True or false? The 5% - 90% theory about who catches how much

[Timbaux65]

Dude who spoke a little Cajun came over by me today before i shoved off on my disappointing trip at the spillway. i can understand if they are cajun or speak Y'at like those of us from New Orleans. Had a little trouble, being deaf and all, but we got thru it.

 

We were talking about City Park. One of the guys here on the forum is a very successful city park fisherman and has shown pics...the dude can fish. I cant remember his name but he is a big guy, very good man.

 

Anyway, if you go down Marconi Drive, where Bayou St John runs thru, they got people talking about catching four and five pound bass, monstrous bluegills, and sacalait.

 

So many have gone there and come back with nothing. Interesting that one man who is pretty good as a freshwater fisherman went down there with small crawfish , whcih we were told is the best bait, and caught nothing at all.

 

The cajun dude was telling me, "5 % of the people catch 90% of the fish".

 

In freshwater, and especially when you talking about bass and sacalait, that might be true. Bluegill arent as hard to catch (the most fun, far and away in my opinion), but when you talking about bass and sacalait, there are a few guys catching most of the fish.

 

I think sometimes we get lucky. I think sometimes the best fishermen get lucky too.

 

It was Mario Andretti who made the comment that , in auto racing, its 10% the car, and 90% the driver.

 

I dont know what applies to fishing,,if its us, or the fish, or what, but I would say that, when things get really slow, you will have a few guys catching most of the fish.

 

what yall think?

[Derrick Bustle]

she fine with putting her own worms and minnows on a hook..She learns very quick. She ties her own lures. she can line her own reels..took her no time to learn a lot of techniques with all kinds of lures..With worms and the xraps we use..she fishes pretty much like i do and can really fish

[dick tabbert]

I think that is a very true statement. But are far as the bluegill are concerned sure most people can catch small to average but can we catch large bluegill consistently that is the question you need to ask yourself. I'm thinkin the answer to that is no so I think that might be in that 5% class. Something to think about ain't it.

[Tony Livingston]

I agree with Dick on the "size matters" aspect of BG fishing. Granted, smaller BG might account for more numbers, or be easier to catch than the larger specimens, but then again how many folks on here have struggled with the cold water bite where BG are concerned? I know my own recent photos sure don't feature any monster gills. Seems to me that there have been a lot of posts lamenting the lack of success, even for a smaller BG that's supposedly "easy" to catch, let alone those with some size to them....perhaps it's not so easy after all?

Sure, BG can be easier to catch when it's warm, but I believe the "5 percenters" are the people who can do it 12 months out of the year. Guys like Jim Gronaw, Musky, Bullworm, Eric White......  these guys seem to have a better than average understanding of fish, and what it takes to catch em', irregardless of the season. To me, that speaks of experience, and experience is what puts fish on the bank, on the ice, or in the boat. All year long.

One more quick thought... in the March/April issue of Pondboss magazine, there is an article on growing huge Bluegills. In it, Pondmeister supreme Bob Lusk mentions something that has stuck with me since I read it. He references catching a 2lb. Bluegill as being equivalent to catching a 15lb. Largemouth Bass..... kinda' puts things into perspective, at least for me.

Also, I just noticed that our own Jim Gronaw makes an appearance on the cover, as well as in the article.....holding what is referred to as a "2lb. plus" Bluegill....

Nice!!!!!!

[harald kronemeyer]

But dont you think the reason that 5% of fishermen catch 90% of the fish is they are willing to do the work to know the waters they fish and do the work to find them. So many people think they are just going to go fishing on holidays and expect to catch fish. It doesnt work that way. You need to put the time in and do your homework. Many people are not willing to do that therefore they dont catch fish. I cant tell you how many times I catch fish and someone else doesnt because there using the wrong gear,bait or whatever.

