Roger George reveals his X-factor for fishing luck, proven on a trip with his buddy

I don’t usually give away my deepest fishing secrets, but in the spirit of advancing angling sportsmanship I am making an exception.

First, let me tell you about my good buddy Andy Bedell of Watsonville. Andy had fished with me for years but it seemed there was a constant curse on him ever catching a big striper. Unexplainable things got in the way, like being a half-hour late due to traffic and seeing me land a 25-pounder as he drove up to the ramp, or fishing with me all day in a poor bite, then missing the next trip when I caught a big one. It got to be the norm, and Andy never could break the 18-pound barrier. The last straw was when he hooked a big fish that wasn’t coming in and the hook pulled.

He never complained, but after several seasons of this I was wondering what I could do to help him. Then it hit me: Sometimes you have to do something radical to break through the wall.

We planned to head to the lake in a couple days and this one time I decided not to shave until after our trip. My stubble would be the symbol of a new focus and intensity, like war paint. When I met him for our pre-trip breakfast I told him that today was going to be “the day” and that my beard was specially grown just to get him a new personal-best.

Several hours later we’re trolling along the dam when I see a good strike and Andy grabs the pole. He tells me it’s really heavy as he fights it and the fish suddenly comes to the top about 40 yards away. I see a huge surge of water and a big tail just as Andy says, “Darn, I think I must have a snagged fish on?“ He hadn’t seen it come up, and assumed his bad-luck streak continued.

The fish wallowed around on top, making big waves. then it went down. Andy fought it to the boat and I prayed it wouldn’t come off as I netted the 44-inch 32-pounder.

From that point on, when I’ve felt that something extra was needed, my go-to strategy has been to put the razor away for a few days. I’ve landed several fish over 30 pounds this season while sporting my short stubble. I’ve also learned that I’ve got to be judicious in my use of the secret weapon; I recently had the worst trip of the year with a scraggly face. But I figured overall that I had come out on the positive side of the karma.

Sometimes it’s the intangibles that we suspect are behind our successes, but in the end all we can do is keep playing our best hunches. When something incredible happens and you can’t convince yourself it was random chance, it makes you stop and think: Did it really help? That’s the fun of the “X” factor! That’s why...never give up! (Wonder what a full beard would do?)