REGULAR FEATURES What’s luck got to do with it?

What’s luck got to do with it?

BRISBANE Sean Thompson

Well, it’s the holiday season. A time during which so many people go fishing as part of their once or twice a year fishing ritual. While it might be a little bit of fun with the kids or some mates winding down, unfortunately so many of these holiday anglers can’t understand why

Leave the servo freezer-burnt bait alone and catch your own live bait for more success.

they are not getting the same results as their mates who go fishing much more regularly.

But these holiday anglers aren’t on their own. Even some regular anglers subscribe to the myth that fishing success is like a wheel of fortune, a matter of luck rather than good management. For instance, a group of mates fishing side-by-side in a tailor picket line, off a charter boat, or off a busy jetty, might have one guy who is catching the majority of the fish. They might laugh begrudgingly and consider this is pure luck. But is it?

IS FISHING SUCCESS

REALLY LUCK?

I don’t subscribe to there being ‘luck’ in fishing. Never have. To me, there is always a reason for fishing success, at least consistent success over a fishing session, trip or season. There is always a reason or reasons why some anglers catch more fish consistently or on any particular day.

Then of course there are reasons why you haven’t had success. These are the days I find most frustrating but also the ones I can learn the most from. Basically, it is a like the old Mastermind board game. During your session, you might try various baits, lures and tackle to try and land fish in a particular location. Some of these work and others don’t. The trick is to put it all together as you learn from your success and failure (like putting the right colour peg in the right row in Mastermind). Eventually you will line up all you’ve learnt and bingo, you’ve cracked the code of the fish you are targeting!

Achieving this sort of success takes time though. The better anglers will invest time by keeping a fishing dairy or at least GPS timestamped locations of success. These anglers will begin to work out the right tide, time, moon, wind strength, water colour and more for success. Then of

course these anglers will know that when something isn’t working, what they should try instead.

Consistent success can take time from trial and error, but can be expediated by more research. That is research from reliable sources such as this magazine or respected fishing social media or websites, or indeed your local tackle shop.

But now let’s talk about some of the key areas where good anglers stand out from the pack and what you can do to change your results. We will go through a few hypothetical case studies in several areas of focus (such as tackle, location and having an awareness of your surroundings) to highlight the reasons why some anglers have more success.

CASE STUDY 1:

TACKLE SUCCESS

AND FAILURE

Choosing the right tackle for your target species can be very important. With some wily target species and techniques, this is even more so than others.

First, let’s take the scenario where ‘Old Mate’ is heading out for his once-a-year fish down the beach over the holidays. Of course, when it’s time to pack he simply throws his cheap 9’ multi-purpose beach rod and reel in the car. He has pulled it out from its usual spot leaning up against the brick wall of the garage and he is happy it is still rigged up from last summer. Along with his rod and reel he throws in his assorted tackle box of odds and ends which he hasn’t opened since last summer. This is where old mates perceived ‘luck’ or success starts to go astray. A closer inspection of his rod and reel would have revealed that the line on his thick trace or rig is frayed from the last time he used it, his spool is only a third filled with heavy thick line (which he hasn’t replaced in 6-7 years) and the drag

on his reel is sticky and set way too tight.

Likewise, a look at his cheap rod guides would have revealed his top guide has some nicks and cuts from resting the rod up at an angle on the brick wall. An inspection of his tackle box would have revealed a rusted mess. Those lures and hooks that he used last summer and put straight back into his tackle box without washing with freshwater first, have spread rust throughout his tackle box.

In the meantime, his keen regular fishing mate ‘Jim’, who is joining him and his family on holiday, has taken a very different approach to his pending

Avoid rust by washing hooks and swivels used in saltwater before returning them to your box.

Bigger fish, like barramundi, will soon test out any weakness on old line or rigs.

fishing trip. Jim has given all his fishing gear a once over including checking his drag is set properly, he has tied on a new rig and made lots of spare rigs with thin fluorocarbon trace, topped up his reel with new thin diameter line to ensure maximum casting distance and even sharpened up some of the trebles and single hooks on his lures did due to damage on his rod runners. Jim also didn’t lose any fish due to a tight and sticky drag and had his line in the water catching fish after fish during the 10 minutes that Old Mate took to tie on a new rig from scratch after it broke off.

Old Mate also began to get frustrated as his heavier line swept to shore much quicker due to sweep. Likewise, when they threw lures, even after Old Mate hooked up to a tailor close to shore, it quickly threw the trebles as they were rusty and blunt compared to Jim’s pinpoint sharp hooks. Even when Jim felt sorry for his mate and gave him some of his pre-made rigs and fresh bait he still struggled. As usual, Jim ensured that all unnatural

Broken and missing rod guides should be replaced before they cause line damage.

to cast for tailor. Jim is also taking a few different rod and reel combinations to cover all bases on the beach, including a long light and whippy 10’6 rod for whiting, a longer 13’6 fibreglass composite rod for tailor and the odd mulloway and a lighter 12’ graphite rod for spinning lure for lure.

When it comes time to fish, as usual Jim cleans up while Old Mate looks on in disbelief and once again dismissing Jim’s results as pure luck. But it is much more than luck. If Old Mate had watched a little closer, he would have seen that Jim cast double his distance with the longer rod and thinner line. Jim’s line didn’t break on the third cast like Old Mate’s Avoid general purpose combos, use the right tackle for the species you are targeting.

smells on his hands where not transferred to his bait by using a bait scent on his hands and bait. By comparison, Old Mate’s

Successful anglers ensure even their lure trebles are sharp. hands stank of cigarettes and sunscreen, which he unwittingly transferred to his bait, and watched in bamboozlement as the fish still wouldn’t touch his bait while Jim dragged in fish after fish. CASE STUDY II: RIGHT

PLACE, RIGHT TIME

In another scenario, infrequent angler Jack had read lots of reports on social media that the flathead ‘were on’ in his local area. After asking a few questions on tackle and lures used, Jack went down to his nearest big fishing retail outlet to match up the rod, reel, line, lures and leader they were using. Considering he was a casual angler; he spent a bit of a fortune.

