As explained by Wired2Fish official and angler Jason Sealock, "You can know the bite, the winning bait, presentation, cover, and pattern, but that doesn't mean it's going to work for you everywhere or every day. What the deal was a week or two before can evaporate overnight...or, for that matter, in only an hour or two. Why? Because conditions can change just that fast.
"We all know we have to adapt and fish the current conditions," said Sealock. "But even then, how do you quickly assess those on the fly and know when to stay and when to go, or when to stick with a presentation and when to abandon it?
"On one side of that line is the joy of having a memorable day of fishing, catching a big bass, winning a tournament, and all the adrenaline, relief and sense of achievement that come with those accomplishments," continued Sealock. "On the other side is...well, it's when some anglers consider selling all their fishing gear and taking up golf. It can be maddening."
Let's face it: You really don't learn much if you're not getting bites.
"Sure, you can rule out water and narrow down your search for more and better bass," said Sealock. "But you can't truly learn about bass until they bite.
"There always are things I wish I had done differently when I fail at something. But as Thomas Edison once pointed out, after 10,000 unsuccessful attempts to make a light bulb, 'I haven't failed; I've found 10,000 ways that won't work.' He went on to say, after succeeding to invent the light bulb, 'Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.'
Sealock then went on to note what he's reminded of when falling on the wrong side of the line in fishing.
"Many anglers will tell you they don't like to hook fish in practice," he said, "but I think laying off fish in practice can be just as counterproductive."
He cited the example of a team tournament he once fished with well-known angler Terry Bolton on Kentucky Lake. They found fish in practice and assumed those fish still would be available a week later.
"We laid off them because we didn't want to chance catching a fish we needed on an off day," said Sealock. "But they didn't remain in those areas, and we didn't know that because we had laid off.
"We felt pretty good about fishing this event, even though we knew it would be tough. Long story short, though, at the end of the day, we threw back our one keeper, put the boat on the trailer, and went home with out tails between our legs. Fishing was tough for a lot of folks. When 8 pounds gets a check in a team tournament there, fishing isn't exactly swell. But 23 pounds won, which didn't spin me out nearly as much as finding out that the winning team fished the same pattern we did, albeit in completely different water. We got our teeth kicked in basically doing the same thing they did."
As Sealock noted, he and Bolton got a few early bites on one pattern, and then went to what had worked for them in practice.
"In hindsight," he said, "we should have bounced back and forth between what worked that morning and what we thought should be the pattern, given our practice fishing. As you bounce back and forth between types of areas and presentations, one usually will present itself as the way to catch better quality fish or generate more strikes, and then you can refine. Bouncing back and forth helps you not to get set in preconceived notions."
Likewise, one needs to keep in mind that fish change. In other words, one bait might catch them better today in the same area where another bait worked well yesterday.
"Their mood, the conditions, the bait can all affect how fish react from one day to the next," said Sealock. "Knowing the general places that have been holding fish is just part of it. Knowing that there might be a better way to catch them today than yesterday can yield big catches. The biggest thing is not to assume that because one bite has been on, it's going to remain on."
While the sting of not figuring out the fish on any given day may be painful at first, "the pain dulls, and the lessons learned seem to fuel my fire to get back out there and better figure out the fishing for next time," said Sealock.
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