Why haven't you landed a #50 yet ??

[Skitterpop]

Originally Posted by bart

It just does not get any better than this .

[DJ Muller]

I am really looking forward to doing the seminar at the SW Edge show a week from Saturday...it is all relative to this topic. The talk and chatter here gets me pumped up for this next year and my next oppurtunity to cross paths with a substantial bass.

God I love this fishery!!!!

[Backbeach Jake]

Because I don't think that it's fish that I'm after.

[Skitterpop]

http://www.virtualrealityfishing.com/what-is.html





All fishermen are liars. Some are just better at it than others

[spence]

The luck vs skill argument is pretty silly.

Certainly one can catch a large fish with little skill simply because they're lucky. And certainly a skilled fisherman can go home empty because they didn't have enough luck even though they did everything "right".

But the more times you apply your skills, you dramatically increase the number of opportunities to get lucky, as well as have a better chance to leverage that luck into results. So skill or luck can be good, but skill times luck is even better. Regardless it still takes luck.

-spence

[piemma]

OK, I give up. Arguing on the internet is like pissing into the wind: nothing good ever comes out of it and you always end up wet and smelly.

[bloocrab]

Goose, in answering your original question....I don't know why I haven't. I honestly don't think there's a specific nor a cumulative reason why. I don't really believe in luck, but I do believe in God, and if and when He chooses to bless me with a fish of that size, I will be grateful. If I never get blessed with a fish that big, I'll consider myself blessed in many other ways fishing related. I'm sure you know personally, that I'm perfectly content with my time on the water, whether I'm catching or just fishing. Do I dream of catching a 50? ...OF COURSE I DO, who doesn't? Can "Positive thinking" help me reach some goals in my life? ABSOLUTELY! Can "Positive thinking" put a 50 on the end of my line? If I wish hard enough, will the fish be there?

How many people on this board have only been fishing 1/2 dozen years or so and already have BIG fish under their belts? Should I be discouraged, jealous, MAD? Are they fishing harder than I have? Are they using a secret lure? Is there a method to this madness?

You can target large and you cannot target large. If you know what you're doing, you know what I mean by that. Putting yourself in the right condition(s), (time/place/tide/bait/etc/etc) will definately increase your odds of catching bigger fish, but that 50#er not only HAS to be there, but also has to choose your offering, once that happens, your skill along with your gear...will help with the rest. That being said, I personally do not always target large. Based on your post, that alone could be the reason why I have not caught my 50. Your opinion - like mine, means nothing. That guy chunking mooshy mackerel on the beach casting 40 feet out in 4 feet of water eating his lunch under the high Sun landing a 50lb. fish tells me more than both our opinions combined.

We all have our favorite spots. There are many reasons why we favor them, whether we've caught our biggest there or because we've caught a lot of fish there or maybe it's a spot that the skunk rarely visits, again...there are a LOT of reasons why we favor spots. However, no matter how much you like that spot, you still can't wish a 50 to be there. If you feel confident that this spot should be a BIG fish spot, fish it hard, fish it often, fish it confidently. Don't let someone tell you that you'll never catch a BIG fish there. Is catching a 50# fish something one wants for himself OR is it the status that one inherits once he has it? Not a question that gets answered honestly I think -

Riddle me this Batman, I went fishing with a friend on his boat. HE researched the spot, put in HIS time, and shared HIS spot with me . One night while we were fishing, the action heated up. My friend landed BIG fish, ALL of his fish dwarfed my fish. I mean he caught fish from 25#s to the HIGH 40# mark, while I caught nothing larger than 30 inches. Let's weigh in the varialbles. He was using eels - I was using eels. He was spot casting to a certain hole - I was casting in the SAME exact hole. Almost like jetty currents, he would cast, get his fish out of the hole and then I would cast and get my fish out of the hole. We were both consistently "hooking up". Technique was almost out of the question as the fish were hitting a specific part of the water column so as the eel sank it got blasted. I believe we were both using braid. How was this possible? How could 2 completely different class fish be in the same hole, and beyond that...why would the larger ones inhale his eel while the smaller ones dined on mine? He joked about picking the larger eels, which I also used ??? Was he reaping the rewards of doing the homework, did the fish Gods know who really deserved the bigger fish versus who was tagging along?? Karma?? It is what it is...and like my friend Clammer says....."Enjoy what you have".

