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Posts: 2060
Location: Appleton,WI | Ok guys Ive had a pretty good year and was woundering how to find your self with more confidence ?Picking up a new bait or old bait?Wearing a new hat or old hat?
I got a cool fred's tinsel tails hat and thought id start wearing it to boost confidence boy did it work!35"34" 14 fish up firday ,saturday 9 fish up 26"er and a 33"er,sunday missed a 36-37"er and 2 fish up.
Also how do you feel time contributes to confidence?
What works for you??
Krappie take notes!!!!!!!!!:)
Edited by MuskieE 8/20/2003 7:38 PM
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | I find myself doing a number of things. If you look at the pictures of some of the fish I've caught this year, you'll notice that the majority of the time, I have the same cloths on. (Yes they do get washed occasionally)  I also pulled one of my hats out of retirement. I hadn't caught a really nice fish in about 2 years. This year I have a 48 and 46 so far, and the best is yet to come. I've also been on the water a lot more this year. That is a tremendous boost to the moral and confidence. You start to pattern the fish, and are more consistant. I also bring as many baits as I can into the boat as I can fit, but I have the hand full that get used more often out of confidence.
If none of this works, at least I have the 6 pack to catch a buzz if nothing else.
Good lungen,
Joel |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | By the way, watch for the Oct issue of MI, as I am writing an article on this topic. Kind of. It will be comical, but authentic. |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | I think your frame of mind/confidence has a lot to do with your success. Being ready for that hit after 4 hours of actionless casting takes focus and the only way to stay focused is to have confidence. As dumb as it sounds a lucky hat or shirt may up your level of focus.
I was looking through some of my musky pictures the other night. I noticed I was wearing the same raingear in a high percentage of pictures. I told my wife that the raingear must be real lucky. My wife burst my bubble when she responded with " don't you think maybe the weather might have something to do with it?"
Leave it to a woman to put reason ahead of superstition. |
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Posts: 364
Location: in the white boat | Muskie nuts are the only people on earth more superstitious than big league pitchers.
As all of my fishing partners well know, muskie success depends almost entirely on the hat the hunter is wearing. I have an arsenal of 20-25 hats, and they seem to rotate from season to season which one is going to produce. Early in the season I carry the top 10 with me, and change them from day to day until I find which one is going to work. By July or August I have the "good" one figured out and only take it and a backup when I go out.
Nuts? Probably, but it does wonders for my confidence.
On a more scientific note, when there are no obvious environmental factors affecting fish activity, but I'm not seeing or catching any I tend to fish harder, with the mindset that sooner or later the fish will turn on. It's tough to do, but it keeps me throwing.
Edited by esoxjunkie 8/21/2003 9:24 AM
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Just a bit of a different take on this; I have been fishing muskies for an awful long time, and find that what used to bother me no longer does. I am painfully aware of the fact that the muskies will move when they want to, and not a second sooner. I try to maximize my possibilities with location and presentation, and it works most of the time. When it doesn't, it doesn't, and no hat, shirt, or rabbit foot will change that. Seve Van Lieshout has it right. RULES for Muskie Angling 1) there are no rules When is the BEST time to Muskie Fish? 2) When you can. Ignore 'conditions' as long as you are safe out there. Confidence is the wrong word for me, I have ABSOLUTE cnfidence the muskies are there, in the area I am fishing, so what I am doing is being very very very patient. Keep casting, keep the bait wet, and they will come. If they don't, and I have eliminated the available patterns on the water that day, I either missed something or they didn't 'go'. However, there is ALWAYS one fish in the lake that doesn't know the rest have their heads in the mud. That's the one I am being patient with. |
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Posts: 376
Location: Cudahy, Wisconsin | Tuffy1 aint kiddin when he says he brings alot of baits, Like 4 different bags;) |
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Posts: 1936
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Several good points made here.... NWild and Sworrall....I agree.
One of the things I talk about when I give seminars is, the confidence factor. I don't think the muskies know whether or not you feel good about yourself that day or the pattern and bait your on but I do think if "you" feel good about it then you will be more focused...thus you be presenting your bait in proper fassion and paying attention to the little details which will up your chances of getting bit.
I can personally tell you that since the 4th of July I have been in a major slump on local waters... but I am excited and confident about next weeks trip in Sabaskong. Confidence right now is high and for the first time in 6-8 weeks I'm acutally excited about getting on the water.
Superstition.....well not really but I've already packed 4 different hats in my boat...:)
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | If I bring enough baits, then I can get my partner to sharpen my hooks while I am trolling. Oops, the secret is out. 
In reality, Mark brings up a really good point. If you can stay focused, the likelyhood that you are working your baits correctly increases 100fold.
Good Lungen,
Joel |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I'm with Sworral on this one. I used to feel that I had to search for the hot lure, spot, or technique if I went an hour without any action. Now that I've spent a few years of 32-42 hour per week summers chasing the darn things, I have more confidence in what I'm doing all the time. I spend more time without action not wondering if I'm wrong or not, and have developed a better sense of when to switch lakes/spots/lures etc when things are not happeneing. That said, I have a fish hanging around my neck(made from the skull of a musky) that has been there for nine years now. I won't take it off. Good luck charm???? NaW...Chick magnet???? I met my wife when she asked what it was for..............I guess I can take it off now....... |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | You said it well Reef Hawg. Once you know the baits to use under different conditions its only a matter of time. The wrong thing to do is start going through your tackle box because the fish are not active. When they go on a feed who knows what you will have on at the time.
I have about 3 to 5 confidence baits that I use and sometimes I will not catch a fish on them. Most of the time I will score. Its when the muskies decide to eat not what bait you are using, that is once you got the correct baits figured out for that lake and conditions.
I had clients last week that might have doubted me because we didn't boat a muskie trolling. We did catch two bass and had a good rip. I explained to them its only a matter of time before we catch one but we ran out of time that afternoon. I got a e-mail yesterday and they got out and worked the areas and baits we talked about. They scored the biggest fish of the year, the first time out after not catching a muskie with me. They have not caught a fish in July or August before they came out with me. This is only one example of using the correct baits until they go on a feed or you find a active fish. I believe once you do your homework on a lake and get it patterned good enough, its only a matter of time before you score.
Time on the water is your best bet to score a fish, the correct lure only makes it easer to catch them. |
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