Take control when your fear of loss overwhelms your quest for success

I recently had a humbling and humorous fishing experience that once again demonstrated to me the power of how important our thoughts and mental set are to our success or failure as anglers.

To set the table, this year of challenges has led to a shortage of fishing tackle and lures. Just like the toilet paper rush, anglers realized that they better stock up on their key lures as first the pegs at the store began to get thinner, then online inventories shrank.

As my wife says, I’ve got enough lures for an army. However, over the last couple years, by trial and error, the mountain of lures I depend on has gotten pared down. Of course, the very lure I have come to depend on most was disappearing off the radar.

I was feeling alarmed and anxious. I only had about four of these special lures left. I began to feel like I couldn’t afford to lose any more. What I didn’t realize was that at that moment my focus shifted from fishing the lures to trying not to lose them. And yet, I began losing them for unusual reasons. Yikes....I was down to my last lure!

I began looking online for a replacement, but the only one I could find was somewhere in Lithuania for an outrageous price.

So, I’m at the lake with a buddy. I’ve got the one lure left and I decide I’m really going to make sure I don’t lose it today. What could go wrong if I’m really careful?

I first check out the condition of the 20-pound Trilene monofilament line I’m using and there are no nicks or burrs – check! Next I make doubly sure that the knot to the lure is perfectly tied and then I test it – check! I run the lure in the water next to the boat and it’s working perfectly – check! I make sure my downrigger cable isn’t frayed and the ball is secure – check!

Last steps. Put the lure out around 100 feet behind the boat, secure the line in the clip attached to the 12-pound ball, and let it down to the fish. At this point I usually save a lot of time by casting the plug out behind the boat rather than playing out 100 feet of line as the boat trolls along. I’ve done it a million times and it’s never a problem...

Just as I launch it, something doesn’t feel right. I hear a loud snap and I watch my lure arc in the air as it sails away freed from the line holding it. Somehow, some slack line on my reel had gotten around my handle and when I cast the line got stuck, but the lure kept going.

My buddy tried to spot where it landed, but in the waves it was impossible to find. .

In all the years of doing such a simple thing as casting out the lure behind the boat for trolling, I can’t remember ever doing this before.

My post mortem reflection got me realizing that I was way too worried about saving my last lures rather than just fishing them the best I could. I could also see that this thinking can creep into your overall fishing – and life. Worried more about what I might lose, rather than keeping my focus on doing my best and letting the chips fall where they will. It had turned my fishing trip into an anxious situation where I was consumed about not losing something and trying too hard.

Keeping our focus on being and doing our best rather than on a possible loss changes the game and how we think and act. I now laugh about watching my lure get launched; it brought me back to being myself.

My next fishing destination...Lithuania! Never give up!