Perseverance

I did a radio show yesterday with Outdoor Pursuits Radio with Thomas Allen and one topic discussed was perseverance. The backdrop for the conversation was Thomas's recent trip to Vermilion. I have a couple stories to share here.

Thomas began the conversation with the story of his recent trip to Vermilion with the MuskieFIRST outing. He was fishing with his dad and they were faced with very strong wind and bad weather every day. The had a few follows the first two days, followed by three straight days without even seeing one. That combination of bad weather and bad fishing can be demoralizing. But Thomas persisted and tried to keep a good attitude and stay positive on the final day. On the last day, Thomas again put in a long day with his dad and again didn't even draw a follow. When he and his dad returned to camp in the evening, it could have been the end of the trip. They had to depart early the following morning for the long drive home and it would have been pretty easy to stay in camp for some drinking and cards, or whatever. Instead, Thomas headed back out in crappy weather with TJ for some night fishing. At about 11pm Thomas got a boatside hit and broke the fifty mark for the first time with a 53 1/2 incher, literally on the last hour of his fishing trip. Everyone would agree that his persistence was rewarded and he got the fish because he had the mental toughness and motivation to keep going. I love it when the good fish go to those who deserve them. It sure beats the stories of some kid who lands a big one fishing for sunfish from a dock.

I saw a similar event take place on Mille Lacs last week. Jeff and Bryan, the heroes of the story, fished with me last Wednesday. At 2 pm, only a couple hours into the trip, Bryan had a big fish on but it shook itself off about twenty feet from the boat. The fight and a quick glimpse when it boiled both suggested that the fish was pretty big and would easily have been a new PR for Bryan, maybe his first fifty. That was the last fish we'd see that day and it was the last that Bryan and Jeff would see for quite a few days. Fishing day after day with a roaring south wind, they went Thursday, Friday, and most of Saturday without even seeing a fish. I can't stress enough how frustating it can be to face such high wind day after day. But, like Thomas on Vermilion, they perservered in spite of bad wind and no action. At around 9 pm I got an excited phone call telling me they put a good one in the boat and it was Bryan's new PR. That fish was also caught in the final hour or two of their trip.

In musky fishing it only takes one cast to turn a bad fishing trip into the best trip of all time. It can happen on the first cast of the first day, or the last cast before departure - you never know. So much can ride on a single fish. As I mentioned in another recent post, all you can do is fish as smart as you can, as hard as you can, for as long as you can. When times are tough, the persistent ones find a way to suck it up and keep going. Even if nothing is boated and the trip is a bust, at least you can drive home with the satisfaction of knowing that you never quit and you gave it 100% As these recent stories illustrate, that's sometimes the difference between the best fish of your life and none at all.