What If it is All Wrong?

[Johnny wilkins]

All I Learned is All Wrong?

1. What if your favorite and GO-to method, the one you are most confident in and catches you fish is in reality a very slow method of getting things done?
2. What if the books you read are only o.k. tactics?
3. What if everything you learned about fishing is information that will hurt your fishing?
4. What if there ARE great fish in your lake, but they just swim by your hooks...?
   

I just wanted to provoke some thought. How confident of a fisherman are you? What would you like to catch? How many times are you disappointed or bored? Do you often think something is wrong?

Let me give you some examples of how I am thinking:

 

If you go to the golf range and just buy buckets of balls, but never learn anything, you will continue to hit the golf balls wherever you were going to hit them when you walked up to the counter to pay for your first bucket.

If you go bowling, and just throw the ball, but never change how you are throwing it or you always use the same bowling ball, you will hit about the same pins as you would have when you went to rent the shoes.

 

If you follow the examples above - fishing a lot (spending a lot of time on the water) but with bad habits, bad methods and never making changes, will only catch you so many fish.

 

I find it amazing that on an occasion when I am catching a decent number of fish - CONSISTENTLY people will say it is the spot - this must be the reason I am catching. People RARELY ask what I am doing or how? A lot of times I am in a public park on shore so they can walk right up to me. Even the parent with their children fishing and catching absolutely nothing. I might have caught 25 fish in front of them. They pack up and go. I can sometimes hear some phrase muttered to explain why this is happening - but they never ask.
 

My theory is that if a parent every taught them, kids remember being told how not do do this- why are you doing that? What's ,... here - give me that! Do it like this! Parents can't even describe a setup enough to pass it on - even though it might be a bad one.

The greatest wisdom passed down to those 90% of people was "you have to keep your line in the water if you are going to catch something" - if what is on the end of that line isn't attractive to the fish - then even this statement won't help you. Keeping your line in the water with something no fish wants will equal a lot of time spent wishing, napping or site-seeing - not catching.

 

Is an angler's education in the U.S. very poor from their first boat to filling their first tackle box? 

Do you remember when you were being taught - doing your own thing because nothing was working? Do you remember the other person you were fishing with giving you the ole - questioning look or saying - that won't work?

 

I also know people are content to keep hitting golf balls into the woods and into ponds. They are content to get whatever bowling league average they throw - some good, some bad.

And even more so - people are content to buy stuff off the shelves and just catch a few or catch sometimes. I think many are content just trying to find out on their own.

 

Do we stop and ask directions enough when lost? Are Golfers content just buying golf clothes and gear to make them look more like a golfer? I know at the fishing show I was at, there were people happy to put on patches to look like they were an expert - but I know for a fact they are not experts. I do know that no angler can be sponsored by Fenwick, Okuma, Shakespeare, G.Loomis and St. Croix all at the same time. But I saw a couple that said they were...

I saw them at a show. The magazine I picked up at that fishing show (a national publication) had the worst article I have ever read in my life.

 

Like the golfers that hack up the courses and leave holes everywhere - but who have nice shirts and hats - I think there are many anglers who like to dress like a fisherman. Anglers like to have a tackle box filled with a variety of lure colors, jig sizes and I think they are very happy to have such a nice collection. I think there are a number of people just content to look like fisherman. I also think people are happy to talk about fishing. Talk about tactics. This is fact. I think that some of the really great anglers in the world have never written an article and have never been on television. I know there are editors who "approve" articles who don't know what they are doing.

I read an article about tying a rock to your line and fishing with it. I am officially frustrated with this information. I am officially looking like the RCA dog at the rest of the fishing world. This is the point in time where I think people are crackers. Trust No One.

Catch You Later -

Johnny

My radio showgram is starting back up this Saturday- Bring Some Bait if You Have Some - you can catch it here: Fishing School Radio
 

 

[Johnny wilkins]

Well -

Each angler has their own "success" - but I think many have set no expectation or are not being realistic. I think they live in a  grey haze of disappointment and poor self-esteem because their fishing doesn't match the T.V.  - 

Not fair. I think when all the "experts" do is create another reality - for instance, condensing 4 days on a private lake into :30 min. shows - they give the ILLUSION that their baits really, really work. When we go to our ponds' edge or we climb into our "under $25,000 boat" - we can't reproduce what they can with a scout crew and 4 days.

My definition of successful angling for me is when I can blow their :30 minutes out of the water, when I have a bag of fish that is hard to lift after a 4-hour setting.

This is a great point - what is your definition of a successful fishing outing? 

Here are some examples of success for me:

1. Good focus, good rhythm and steady catching - 75 fish

I have 5 or 6 more different measures of success, but I don't want to spoil it for everyone.

What is the measure of success? What makes a great day for you?

[Tony Livingston]

Johnny, perhaps it would give us a basis for comparison if you gave us your definition of what being a successful angler entails? It becomes very difficult to reach for the stars when one has no idea which way is up. Once up is established, it becomes much easier to decide if that is in fact, the direction we wish to travel.

[Derrick Bustle]

I'm very confident in what i do. I have the proof that  can produce fish. and if you question what your throwing i think you fish it different than i your confident in your bait.