Editor’s Note: After compiling some of the best fish stories from our female fishing fans over the last month or so, FLWOutdoors.com is finally ready to share them with the public. For the next several weeks, we’ll feature a different submission every week, with articles being posted on Mondays. To be sure, the stories submitted by our readers have been most impressive as well – ranging from the truly humorous to the utterly heartbreaking. We hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we did. And hopefully, as more and more women get involved in the wonderful sport of fishing, we’ll get to read and hear about many more stories from our female fans in the future. Enjoy.
Carol Boykin
Common mistakes new tourney anglers make
The most common mistake a new tournament angler can make is to …
… not make the commitment.
… fail to schedule your progress on the tournament circuit.
… not allow yourself some slips.
… think you can succeed before you know how to survive.
… not have a backup plan.
… gossip on the circuit.
… think you can accomplish it all “on your own.”
… try to do too much too soon. Expect to pay your dues.
… think you can win a national invitational on your home lake.
… buy too many lures and spend insufficient time learning to use them properly.
… think you’re too good a swimmer to wear a life vest. Don’t be embarrassed by being smart.
… listen, read, study and practice, then be afraid to trust your own judgment.
… not take your snow suit to an early spring tournament.
… listen to your partner when he says, “Why do you want to go in there? There aren’t any fish in that cove.”
… fail to realize the key to catching fish is learning how to find them.
… fish too fast.
… go out to practice and catch fish, then come in and tell everyone what you caught them on.
… fail to set the hook more than once following a hit.
… be so proud you found fish that you tell “where.”
… get caught up in the fact that you’re catching fish and forget to figure out “why?”
… call home before the end of the first competition day. They WILL give you something to think about and you’ll lose your concentration.
… forget to play the game with purpose.
… be afraid to go to the front deck when you feel you’re fishing used water.
… think you are in competition with the other person in the boat. Remember the bass is your adversary.
… fail to turn setbacks into learning experiences.
… give the last worm in the package to your partner when you’ve been catching fish on them all day.
… forget to reward yourself along the way.
… neglect to stop for a drink of water during the hot summertime.
… not be safety conscious.
… realize there is no substitute for a competitive edge.
… walk up to the marina and leave everything unlocked in your boat.
… forget to have fun.