Fishing: Luck or Skill?

By Ian

I have done my share of catching big bass. When I return to the pier or weigh in, I often hear this:

"You've been lucky today!"

When someone passes by, they often say: "How's luck?" And it seems that is one of the misconceptions of fishing.

Rick Clunn once said: "There is no luck in fishing!" I think he is mostly right. After all, when someone complains of that "5 lber" running into some weeds during the fight,  unhooking himself, and hooking your $15 crank bait  couldn't better fish fighting skills prevented that to some degree? An old time once told me: "Fishing is 60% knowledge and skill, 30% knowledge, and 10% luck." I couldn't think of a truer statement.

Another guy told me: "Just give KVD (Kevin VanDam, a famous bass pro) a $20 spincast combo and he'd kick our butts!" True again. After all, while do the same old bass pros make it to the top of the leader boards each year? Why not anyone else?

Next time you gone home, "skunked," maybe it's because your presentation was not right. Or because you used highly visible fishing line. But in the end, your last guess should be "aliens abducting all the bass." Even still, wouldn't better casting knowledge allow you to throw a treble hook and get one of them by tail as he is floating towards the spaceship? Perhaps it is your lack of ability to read the barometer pressure. Or the dullness of the hooks. It even might be "plain olde luck."

Tight lines,

​Ian