Most of us, at some time or another, have probably gotten lucky when it comes to fishing.               We may not want to admit it, but sometimes a small amount of luck can help.                            With serious fisherman, luck plays a small role in success. Our site moderators here on BR, have all caught some really nice bass. Even though I would never speak for them, I think they might agree that skill was the main factor in catching so many large bass.                                      Say for example you locate some bass on a deep channel. You find a bend in this channel, with some sort of good cover right on this channel bend.              Of course this would be a prime spot for some good size fish. You set up and start casting, slowly working your bait in this area. There could be some smaller bass here, with a couple of hawgs hanging around.                           What are the odds? You could make a cast that lands right in front of the biggest fish in this group, and you catch her.               Or, you could cast one foot to the right or left of her, and she ignores your lure. If you made that cast right to her, there would be a little bit of luck involved.                   I had an older guy tell me years ago, that it would be much better to be known as a " skilled" fisherman, than a " lucky" one.                 Even though I've known a couple of guys who seemed to have more luck than skill, I always thought that being skilled was always better than being lucky any day.                                            How much of a factor do you think luck plays in bass fishing? We should probably take into account that even a top notch pro, or a beginner could be lucky at any time.                                       What's everyone think about the luck factor in bass fishing?

Interesting Topic ~ There's a lot of great quotes regarding 'Luck'.

Some believe it to be like fate while others don't believe in it at all. 

 Might be hard to determine with any certainly what role 'Luck' does or does not play in my own fishing.  I'll admit to having an occasion or three where I sure felt pretty lucky.

Either way, I am of the opinion that regardless of the end game, attributes like 

 effective preparation, commitment, dedication, head down dogged hard work, having an open mind and not being afraid to fail, can all help me get to a place where "Luck" can find me.

Then, it's up to me; one way or the other. 

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

For me as bank fisherman, every fish for me at least 80% is luck. The rest 20% is location time and lure type that I pick. Landing b i g fish, though I give 70-80% equipment, rod/reel/line and hook and 20%skilled. 

When Preparation Meets Opportunity

 

What your describing is skill, not luck.  Luck would be you randomly toss a bait out anywhere and catch a fish.  Your scenario is skill. You went and found structure then found cover on that structure which is ideal for a good fish.   If you properly work over the area with what the fish want, she will bite.  Done it way too many times.    Now if you just drove out on the lake, stopped your boat and just happen to stop on that creek bend not knowing its there, is pure luck.

 

2 minutes ago, Rich12 said:

What your describing is skill, not luck.  Luck would be you randomly toss a bait out anywhere and catch a fish.  Your scenario is skill. You went and found structure then found cover on that structure which is ideal for a good fish.   If you properly work over the area with what the fish want, she will bite.  Done it way too many times.    Now if you just drove out on the lake, stopped your boat and just happen to stop on that creek bend not knowing its there, is pure luck.

 

True, but even finding the best structure etc, the fish still.may not strike. Lots of factors involved

If the fish is there, I will catch it.  There are certain things that will tick off a fish.  Learn them.  There are ways.   41 years guiding teaches you things a lot of fishermen dont ever figure out.  I had the advantage of 200 days a year on the water and fished with 1000s of fishermen.  You learn things.  There are some completely stupid ways to get a fish to bite, but they work.   Once one 1000 dollars from a customer because he bet me I couldn't catch a fish on a piece of bubble gum.  Bought some new rods and reels with that money.

 

Anyone can get lucky and catch a big bass once in a while. To catch big bass on a consistent basis you have to specifically target big bass and have enough talent to do it.

I think skill plays a much bigger role than luck . Bluebasser cant be that dam lucky .

Here’s my 2 cents, for what it’s worth….

skill comes with my accuracy in the cast, to put it in just the right spot, to skip it under that low hanging limb, pitch it the bucket size hole in the Lilly pads. Tying the right knot, how to rig you baits, Texas, wacky or what ever presentation you use.

   Experience comes when you fished long enough to know where and when you caught fish before, even though it’s a different body of water…lake,  river or where ever your at.

Luck… is when you catch a double digit pound bass instead of the two pounder that is hiding under that log. Which by the way I’ve never been that lucky. Just a tad over 5 lb for me..
    So the more you fish the better your skills get, the more you fish the more experience you get, the more you fish the better chances you have of catching fish. 
And after years and years of all theses factors you get addiction and then your a  full fledge fisherman…… always honing your skills, going out to get more experience and hoping Lady Luck let’s you find and get a solid hook set on the holy grail of fish…..that 25 pound Big Mouth Bass. 

"Fortune favors the prepared mind."  --Louis Pasteur

 

If you study fishing (including fish biology, proclivities, etc.) and combine it with acquired competence with relevant fishing techniques and gear via practical experience, then you'll be well equipped to take advantage of whatever luck you find.  This applies to most fields of endeavor.

Well let me say this...I caught my PB when I was 19 on a crappie jig...that was luck. In 20 years of bass fishing I've caught more bass over 6lbs in the last 5 or 6 years then I did in the previous 15 years. That's not luck.

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Might be hard to determine with any certainly what role 'Luck' does or does not play

 

Do know if it's possible to determine but I know there have been times I just shake my head & wonder what just happened.

Luck?

I don’t think so. 

You stopped where you did because you thought about it and DECIDED to stop there. 
 

You DECIDED to rig a bait for the technique you DECIDED would give you the best chance to get bit. 

