Scott had an interesting post recently about luck. Some guys seem to have it and some seem to make their own.
I’ve been there on days when nothing seems to be happening and on those days it is hard to keep looking, to keep your head in the game. On the flats you can stare at the water for hours and hours and after a bit, you start to lose the belief anything is there.
On the days when the fishing is good it seems like they come out of the woodwork (or mangroves). You see fish and you anticipate seeing fish. Luck is maybe the same as Belief. I mean, have you ever seen Luck and Belief in the same room at the same time?
It works the same on the river. You sometimes just seem to know the fish is there and that feeling impacts how you approach the run, it influences that first cast (which is the most important and the most likely to be successful). When you are having a tough day you can stop believing and it can seep into the physical act, lessening the effort.
Keep your eyes open. Keep the belief. With belief you can get lucky. Without it, you are condemned to plod on toward the inevitable self-fulfilled conclusion.
Looking for fish
- If you liked the story above, check out these stories below
- Interview with Scott Heywood (1.000)
- Angling Destinations on a DX Trip in the Bahamas (1.000)
- Some Bad Weather Bonefishing - Angling Destinations (1.000)
Tags: Angling Destinations, Luck, Scott Heywood
Isn’t fly fishing about being an eternal optimist? I go anticipating catching fish. I do all the things my experience tells me to do in order to do that. When I am not catching fish I always stop and try to figure out what I am doing wrong. I start paying more attention to what sort of natural fish food is in the water and try to mimic that in my fly selections. Some times you still don’t catch fish. I still enjoy the fishing. The challenge and the experiences outside. I look around, take photos. Breath in the air. I am never sorry to have gone, no matter what the results. I’m not sure I believe in luck. I usually do pretty well. I sometimes catch fish when others don’t. I also have over 40 years experience fly fishing, and that has given me the chance to try a lot of things and figure out what works and what doesn’t. Of course, none of that explains why my wife always catches the first fish.