The psychological aspect of fishing

So many podcasters, blog writers and the like talk about how important it is to be confident in whatever it is we are throwing. Is that really the case? How many of us are taking the time to interview the fish to determine whether or not they could sense my level of confidence in the fly or the lure I happened to be throwing? If this is a conversation you've been able to have, I suggest you stop reading and immediately seek medical attention.

Why do so many feel that having confidence in something is so important? I think back to when I first started fly fishing, I didn't have confidence in anything I was doing. Didn't really know anything, didn't exactly know which flies to throw in what situation, but eventually I figured it out, through trial, error, and eventually success. But so many guys don't use certain flies because they "don't have confidence in them". Not to say there's anything wrong with sticking to the same tried and true patterns, but does it really hurt to venture out and try something the trout haven't already seen 10,000 times like the same size 16 Pheasant Tail nymph you're drifting?

And this is NOT exclusive to fly fishing. Take the issue of the Senko worm from Yamamoto baits. Most bass fishermen are plenty familiar with this bait, but for the uninitiated, here's a link to help you have a visual representation.

For argument's sake, check out how many colors are offered. Overwhelming some could say, right? Not for some. My father and his oldest fishing buddy have ONE color they buy- black, no flake. Every once in a while, my dad will use a watermelon of some kind, just to have something slightly different. Several years back, I dared to use black and red worms while on a trip with the two of them, in the very back seat of the boat. Meaning when we're fishing a read bed, my worm is the third different one any given bass would've seen in a matter of about 3 minutes time.

To be contrarian, I purchased white, bubble gum, rainbow trout, largemouth bass, plum apple, dirty plum, and brown purple laminate, along with my fallback black and red, over the course of several years. Guess what? I caught fish with ALL of them except for bubble gum. To further prove my point, as soon as a worm had been sufficiently chewed up, I would immediately switch colors, and I asked my dad to do the same on my most recent venture out to SD last year. Our catch rate really didn't change- it seemed more important that you put something in front of the fish without spooking it. And in so doing, I landed the largest smallie of my life, pictured below.

It's a running joke between my dad and I about what famous fisherman Roland Martin used to say- "Size and color don't matter as long as it's 6" and purple." But that's what he had confidence in, right? So that's the size and color he would always stand by. To me that's just slightly naive to be that laser focused.

One other example on the ice fishing side of things. We have a guide service back in South Dakota that we've used over the years. Found out on one trip that they refuse to use tungsten weighted nymphs, because "the fish will only go for brass." Again, I go back to my question about interviewing fish. Not only that, but they were dead set on a rattle bait through the ice not working. About 10 minutes later, they were proven completely wrong on that front. This has less to do with color, buy my point stands- just because you lack confidence in something doesn't mean it can't or won't work.

Not saying that having confidence in what we're throwing isn't important. But to further prove my point on the fly-fishing end, back in September my wife and I ended up going camping near Gypsum. After fishing the Colorado River, as well as Deep Creek over the course of a couple of days, we decided to hit the Eagle River on our way back towards Denver. I've never fished the Eagle River before, and before that day, I had only ever used this particular fly pattern once before with no success, the Sexy Walt's Worm. Again, for the uninitiated, feel free to click this link for a visual aid -

After about 3-4 drifts, I pull in my first fish, a pretty decent rainbow. About 20 minutes later, I pull in what I think was the biggest brown trout I caught all of last year. My point being, where did the confidence on that fly come from? I didn't have any, I was trying something new to see what would happen. What I did have confidence in is where I was fishing. Based on reading the water, I was confident that I was putting my flies in front of fish, and that I was setting myself up for success.

Does color matter? Does "confidence" in what you're throwing matter? Of course it does, but just how much? I think I've proven with my albeit limited sample size that color matters more to us as the angler, and not quite as much to the fish. I would have to say that overall presentation matters more than just strictly worrying about the color. If it looks like food, moves like food, and they don't have to work too hard to eat it, fish will eat it. If you feel like I'm wrong, I'm open to discussion on this.

Tight lines!