 

[Derrick Bustle]

thats like my buddies and my brother..they want to catch those big bass but i fish almost 365 a year and i watch teaching videos and i read the books..they want the 10lb bass..and get mad when i catch the 7 and 8 lbrs. and they catch 1-2 lbrs

[dick tabbert]

Harold you are absolutely right. The people who are in the 5% know the fish and have many learning hour under there belts. There is a learning curve there with many different scenario's and lots of hour's to refine that fish catching ability. We have winter, spring, fall, pre spawn, post spawn, spawn, cold fronts, warm fronts being the one most of us are familiar with. Now we that that 5% guess what they think like a fish and have that knowledge base stored in there brain not just cause they are lucky it's from years of fishing which in turn improve there knowledge base although a little luck may be a little part of it. I thing we have to do is take lots of mental notes and remember what made it a success. We have to add that to our other successes all the time growing our knowledge base. But we have the greatest option of all we have BBG and all we need to do is ask the questions and work with the answers and if they work for you add it to your own knowledge base but above all if we don't share it all stops there which is why BBG is so successful GOT TO LOVE IT. That's a shortcut we all have the option to use, share and ejoy.

[John Sheehan]

Hear  you HK -knowing the waters and seasonal habits ! I agree!

 Spend time with the fish they will teach you . All else is theory until you understand a frequented  lake and fish in it show you how to catch them!

[Derrick Bustle]

But then again i am addicted

[Mark Stine]

this discussion got me all excited, been walking around the house muttering must fish, must fish, must... guess I'll go tomorrow! want to catch fish! you must fish!  We talk about all our different gear and whats the best.  Some of my fishing buddies wonder why their rig will only cast 15 feet and mine easily goes 30.  They haven't even done enough research to know how much line and what weight to spool the reel with.  You must fish to realize all the little things like the line mattering, fish dark colors on cloudy days and light colors on sunny days.  Where the drops are on the hot days what honey hole holds the cold water fish.  Can't figure it out in the living room.  keep an open mind I am retired, 58 yrs old, catch tons of fish and spend hours on the internet seeking the wisdom of others like on this great site.  Always looking for ways to learn more, calling dewey at the tackle store at the north landing river launch,  and James at the Northwest river launch to find out what the bite is.  I also share my information and have even given up the locations where I caught fish.  When I see a fellow fly rodder on the water I am likely to share a few of the flies I've tied.  This has paid off when some of the old timers who grew up in this area share their knowledge of the river and techniques.  I went to a fly fishing seminar Saturday at NW river park just to see if I could make some new contacts.  All the work has paid off and I make it into that lower percentage group on lots of days catching from 20 to 120 bream.  Some days you fail and nothing you've learned seems to work, but above all I always have fun when I fish

[dick tabbert]

Good philosophy Mark. We know one hand washes the other we share they share it's a beautiful and never ending. Enjoy and GOOD FISHIN..

[John Sheehan]

Edward Ringwood Hewitt and Isaac Walton each lived to be 90 years old thinking the same way without the internet Mark .Nice post!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

It was an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto, who noted that 20% of the people had 80% of the land wealth. Surprisingly, he found the same unequal distribution in his garden - 20% of his pea plants' growth accounted for 80% of his harvest. In later years another man, Joseph Moses Juran, worked the same observation into what business people and entrepreneurs will recognize as the Pareto Principle, aka, the "80/20 Rule."

Also known as The Law of the Vital Few or the Principle of Factor Sparsity, it states that, for most events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Today it is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., "80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients". Other notable comparisons along these lines are:

• 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers
• 80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers
• 80% of your profits come from 20% of the time you spend
• 80% of your sales come from 20% of your products

In politics it's been modified a bit as the Centrist Doctrine, i.e., 60% of voters can be expected be in the middle, while the 20% to either side - right and left - will remain.

I did a research project on all this some years ago and I found that this particular distribution between cause and results is nearly universal. While the 80/20 factor is not a mathematical certainty, inevitably it is close enough to call it a Rule of Thumb.

It's not a stretch to apply it to anglers. I'm certain, in fact, that is is a Truth. We might say it thus: "20% of anglers catch 80% of the fish."

How to be in that 20% is what we are all after.