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?
I credit my success to my father teaching me to flyfish when I was young, to more than thirty years of fishing of all kinds, to paying attention to what was happening around me, and to the handful of folks who pointed out things that helped me leap ahead over the years. I firmly believe that learning hands-on, out in the real world, is infinitely better than book larnin’. You can read every book out there, every website, and watch every video, and you will have LOTS of information, but how much of it do you really UNDERSTAND?
Luck always plays a role. You can’t ever avoid the Lady. But in the long run, she tends to favor those who already know what they are doing.
A great question…should be interesting.
Anyone can be lucky once. Successful fishermen are lucky more than that.
The more you fish, the better your chance for being lucky. The more you are lucky, the better chance you will be successful.
Just keep your hooks sharp and your flies in the water and you’ll have fun and that’s all it is really about.
When I catch a bunch of fish or a big one I’m successful.
When my fishing buddy outfishes me, he’s lucky!
I believe in the saying;
“Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.” Learn, practice, learn, practice, learn, practice…
Now that’s funny! Great replies, keep em’ coming.
The proper Knowledge is power.
Knowledge without application is fantasy.
Knowledge can be gained through many avenues, but reading and talking with people better or more experienced than you is a good short cut, but again, the theories must be applied not just talked about.
Experience is golden.
Rick
“Luck is a residue of skill” - Woody Hayes quoting Amos Alonzo Stagg.
It’s how well you understand and apply the three T’s of fly fishing - timing, tackle and technique. That’s another way of saying what DG said, I think.
For me, what makes fly fishing so interesting and challenging, is all the variables that come into play in just about any outing, and the variables are expanded by a factor of three - the three T’s. You can have everything just right in either of two of the T’s, and blow it completely on the other one.
And, as I like to remind myself when it happens, and it does often enough to have a saying for it - “You have to do a lot of things right to foul hook a whitefish.”
I’ll go with DG on this one… paying attention brings dividends.
We all enjoy the places we fish, otherwise we wouldnt be there, yet ya have to watch what is happening while you fish…
Z
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…
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.
Yes, there’s no substitute for experience. Practice, practice, practice.
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
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.
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
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! 
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