We have all heard the saying if it's not broke don't fix it or don't mess with a good thing. Any attempt to improve on a system that already works is pointless and may even hurt it. Sounds like loser talk to me. This is America, where you can compete to be the best at everything from video games, beer pong, grilled cheese sandwiches, surfing and yes of course fishing. There is a reason why The United States has metaled 2,296 times in the summer Olympics and Argentina has done it only 66 times. We strive for perfection. If we're not happy with our results, we are willing to take the highway to the danger zone by stepping out of our comfort zone.
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| From top to bottom: 4" roboworm morning dawn, 5" senko and a topwater revo. My weapons of bass destruction. |
I was inspired to write this post after fishing a tournament at Castaic Lake in July. The bite was great, I must have caught 15 bass in the 1-1.5 pound class on the drop shot rig. What I was doing was working, but with time running out and 7 or 8 pounds in the live well, I knew it wasn't enough for a victory. Deciding to switch it up to entice a bigger bite I risked the sure thing for the unknown on the highway to the danger zone! It paid off when a 2.15 pound fish masticated my wacky rigged senko on a flick shake weighted hook. This improved our total weight, enabling us to cull one of our smaller fish but it was too late.
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| My old friend, kong island. |
We finished with a total weight of 7.74 pounds good enough for 6th place. I believe if we would have hair-pinned out of the comfort zone and into the danger zone a little sooner, we could have finished 4th.
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| Happy in my comfort zone. |
It's hard to try something new when what you are doing is already working. Change takes effort and risk. Most people aren't willing to gamble a comfortable existence for an opportunity at supremacy, but you'll find the ones that do are often reaped the biggest rewards. America would not be the country it is today if it wasn't for people taking risks and I would not have enjoyed the movie Top Gun if it was all Goose and no Maverick. So put on your leather jacket and go grab your aviators, you know you want to be Maverick, Goose was the safe one and we all know what happened to him.
In memory of Goose, we love you.
Skyman out
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| The Goose is loose. |
Hey just found your blog while on a google search for a duck! i swiped your photo from a post last year (sourcing you of course). i didn't expect to enjoy a fishing blog (i have to admit to some prejudices against bass fishermen) but i do like yours for the way you quote Thoreau and the clever use of analogies that actually helped me see what could be so compelling about chasing bass! I have a new appreciation. I'm commenting on this post because i kind of want to quote you for this last paragraph. Truth!
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