You considered all the variables before you DECIDED to picked up the rod with the right action and right line spooled on right reel with the best reel speed for what you DECIDED to tied on. 
 

Then you DECIDED to throw where you did given your experience and your
ability to process it all. 
 

The luck comes in, in that the fish was there in the first place which you have no control over and you made all those DECISIONS correctly. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

I have to say I believe in luck. My wife is the luckiest fisherperson I know. She has permanent, chronic, tendinitis in both hands, wrists, and arms. As such, she has very little strength , and or control when she fishes. She can only use a spincast setup with weightless baits. ( a swim Senko is all she uses). Her casts are kind of two handed lobs and often don't go where she intended,. She can only fish for fifteen minutes or so before she has to rest her hands. When she catches a fish I have to reel it in for her.

  With all of this she will often out fish me. She has caught a 7lb.,5lb., and several 4+ LM and many others.

  By the way, spincast reels, at least Zebco Omegas, are perfectly capable of bringing in big fish and hold up better than we thought they would.

Luck matters. You will almost always see the biggest fish caught by people with the most skill and experience and people with little or no skill and experience. I like to think the people who have no clue aren’t restricted by what theyre supposed to do, so they catch “lucky” big fish. The people in the mid level almost never get that lucky fish. But luck is a huge factor. I am very lucky. If this was a video game and I was a character, my character’s luck would be very high. I get better cards when I play, I get more wins on slot machines, I find money on the ground when I get out of my car in the parking lot, I win more scratch off lotto tickets. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, I just consistently get more luck than other people. Yes. I am positive that luck is a big factor.

13 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Interesting Topic ~ There's a lot of great quotes regarding 'Luck'.

Some believe it to be like fate while others don't believe in it at all. 

 Might be hard to determine with any certainly what role 'Luck' does or does not play in my own fishing.  I'll admit to having an occasion or three where I sure felt pretty lucky.

Either way, I am of the opinion that regardless of the end game, attributes like 

 effective preparation, commitment, dedication, head down dogged hard work, having an open mind and not being afraid to fail, can all help me get to a place where "Luck" can find me.

Then, it's up to me; one way or the other. 

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

Right on. I always tell my son that you need to be good enough to get lucky. 

 

Now if only I was good enough... ?

When it comes to fishing (and most other things really) I'm either really good, or really lucky...

Like most things, luck is a matter of perception and resides mostly between the ears.

 

http://richardwiseman.com/resources/The_Luck_Factor.pdf

Right place, right time, right lure, etc. is skill.  Making a long cast to open water in an attempt to tighten the loose line on your reel's spool and catching a 4lb. smallie is dumb luck/

Ok I’ll agree that luck could/may be a factor to a point. 

I don’t think you guys are giving yourselves enough credit. 
 

 

Mike

 

 

14 hours ago, Mobasser said:

True, but even finding the best structure etc, the fish still.may not strike. Lots of factors involved

I sort of agree with you. When I come across a nice lay down that looks too good to not have a fish on it, I fish it hard to draw the reaction strike. A lot of times that first and second casts doesn’t draw the strike. I realize every situation is different but my river Smallie fishing is very reactionary. But slowing down with trigs, tubes and grubs I find has its place. No luck involved. I fish hard and don’t see luck as part of that. 

About 15 years ago while night fishing on Toledo Bend the wind started pick up, we were fishing out of my little 16' Stratos & decided to run closer to where we launched. To get there we had to circle a 3-4 hundred area flat which meant we had to cross the main lake. I knew I could cut across the flat because there are no stumps. 

 

As I turned out of the boat lane which happened to be the Sabine River my depth finder went from 47' to 13'. We both looked at each other & simultaneously said we gotta fish this. Problem was my trolling motor or anchor wouldn't hold us in position for long. Every time we pulled up we caught a 3-4# bass before drifting off.

 

We decided to head in & try again tomorrow night but sadly the next night we couldn't find that dropoff again.

 

Some 4-5 years later while running that same boat lane at night there was a pontoon boat sitting in the middle of the boat lane. I slowed down, made a hard right out of the boat lane & my depth finder lit up...there was our dropoff.

 

Luck? IDK ?

Edited July 6, 20214 yr by Catt
Operator Error

Both (skill, luck) are factors in all phases of fishing to varying degrees. FLW tour pro Eric Jackson wrote an article on this subject. These two lines sum it up well:

 

“I now believe that the key to becoming the best fisherman on Tour is in part to have the best sense about what is in your control, and what isn’t... Learning what is luck and what is controllable during (practice) and tournament days may be the single most important lesson in professional fishing.”

 

 

I do a lot of reading on this subject and find it fascinating.  The more scientific term for luck is randomness.   It no doubt plays huge role in fishing.  I read a book a few months ago call the "The Hot Hand" by Ben Cohen.   It was mostly about the hot hand in basketball but covered the concept in other areas.   We've all seen times where a basketball player hit's several shots in a row and suddenly everyone thinks he's got the hot hand.  They start feeding him the ball until he cools off.  This concept of the hot hand has been studied to death in basketball and other sports.  Is it real or can it all be explained by luck?  Countless articles have been written in scientific journals on this subject.  

 

Basketball has nothing on fishing when it comes to randomness (luck).  You change colors and catch a couple of fish.  Is it the new color or is it just luck?  I suspect that some folks catch a few lucky fish and end up having a new favorite color for life.  

 

 

 

You gotta use the force! Or the Schwartz