.

[Sea Dangles]

The harder you fish , the "luckier" you get....

[keeperreaper]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

The harder you fish , the "luckier" you get....

ain't that the truth.

[Flaptail]

These days, at least here on Cape Cod, we have had no real big bait for bigger fish to be enticed to stay here. The herring were plundered by the live line hordes and until last season we only saw peanut bunker each year. So no big bait no big fish to speak of. Yeah occasionally someone will take a fifty but mostly trolling bunker spoons or big tubes but not like the days past. Nothing to hold the big girls here these past ten years or so.

When I was a mate on a charter boat out of Barnstable in 74 we had a blitz on 4th of July where all the boats on Billingsgate went to drifting and casting reverse Atoms because of the vast schools of squid. We had a trip where we took 26 bass, five of which bested fifty pounds. I was gaffing fish and spooling reels left and right for the sports. No squid like back then anymore and no blitzes of big giant bass either. A 30-35 pounder will chase sand eels but bigger than that you need big bait like herring, squid and large bunker.

Maybe with the big bunker returning (hopefully it will continue to increase in numbers of large bunker each year) we may see the chances of hooking up with bigger fish increase as well.

They see the results in Rhode Island, maybe we will see that too here on Cape Cod and your chances will increase as well at a shot at a fifty.

[MrHunters]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

These days, at least here on Cape Cod, we have had no real big bait for bigger fish to be enticed to stay here. The herring were plundered by the live line hordes and until last season we only saw peanut bunker each year.

Don't be surprised if you don't see many macks this year either.

Heres a part of Gloucester Im not proud of.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...182977&start=1

[DZ]

This is a very interesting thread... seems like those that have taken 50s don't consider it luck - and those that have not taken a 50 would like to get lucky.

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& has taken many great fish CONSISTANTLY from shore and boat. I consider him one of the very best out there but I'm a little disappointed to find out he's just lucky. In my opinion he'd only be lucky if a 60 hit his empty pogy snagger while trying to catch bait.

Maybe we all have a different definition of luck?

Could we be mistaking luck to meaning:
Good fortune
Fate
Destiny
Accident
Chance
a fluke
good break

DZ

[fishbones]

I take luck to mean "being in the right place at the right time". After that, it's up to the person fishing to be able to make the fish bite, set the hook, and then fight it to get it in. Not much luck involved in those things. Being prepared is probably the most important thing to bringing in a huge fish. If I was targeting 50#ers, I would make sure I had the right gear (including checking knots nad checking line frequently), the right bait or lure, and the right mindset to handle a fish like that. I wouldn't fish for a big fish without having a plan as to how to get it to the shore or into the boat, either. I think with the rush to get our lines into the water when the fish are biting, many of us fail to prepare or plan correctly to handle the "big one" if she crosses our path. And above all else, the more time you put in, the better your chance of being in the right place at the right time.

[piemma]

Originally Posted by DZ

This is a very interesting thread... seems like those that have taken 50s don't consider it luck - and those that have not taken a 50 would like to get lucky.

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& has taken many great fish CONSISTANTLY from shore and boat. I consider him one of the very best out there but I'm a little disappointed to find out he's just lucky. In my opinion he'd only be lucky if a 60 hit his empty pogy snagger while trying to catch bait.

Maybe we all have a different definition of luck?

Could we be mistaking luck to meaning:
Good fortune
Fate
Destiny
Accident
Chance
a fluke
good break

DZ

Dennis:
You are missing my point. I didn't say Bill was lucky...you did. I find your post to be condescending.

So perhaps I will put it in simpler terms:

2 guys are fishing side by side with the same everything. No difference with gear, eel, technique and they are 3 feet apart.

