What does "confidence" in fishing mean to you?

[senile1]

I believe confidence is something that follows most of the time, as Rolo stated.  But you can have confidence to begin with as well, but this type of confidence isn't as long lasting as confidence that follows.  Let me explain.  A football player can have the  confidence that he will be a good football player before he ever plays.  If he is fast, fit, and strong and he knows he has the attitude for the game, he will believe he is going to be a good football player.  That confidence could disappear fast, however, if he gets knocked on his tush a few times in the beginning.  The same can be said of fishing.  When a beginning angler starts out he may be confident that he will catch fish, but if he gets skunked a couple of times, this confidence will fade fast.  

On the other hand, the angler who has experienced numerous situations with numerous lures will have confidence over a wide spectrum of situations.  A couple of skunks won't likely affect this angler because he knows he has the knowledge and ability to catch fish and that it's just a matter of time before he is boating some fish.  So his confidence, which followed his experience of time on the water, is much stronger than the confidence one might have in the beginning.  

A "confidence lure" is a lure that one knows how to use well under a number of circumstances, and this is a lure that he/she will turn to when the chips are down, due to his/her confidence in that lure.  

[fourbizz]

That I am on the right lake, in the right spot, at the right time, with the right bait, in the right conditions, to at anytime be blasted by a ten plus.

Too often are all of those criteria met, except the last