How is fishing such a big sport?

[Hawkeye21]

Just now, avidone1 said:

Now yer talkin'

Some of my favorite fishing is going on the Mississippi and fishing the wing dams with just a heavy sinker with a worm on a hook.  Catching fish isn't really luck but what species you catch is pretty lucky.  It's a crap shoot which is what makes it so much fun.

Just let your pole sit there and wait for a bite while you sit back and drink some beer and snack with friends.  We catch anything from walleye, large mouth bass, small mouth bass, blue gills, sheepshead, moon eye, dogfish, catfish, red horse, carp and even sturgeon.

[IndianaFinesse]

40 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

Why can't it be that too?  Nothing wrong with just plopping a bobber and worm on hook out there while sitting back downing some beers.

Nothing wrong with it, but most people think that's what everybody does and that it's what fishing always is.

[Last_Cast]

On 4/29/2016 at 0:51 PM, IndianaFinesse said:

Nothing wrong with it, but most people think that's what everybody does and that it's what fishing always is.

Once in a while when I'm lazy I'll do it. 
It's my girlfriend's favorite technique...Just saying.

["hamma"]

to answer the original question,..I believe that it comes down to the love of the sport,.The top anglers that consistently are on top have that love of the sport that brings them to a different level, they excel due to the desire to give the day on the water their all, combined with the skills, abilities, and experience such a desire harbors. Does luck play a part? Only to a point, there maybe some luck involved within every cast, but without the desire?, and the skills needed to follow through correctly within that cast, consistent success just wont be there. And what gives these pro's that exccelerated "love" for the sport. I think its the challenge, the ability, and opportunity to "fool" our quarry in that quarries world.  To enter their world and overcome the challenges put forth to either, conquer or fail, raises the adrenaline level in any angler whether they realize it or not,..If you were ask any tourney pro angler why he fishes,, its not foronly the money, its not for only the competition, its for the hunt of it all. Competition and elevated success may play some part.,... Some may have trouble finding the correct terminology, but im sure it will come down to the same thing. Love of the sport

[greentrout]

I have really enjoyed watching Major League Fishing.  The word I hear often is pattern. They are always looking for that. The one who finds it usually wins the deal. My .02 cents.

[Bailey. K Bassin]

On Friday, April 29, 2016 at 0:09 PM, Hawkeye21 said:

Why can't it be that too?  Nothing wrong with just plopping a bobber and worm on hook out there while sitting back downing some beers.

Ya i agree there is nothing wrong with that at all. The only thing that rattles me is how little people out there now what tournament anglers go through, and how much time we put in just for people to call it luck and not notice the skill and training that actually goes into it.

[lo n slo]

i fish, therefore i am. i've fished on days when i could'nt buy a strike. i've fished on days when i could do no wrong. fishing is like life itself, good days and not so good days. those that excell, are driven, talented, smart, they have the "it" factor (possibly gill plates and lateral lines too). others, well, not so much i guess. i fish because i love it. some would say it is my addiction. i will tell you it is my passion.

[Sam]

Bailey, let me tell you a funny story.

Fishing on Buggs Island (Kerr Reservoir) out of Eastland Creek a number of years ago in a club tournament, the weather turned on us and the white caps and heavy waves started to appear in the afternoon.

One of the guys in the club had no fish for the day and with a 4 PM weigh-in time he knew his goose was cooked as it was 2:30, rough water, and it was going to take him about 45 minutes to an hour to fight the water back to the weigh-in creek.

He pulled into a cove to rest and decided to try his "luck." And did it pay off.

He landed his five fish on five casts (as he told us) and ran away with the win with over 16 pounds.

Had the weather been nice he 1) would have never gone into that little cove and 2) the bass probably would not have been in the cove as they got out of the rough water.

So luck can have something to do with successful bass fishing (like the time I landed one waiting to trailer the boat at the Hopewell City ramp on the Appomattox River) but for the most part, it is time on the water and the understanding of all of the elements that you have to take into consideration to find the bass and entice them to bite some sort of silly looking bait you are throwing.

[Hawkeye21]

On 5/1/2016 at 11:16 AM, Bailey. K Bassin said:

Ya i agree there is nothing wrong with that at all. The only thing that rattles me is how little people out there now what tournament anglers go through, and how much time we put in just for people to call it luck and not notice the skill and training that actually goes into it.

I fished in my first fishing tourney yesterday and I have a whole new respect for it.  It's a ton of work and I was whooped by the time I got home.  It's a full day of work.  The fishing is really the easy part although can be the most frustrating.