excuse to fail.” Maybe that’s what we see exposed
As Bill Siemantel noted recently (having stepped
when some of the stories or “explanations” start
away from tournaments for other industry-related
circulating following an event. As I reflect back 40
projects), “Failure can always happen. Call it Murphy’s
years or more, maybe this was easier to recognize.
Law or whatever. There can be mental and physical
elements in play from your hands, through the reel,
OH NO FACE
rod and line to the fish [where something can go awry].”
I remember the surly
Obviously, there can be even more than that.
“desert lakes.” (Why did we
However, to excuse a lost fish, the one that would
call them this?) Because the
have filled a limit, added to your score, given you a
just the name connoted more
confidence boost during the day to try something
than location but also high winds,
different, or push a pattern rather and retreat to
and too rough of conditions for our tri-
hull something safer, are potential career busters.
rigs to cross? Then too, there was that clear water
As Siemantel explains, the problem comes when
and doubt some of us carried. Were we good enough anglers, “…don’t look at everything as important.”
or did we have the skill to make those mandatory
And the big picture, of winning, scoring consistently,
“long casts” with our Texas rigs and baitcasting gear? and qualifying for championships is made up of
When I look back, I still can remember how that
hundreds, if not thousands, of details.
doubt would creep in. I remember following in the
“It’s why the successful guys are a little anal about
wake of striper fishermen with their deep vee hulls.
labeling boxes, knowing where their tournament
The thought of that possibility, even when a lake such hooks are located (by size, the ones with points
as Mohave was flat in the morning—was enough to
tested for sharpness, with eyes closed tight)”
keep one from making the run. That was looking for
because with these steps, he says, you “lessen the
an excuse to fail.
chance of failure.”
With better equipment,
For the same reasons he would add changing
crossing most big basins is not
line (even braided line) or replacing or backing
as harrowing today in the West,
off reel drags, or becoming more proficient in
but when I see national pros
back-reeling (especially on big
fighting their
fish). These are steps taken to
way across 10
avoid failure.
foot peaks and
Of course, all
troughs in the
performances are not failures,
Northern Tier, I
just because they don’t result
recognize some
in a win. What you are aiming
will risk it and
for is the most flawless result
some will not.
based on your actions and
At what point is
performance. Said Siemantel,
not running to
“You want to be a little more
the better fish
in tune seeing potential
a failure, or just
problems. [Noting] how or
prudent behavior?
when they could happen,
I will let you decide.
Yet, in many cases, I would say
BILL SIEMANTEL says, “If something went wrong, fix it.”
and be ready to adjust for those possibilities.
Using a baseball analogy,
most cases , there
he noted, “Players are
is a reason for
taught, if it comes to me,
failure and you have
where do I go with the
to embrace it, not
ball? Things are going to
cover it up.
happen.”
20 ®