Unfortunately though, what Jack didn’t ask, or receive, was local advice on the best time and type of location to target the fish. So off he went and flicked around some plastics on his great new gear at high tide off the riverbank of a local river. Unfortunately, Jack caught diddly squat. Not a touch.

Several hours later, Jack looks out the window to see his regular neighbour Jill returning home with her flathead rod attached to the side of the 4WD and then hop out carrying what looks like a shoulder bag heavy with fish. Jack thinks Jill is a lucky angler, and although she regularly catches fish, he has dismissed her success as luck. Hastily heading over to find out how she went and what she caught them on, Jack discovers that she had pretty much used the same tackle as him including many of the same lures. Once again, Jack considered this was just pure luck.

What Jack didn’t ask though was where, when and how Jill caught the

fish. Unlike Jack, Jill went down to the same river, but 2hrs before the low tide to target the little drains and drop offs where the flathead were lying in wait to smash the baitfish fleeing the flats as the water drained out. Jill had been using this technique for many years after reading a number of fishing magazine articles, getting advice from her local tackle shop and keeping a diary of her catches. Luck had nothing to do with her success.

CASE STUDY III: AWARENESS OF YOUR

SURROUNDINGS

Next, we have the

case of two regular boat anglers, Bazza and Ben who have independently gone interstate on a fishing trip to target some reef fish in a wide-open bay area of their holiday location.

As neither have been there before, they had no local knowledge or experience in the area. Bazza is pretty lackadaisical about it all though and simply asked the bloke at the local servo where the fish were biting when he fuelled up. Whilst he is at it, he grabs some freezer burnt bait from the bottom of the servo’s freezer. The guy at the servo doesn’t fish but he reckons his mate ‘cleans up’ on Knobbys Reef, a large natural reef a few kilometres from shore. That’s enough for Bazza who excitedly grabs a free copy of the bay’s fishing spots from amongst the tourist brochures and is happy as Larry to see Knobbys Reef roughly marked on the map. As it happens, Ben has done his own research and come to the same conclusion that Knobbys Reef was the place to go. He had added to the research he has learnt from articles and speaking to the local tackle shop by studying the area in detail online using the navigation chart app he subscribes to, which he has linked to his sounder/GPS via bluetooth. Ben studies the topography and depth contours and marks out half a dozen spots to go straight to in the morning and target.

The next day conditions are perfect and Ben is off pre-dawn straight to his spots he has marked on the app and synced on his sounder before bed. Bazza crawls out of bed but an hour later and sets out in the general direction of where he thinks the reef is.

While out on the water at the first of his marks, Ben sounds around and notices a lack of bait and fish on the bottom. He notices too that the reef structure is quite limited. Again and again, he sounds the next few spots he marked until finally he settles on a spot full of

bait, fish and structure. He then takes the time to carefully observe the wind and current so his baits and berley will drift back into the target zone not away from it. In no time, he is on to his first of many fish.

Bazza on the other hand is getting more and more frustrated as he searches around for the reef and wishes he had forked out for the navigation charts that he heard his good mate uses. Studying the mud map is virtually useless until he sees a number of boats anchored up in the distance and decides that must be the spot. Off he goes and squeezes in next to the other boats asking if this is said ‘Knobbys Reef’. Begrudgingly a firm “Yes, but shut your bl**dy motor off,” comes back from a nearby angler.

Bazza then anchor’s up around the crowd and even notices a bit of reef under his boat. Unfortunately

though, he has taken no notice of the current or wind and unbeknown to him his freezer burnt pilchard baits and berley are landing on barren sand well away from the reef.

Back at the ramp a couple of hours later, Bazza spots Ben who is pulling his boat in at the same time and asked him how he went. Bazza is gobsmacked to hear of Ben’s success but even more so when he heard he fished the same reef as him. “Half your luck,” Bazza declares as he recounts the fact that all he caught where a few pesky grinner.

What Bazza didn’t realise though, was that the so called ‘luck’ Ben had was from doing his research and having an awareness of his surroundings. He carefully observed his sounder looking for bait, fish, subtle depth changes and noticed the direction and speed of the current

by drifting first before anchoring.

Ben’s results were not luck and nor were Bazza’s. Both got the results they deserved for their efforts.

WHAT’S LUCK GOT

TO DO WITH IT?

VERY LITTLE…

So, there you have it. Just a few reasons and scenarios that separate the success of the experienced successful angler from the less regular or casual angler. Apart from the case studies, there are plenty more reasons why ‘luck’ has very little to do with the success of experienced anglers. Knowing the best time of day and seasons for their target species along with the effects of other natural effects (e.g. wind, moon phase, water conditions) and artificial (e.g. number of boats on the water or commercial fishing pressure) can mean successful anglers target their species at the right time and place. Finally, the best anglers will always take the time to make sure that they don’t take shortcuts on their rigs and knots as this is the most critical part of the connection between you and the fish. This preparation, awareness and knowledge means that ‘luck’ has very little to do with fishing success.

These open bay fish were caught by observing changes in depth on the sounder’s charts.

Keeping a fishing diary of marks and records results in better catches. Big beach rods and reels will reach fish that general purpose combos can’t.

Understand your species: different species can be targeted from this hole at low and high tide.