Even in darkest moments, bright outlook is way to go

It’s interesting how times something that you think is a complete disaster ends up being a blessing in disguise.

I was striper fishing with a buddy this summer at San Luis Reservoir and it had been a long, hot, smoky day. We had only enticed about seven to eight regular school fish, but we were hopeful that things would improve.

I put down one of my downrigger balls with a lure in tow as we headed for a point. I had set the downriggers for 60 feet but something had gone wrong with the brake and it released the spool, letting all 400 feet of braided line out, dragged down by my new 15-pound downrigger ball. The final knot holding the braid to my spool exploded as the final goodbye, over $200 worth of gear lost 140 feet down.

I was mad and felt sorry for myself. My frustration was taking over my mind.

I decided to just stop and think this through for a minute. The light went on. I’d been here before. Actually, many times.

I think my buddy thought I was losing it, but I told him, “When something like this has happened in the past, I found that if I just kept on going expecting the best, I ended up doing very well. In fact, we might just catch a big one today!“

Just stating that possibility and jettisoning the negative reaction left me hopeful and energized.

An hour later, fishing with the remaining downrigger, we’re trolling across a flats when I get a good hit. When it finally came up, my buddy had the net ready and tried to scoop it up. The huge fish jumped right out of the net. Finally, the fish came back up and swam up next to the boat. Just as my buddy tried to net it, the fish took off to the left.

Undeterred, he lunges to the left, falls over an ice chest onto the floor, almost shoves me out over the bow, hits the floor, does a half twist, reaches over the bow on his side and nets the fish. He looks up at me from the floor, grinning!

The striper weighed 34 pounds. Best part: watching her swim away. Unbelievable day.

So, did my choosing to pick the positive response of having some faith (after a very negative first reaction) that things would turn out good, actually have an impact on my angling outcome? I’m convinced it does. Choose wisely. Never give up!