Difference between successful and lucky

[DShock]

Doing your homework. Having a backup plan. Being flexible. Taking the good days with the bad and continue to return to your fishing spots. Never giving up learning. Being open to other people's ideas. The most important thing is to put in the hours of fishing. Repetition breeds familiarity. Observe what is going on, before you make a cast. Dream about catching hundreds of fish, but be realistic when you are actually fishing. Use failure as motivation to learn. Don't worry how well others are fishing, focus on the hatch, the fish and you. Being lucky is any day that you are fishing.
Doug

[Steve Molcsan]

Doing your homework. Having a backup plan. Being flexible. Taking the good days with the bad and continue to return to your fishing spots. Never giving up learning. Being open to other people's ideas. The most important thing is to put in the hours of fishing. Repetition breeds familiarity. Observe what is going on, before you make a cast. Dream about catching hundreds of fish, but be realistic when you are actually fishing. Use failure as motivation to learn. Don't worry how well others are fishing, focus on the hatch, the fish and you. Being lucky is any day that you are fishing.
Doug

Simply brilliantly stated.....

[loufly]

I like that,"Being flexible". Willing to take a chance at something different from what you normally do and not doing what everyone else is. I caught two fish yesterday while fishing a local stillwater, one on a leech and the other on my yellow foam stick-on strike indicator. Yes, I attached a hook to the leader and placed my indicator on it after a fish struck my indicator like it was lunch. My back still hurts from trying that much flexibility.

[deathb4disco]

Is it time on the water?

Yes, there's no substitute for experience. Practice, practice, practice.

[Bad Luck Larry]

It all depends on what you deem successful.

Being able to catch the most fish?
Being able to catch the biggest fish?
Being able to CONSISTENTLY catch the most fish?
Being able to CONSISTENTLY catch the biggest fish?
Being able to CONSISTENTLY snag your fly in the trees?
Being able to CONSISTENTLY hook the back of your melon?
Now the LAST TWO, I'M A PROFESSIONAL! JEDI MASTER!!! No need to use the force..really.

Now me, folks, I go out to with one objective: To catch A (AYYYYYYY) fish. Period.
Everything else above that...is 'icing on the cake', pure and simple. Do I care if it's a shiner? No.

I have friends who catch a GA-ZILLION trout to my handful....and you know what? Who cares. That 'one' , is all I go for. I catch that 'one' and hold it in my hands; marvel at the colours (maybe kiss it if I've got the right colour lipstick on that day!) and put it back in the water for next time. Feels great! That's my game plan.

Success to me is being able to adapt, read, ascertain a situation on the water and put it all together using what marbles are left in your head, to figure out a way to make a water organism think that fur and feathers twirled on a hook, equals something good to eat. As someone once called it,'breaking the code' to me as a fisherman, means success. So when you see a cased caddis crawling on the waterbed, DON"T (like I once did) PUT ON A CLOUSER MINNOW! THAT'S NOT BREAKING THE CODE! THAT'S CALLED DOING SOMETHING STUPID!
But a lot of it is trial and error....experience is the best teacher in life, as well as listening to everyone around you. For, everyone in this world has something to teach. You just have to be willing to listen.

And as far as luck.....
If you have enough health to actually BE fishing; to enjoy the beauty of this earth all around you while fishing....well then who the heck cares about catching a fish? OK..ok..it IS about catching at least a fish. But really, to be standing in the middle of that river or water or whatever, with the beauty of nature all around......I'd say you're pretty damn lucky.

Cheers everybody!

Bad Luck Larry

[Baldy]

What makes a fisherman successful and not just lucky? Is it time on the water? Is it time with our noses in a book or staring at a computer screen?
What makes you successful and not just lucky?

Actually it is all of the above & more. A lot can be said for quality training & experience.
It is often said that practice makes perfect but I disagree. Practice makes permanent, if one is practicing poor technique then they will be proficient at poor technique, hence the quality training. Experience on the water using great technique at the right time can create luck.
Although I honestly believe that being an angler with confidence is one of the biggest factors in having success on the water.

[tigfly]

A famous golfer once said "the more I practice, the luckier I get". I think that applies to most things where a skill can be developed.

Glenn

[FishnDave]

Being successful is something you can strive to be...a goal to work towards, and practice to continue being.

Getting/being "lucky" is a gift.

You can't receive this gift if you don't show up for the party!

[ohiotuber]

I'm no better than "average" in most things fly fishing, BUT I most usually catch my share of nice fish. Partly luck, but I also attribute some of that to being observant & flexible. If I can see fish in the water, I love to watch them & see how they are acting, in what type water, & at what speed & depth. It sure can tell a lot.
Mike