Meanwhile, I see myself as a "hack with no attack." I realize golfers usually chafe at being called a "hack," but that term doesn't bother me in the least.
I'm the guy who regularly just "contributes" to the weekend tournaments. I'm also the guy who simply enjoys just feeling a tug on the end of my line when I'm out fun fishing. Make no mistake about it--I get as much of an adrenaline rush as anyone else when I feel a big fish, but I'm totally satisfied, too, if I only catch dinks all day long.
Even a "hack" like me gets a chance to shine every once in a while, if maybe only in his own eyes. Such an opportunity came to me this past Friday. I came up behind a couple of what I personally know to be good anglers in one of my favorite creeks. They were fishing a stretch of shoreline that I like. Since they were there first, I hung back in the distance and waited my turn, all the while watching to see if they were catching any fish. I never saw them boat a single bass in the time I was watching.
When they moved on, I eased up to the piece of shoreline they just had vacated and immediately boated two dinks. That moment in the fishing day was a victory of sorts for me--a "hack with no attack" but enough luck to better a couple of the best. I couldn't help but smile to myself.
In a tournament setting, these two guys, I know, will keep showing me up all day long. I suffer no visions of grandeur. For that reason, I have to live with smaller victories along the way, like I described in the previous paragraph.
When luck pretty much is all you have going for yourself, you learn to be satisfied with the little things as much or more than good anglers--often described as the "10 percenters"--enjoy the big things. That term comes from the old saying that "10 percent of the fishermen catch 90 percent of the fish." However, I was reading the results of a study in which it was purported that the 10 percent only really catch about 70 percent of the fish.
Nevertheless, author Clarence Henry once wrote that the "one thing many of the 10 percenters have is a yearning for learning more. That means they're humble. They're not motor mouths, nor conceited or arrogant. But they often have a quiet confidence that makes them fish intently. They read and learn to reject the rubbish and take on the genuine... .
"The good anglers...are always trying to learn, fathom the moods of the fish, and work on out-thinking them... . You want commitment--a belief in yourself without getting big-headed about it.
"Good anglers are open in their thinking; they haven't got shut minds. They are flexible--willing to change if analysis or events tell them to do so.
"Every fishing trip is experience. If you keep a diary of your fishing days, you may see a pattern emerge, such as best tides, best spots, etc. Some spots fish better on a rising tide, others on a falling tide.
"Be observant. Look and see what's going on. Bird activity...such as swallows taking mayflies...may give you a clue.
"And go fishing whenever you can. Don't look on a skunk day as useless. Analyze what you might have done differently in the way of a new tactic."
"In short, learn to think like a fish." By so doing, there's always a chance you one day may edge a little closer to joining that "10 percenter" circle.
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