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All the fishing, boating, shooting, hunting, you-name-it shows are in full swing while it's as ugly as a mutt outside. It's the perfect time to see all the newfangled ideas that folks come out with every year to enable us to do a little better with our efforts than in previous years.
Somehow, we all seem to think if we read about the right secret technique, or buy the newest lures, rod, reel or latest gadget of the hour, we might just do better than we did last year.
It's almost impossible not to believe the hype in the video and buy in at 110%.
Why? BECAUSE WE WANT TO!
We just seem hard-wired to do so. Psychiatrists call it self-deception. Retailers call it marketing.
More than anything, it gets us a lot of STUFF that gets added to last year's pile, which is sitting on top of the pile of unused items from the year before.
Believe me when I tell you that my own basement is a collection of tackle and rods that would make any Bass Pro Shop envious. I'll bet yours is too.
We all fully intend to use each and every single thing we buy in these cold months, and can even picture ourselves doing it as we load our cart. How else could we justify buying a single lure for $20 bucks? We MUST be insane!
Well, more often than not, the first new "thing" doesn't get the action that we dreamed about. Or the second one, or even the third.
What does perform like magic is the "Little Cleo" that we pull out in frustration. Yep, that same lure fisherman used 50 years ago; it hasn't changed a lick since, and won't in the next 50 years, either. The same can be said for the good old tried and true Wooly Bugger or Parachute Adams. They have been popular and productive all these years for a reason, and that will never change, regardless of all the new renditions we get enticed with.
The $1.99 bin might actually be our best friend - of both our wallet and our results!
One of our favorite guides, Joey Monteleone, likes to use a term in his fishing seminars called the "One Year Rule."
He'll tell his audience, "Get any size tackle box you want, put all the lures you can fit, and if it doesn't get tied on or catch a fish, you take it out. In a few years, every bait you have will catch fish and probably have a smaller tackle box".
Other legends like Bill Dance, Roland Martin, and Jimmy Houston wrote all about it as well.
I once accidentally knocked over a friends tackle box laying wide open in the boat, and I swear it looked like a pirates treasure chest was dumped out on the floor. The look on his face was one of angst that I'll never forget...nor will I forget the forgiveness and his words "It's OK" that followed. I didn't even need to be defensive and say, "Well if you'd just listened to Joey..."
Heck, if legends like Joey, Roland, Bill, and Jimmy keep telling us this, perhaps it's time to purge our excesses and get in control of our self-deception. Maybe even next year.
Best of the Best...
Kenny
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John Truhlar
June 17, 2020
This technique has worked for me for places I hike back into. I take stuff that has worked at that location and maybe a few “experimental” lures. Since I fish only a few locations regularly I have a bag for each location with lures specific for that lake or pond and a group of 3 or 4 rods that work with those lures.
All bets are off though when we go some where new….I bring a Caddy.