How much luck is involved in winning a bass tournament? Is it really skill or is it just pure luck when it comes to bass fishing? To the common person or those who just don’t understand bass fishing, a combination of both goes a long way to being successful. For the most part, it also depends on who you ask about the “luck” side of catching bass and winning events. Today we’ll look at it from a couple of perspectives…professional anglers and the common person.
First, let’s define luck. Luck is defined as the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person’s life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities. To simplify in anglers’ terms…luck is defined as when preparation meets opportunity. Professional anglers take offense if you tell them they just got lucky. They look at the luck accusation from a standpoint that they were ready for the opportunity that came their way because of preparation and took advantage by landing the fish they had hooked. Basically, they were prepared for the situation by doing the little things right. What are the little things? This could be paying attention to detail like making sure they have fresh fishing line on their reels, that their hooks are sharp and their rods and reels are in great shape.
Another area where “luck” used to play a part; was in finding fish. But today’s electronics have made that process a lot simpler. Now these state-of-the-art electronic units give anglers a huge advantage in locating bass. The technology is and continues to go above and beyond anyone’s expectations. It has cut the learning curve in half for young anglers looking to become tournament ready. Gone are the days of anglers having to go out and locate bass by means of going down the bank and fan casting for bass. Well, that’s not totally true. You still need “time on the water” in order to compete, but the level of electronic depth finders on bass boats today is like something out of a sci-fi movie. So, locating bass has become relatively easy, or at least easier, than it used to be. Even though these new electronic units will help you find fish quicker, it does not guarantee you can catch them. Anglers still must figure out how to trigger bass into biting.
So, to answer today’s question, are bass anglers lucky or good? The answer is…. both; it takes both luck and skill to be a good tournament angler. The luck part is when you start to swing a bass into the boat and the hook comes out as the fish lands in the net. Luck is when a bass gets hung up in brush pile and you end up getting it out and into the boat. Luck is when you catch a 6 pounder on the last cast of the day to give you the win. Luck is when a school of 5 pounders surface within twenty feet of your boat and you catch twenty pounds in 15 minutes. But one thing is for sure, the anglers that fish the highest levels of professional bass fishing really are the best anglers in the world… and are both lucky and good. Till next time, good luck, good fishing and don’t forget to set the hook!
Steve Graf Tackle Talk Live & The Hook’N Up & Track’N Down Show