2 bass swim by. One is 50# the other is 35#. One guy hook the 50 the other guy hook the 35.

So you tell me. For the guy who hooked the 50 is that Good fortune, Fate, Destiny, Accident, Chance, a fluke, good break or LUCK????

You can call it whatever you want. I call it a good fortune, fate, destiny, chance.....LUCKY BREAK!!!!

[piemma]

Originally Posted by bloocrab

Goose, in answering your original question....I don't know why I haven't. I honestly don't think there's a specific nor a cumulative reason why. I don't really believe in luck, but I do believe in God, and if and when He chooses to bless me with a fish of that size, I will be grateful. If I never get blessed with a fish that big, I'll consider myself blessed in many other ways fishing related. I'm sure you know personally, that I'm perfectly content with my time on the water, whether I'm catching or just fishing. Do I dream of catching a 50? ...OF COURSE I DO, who doesn't? Can "Positive thinking" help me reach some goals in my life? ABSOLUTELY! Can "Positive thinking" put a 50 on the end of my line? If I wish hard enough, will the fish be there?

How many people on this board have only been fishing 1/2 dozen years or so and already have BIG fish under their belts? Should I be discouraged, jealous, MAD? Are they fishing harder than I have? Are they using a secret lure? Is there a method to this madness?

You can target large and you cannot target large. If you know what you're doing, you know what I mean by that. Putting yourself in the right condition(s), (time/place/tide/bait/etc/etc) will definately increase your odds of catching bigger fish, but that 50#er not only HAS to be there, but also has to choose your offering, once that happens, your skill along with your gear...will help with the rest. That being said, I personally do not always target large. Based on your post, that alone could be the reason why I have not caught my 50. Your opinion - like mine, means nothing. That guy chunking mooshy mackerel on the beach casting 40 feet out in 4 feet of water eating his lunch under the high Sun landing a 50lb. fish tells me more than both our opinions combined.

We all have our favorite spots. There are many reasons why we favor them, whether we've caught our biggest there or because we've caught a lot of fish there or maybe it's a spot that the skunk rarely visits, again...there are a LOT of reasons why we favor spots. However, no matter how much you like that spot, you still can't wish a 50 to be there. If you feel confident that this spot should be a BIG fish spot, fish it hard, fish it often, fish it confidently. Don't let someone tell you that you'll never catch a BIG fish there. Is catching a 50# fish something one wants for himself OR is it the status that one inherits once he has it? Not a question that gets answered honestly I think -

Riddle me this Batman, I went fishing with a friend on his boat. HE researched the spot, put in HIS time, and shared HIS spot with me . One night while we were fishing, the action heated up. My friend landed BIG fish, ALL of his fish dwarfed my fish. I mean he caught fish from 25#s to the HIGH 40# mark, while I caught nothing larger than 30 inches. Let's weigh in the varialbles. He was using eels - I was using eels. He was spot casting to a certain hole - I was casting in the SAME exact hole. Almost like jetty currents, he would cast, get his fish out of the hole and then I would cast and get my fish out of the hole. We were both consistently "hooking up". Technique was almost out of the question as the fish were hitting a specific part of the water column so as the eel sank it got blasted. I believe we were both using braid. How was this possible? How could 2 completely different class fish be in the same hole, and beyond that...why would the larger ones inhale his eel while the smaller ones dined on mine? He joked about picking the larger eels, which I also used ??? Was he reaping the rewards of doing the homework, did the fish Gods know who really deserved the bigger fish versus who was tagging along?? Karma?? It is what it is...and like my friend Clammer says....."Enjoy what you have".

.

...and so back to my original premise, there is luck involved. Same spot same bait same line same everything.
I don't care what anyone says. i've done this longer than most of the members of this board have been on this planet. There is luck involved in hooking a 50. The skill in being in the right place at the right time with the right equipment and fighting the fish so you win. The luck is having that one 50 take your plug or eel or bunker or whatever. You cannot determine what size large fish is going to take. You can scale up so you are not targeting schoolies but you can't have a positive effect on a fish at 48 taking and a fish at 50 not taking.