Fall is coming, just not soon enough. School is back in session for most of us. The year is flying past. And the heat and humidity is coming back. Football preseason has started. And for most of us, we are still fishing! Some have moved to night fishing, but I like seeing where I am casting and not getting eaten by the bugs!
The Bass Pro Tour has come to an end with Jacob Wheeler winning the AOY, Angler Of the Year. Skeet Reese and Shaw Grigsby have decided that retirement looks so good. I don’t see them not fishing somewhere, if not just some local tournaments. The drive is still there, just the wear and tear on the body has finally caught up with them. Thank you gentlemen for all the exciting times over the years.
And now the cut downs start for the Bass Pro Tour. Who will be demoted down to the Invitationals? Who will stay and who will go? If it was a normal year cut, it wouldn’t be bad. But this year it is a big cut down. For the BPT, it all comes down to money, nothing else. And we know changes are coming for all the leagues. It is just normal.
But what about us? Are we looking at the latest baits that are out or coming on the market or are we ready to jump to the newest electronics to make us better? Or are we ready to really take a look at what we are doing and how we can do it better. Personally, I like some of the new things, but it’s making the things I do now better that I really need to refine.
I have been doing that this year, and it has paid off. I was never a great jig angler, and I still am not a great jig angler. But I am better with a jig now than I was last year at this time. Learning to feel the bottom, knowing what is a branch and what is a bass. Little things that make a person better. And learning what a difference in size does with different styles of trailers. I may never be great at it, but I can guarantee I will be a lot better at it and able to use it to catch big bass.
There are a lot of things I truly love to do fishing, but I am not great at. I am good at it, but not great. It doesn’t stop me from catching the big bass, but I could be better at it. Like knowing when to make that change. I think that is the most difficult things to do. Whether it is changing the color of your bait, changing the presentation, or just changing to a different bait. Do I give up too early on it, or am I too stubborn to make the change. Everything matters and sometimes we just forget it.
What are we going to do that will make us better and what changes are we going to make? Do we need a new bait, a new rod, a new reel, a new line or just to face the fact that the only changes we need is inside each of us. Go have fun and learn what we love to do better? And will that new bait work for what we love? As for me, give me liberty or give me a better understanding!
Fish on!!
