always wanted to take me for show and tell since I do everything wrong...always tried to shoot par came within a handful of strokes a few times...about a decade ago (about the time this forum started) the league I was in somebody different ran it and changed the feel and the people who were in it radically...the clubs went up in the garage and havent been used since...I should just sell them...this forum has allowed me to meet much better people...most of them don't have a stick up their ass like golfers have...God closes one door and another one opens...blessed I am...

 

[r1f1eman]

I love fluid beds.

 

[kirbydog]

Hot tips are highly overated-fact is a hot tip can lead you in the wrong direction because what was working last week isn't working anymore.

Knowledge and preparation-now that's better than most everything else. Someone once said-catching a 10 lb bass can be luck but consistently catching 5 lb bass is skill. True words there.

 

[walleye seeker]

not much luck when you are fishing home water you know like the back of your hand, it's more how you use the knowledge you have. you can always pick the wrong place or the wrong method. that's not luck, that's you making a bad choice. if you are fishing water you don't fish often then luck plays a part to some degree. if you are fishing water you have never fished then there is a lot of luck involved, but if you fish a few days on that water luck begins to lead to knowledge and luck takes a backdoor

you see pros with lots of knowledge take on a lake they have never fished and take big bags of fish because they can put together the information they needed, so the more knowledge you have, the less luck inters into fishing. if you put more time in fishing a couple of waters and learning them well you can leave luck out. but if you like to go all over the place and see new places then you will need a lot of luck

good fishermen and guides know a few waters well and don't need luck much.
pros that have tremendous amounts of knowledge can fish any water well.
the rest of us need some luck in fishing, but some of us luck won't help any, they are doomed to have a black and white kitty follow them everywhere the fish. I know one fellow who loves to fish that only catches one fish out of every tenth trip he takes no mater how much he fishes he dose the same thing every time and when luck sits on his shoulder he catches a limit of slimers, usually the hatchery truck is just leaving as he shows up.

 

[bugz]

Then why is my overall luck gotten worse while catch/hr has increased over time????

 

[snagged up]

My II Cents

IMO
Knowledge is power, I believe that out weighs luck. If you have knowledge of how to catch a species, you start there on a strange body of water and switch it up if necessary.

 

[Ninja]

IMO some luck may be involved to catch a big fish on occasion by someone not intending on catching said fish. But, there are some very skilled anglers in our midst (many who modestly downplay their success) who have honed their skills through many hours of time on the water, learning the waters via maps, sonar and research off the water as well, learning the feeding and migration habits of their quarry and perfecting their presentations and knowing when/where to be to have the best chances to catch those big fish. To say "luck" is anything more than a minute portion of their success would be an insult.

Those that can do it for multiple species are truly special individuals for sure. Those of us that are still working towards constant big fish can only hope to gain some tidbits of knowledge to add to our repertoire and be extremely "lucky" those that share chose to do so with us.

 

[boondock]

Those that can do it for multiple species are truly special individuals for sure. Those of us that are still working towards constant big fish can only hope to gain some tidbits of knowledge to add to our repertoire and be extremely "lucky" those that share chose to do so with us.

You had it given to ya...
You sold part of it

 

[Ninja]

You had it given to ya...
You sold part of it

I hear ya Boon. Not given up totally just yet. It wasn't my only one and I can always get more.

 

[Bobco]

I'm lucky I got to fish as a kid.
I could of ended up a golfer, lol.

or crazy ass highmarker snowmobiler

 

[jkaboom]

I think luck has a say sometimes but there is a lot more to fishing as previously stated with planning practice on and on...

 

[Bionic Man]

Isn't luck where opportunity meets preparation?

 

[Fisher II]

Anglers enjoy the thrill of the chase but landing fish is the name of the game. I reckon many of you would rather drink beer over tightlines with an overstocked slimer but on those tough days a long way from home, a fish is a fish. Anglers become partial to one species over another and imagine you’d spit out your coffee upon hearing the trout replaced the walleye as the most sought after fish. That slimer everyone loves to hate is often forage for an even bigger predator so doesn’t that mean I’d be easier to catch….. If one happens to hit a guy’s lure while he’s out chasing eye’s its considered garbage unless it was then torn in half by a trophy fish. Trophy trout are just as hard to catch as trophy eyes, bass, pike, lakers etc. and landing one is just as special. I often see fat healthy stockers come out of some pressured water and understand there not big by accident. If you’re out catching fish than your having a great day whether you’re playing dink trout jumping out of the water or fighting a mighty lunker draggin the boat around. Isn’t fishing luck anyways

I saw several BIG slimers (16 to 20 inch) pulled out of the Gravel Pit on opening day, 3-15. I was amazed to see anything at all come out of the most overfished free lake in town

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

 

[redleader]

or crazy ass highmarker snowmobiler

A guy could get bored if he just fished all the time, lol.

 

[b.reelz]

Isn't luck where opportunity meets preparation?

+1

I'm envisioning a X-Y axis graph with opportunity on the Y axis and preparation on the X axis and a somewhat linear slope line (in reality I doubt the line is linear) that's your "big fish line". As you increase one or both of opportunity and/or preparation your chances for more/big fish increases... Probably a little too technical, but that's my $0.02.