There are those who will tell you that a bass on your first cast simply means you started at the right spot--nothing more or less, and a lot better than nothing.
As another fella noted, however, "I'll never forget the day a buddy and I fished a local, 8-hour tournament. It was mid-fall, with cooler-than-normal temperatures and breezy conditions. On the first cast of the day, I boated a 14-inch keeper. We were pumped, thinking we absolutely were going to kill it--not so, however. We spent the next 7 hours and 45 minutes without another bite. Weighed our one fish and finished 4th out of 12 boats--a really brutal day," as he described it.
And what about those of us who, any one given season, slay fish on one particular stretch of water with one particular lure and return to the same site the next season, figuring to pull off a repeat performance? Consider, for example, the guy who one year consistently had found bass on a section of rip-rap, where the water dropped off quickly to 12 feet. He often boated fish all day long on his visits there with a 7.5-inch grape-shad Culprit worm, then went back the next year, and on the first cast (with the same Culprit worm), caught one better than 2 pounds. In his mind, he just knew, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that he was destined to repeat his successes of the previous season. And you know what? He spent the next 4 hours of that day, as well as many more, trying his dead-level best to prove it...but often without a single tap.
It doesn't take much research to determine that a large number of anglers have "first fish" superstitions, regardless of whether they catch that first fish on the first cast or the 101st. I read about one fella who makes it a point to kiss each day's first fish for good luck. Also read about one who swears he always releases the first catch of the day on the spot, no matter what, for good luck.
I can't help wondering, however, if that latter angler could stay true to his word if his first fish of the day, especially a tournament day, turned out to be a big 'un. Let's say, for example, his first fish of the tournament day happened to tip the scales in double digits. What kind of tournament angler could possibly bring himself/herself to release a first fish of that magnitude on the spot? I won't say there's not one, but I sure would like to meet such an angler, if one exists.
Based on an account I read about in the March 25, 2017, edition of The Wichita Eagle, there's a Lawrence, KS, tournament bass angler who didn't immediately release the 10-lb. 15-oz. largemouth (pictured at top) he caught on the first cast. Incidentally, that March 18, 2017, fish set a new record for La Cygne Reservoir. Instead, the angler waited until after the weigh-in had taken place, and he had locked up a 2nd-place finish with a two-fish total weight of 15 lbs. 1 oz. Here's a link to the video of that event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIm9XE5272M.
In conclusion, I think it's fair to say we all have our own ideas about superstitions, but I propose that a big bass is likely to make any of us perhaps put all superstitions aside--at least for a little while.
No comments:
Post a Comment