This probably sounds obvious, but it’s worth mentioning, especially since I’ve struggled with it lately…

Follow your instincts and ignore what “everyone else” is doing!

Case in point: I recently fished our local kayak fishing club’s bass tournament and came in with a photo of a single, 4″ bass.  Out of the 30+ anglers, only 10 caught something.  The water temperature was around 85F degrees, so we could have picked a better week.

When we first got out there, my first thought was “They’ll be scattered, suspended deep.”  My fish finder was echoing that.  But as I looked around, most of the field spread out and headed straight towards the shallow weed lines.  Since I wasn’t from the area, my “they must know something I don’t” voices started yelling.  So, shallow I went and on went the Texas-rigged worm.  The fishing, not surprisingly, sucked.

The morning’s winner?  A kid, not old enough to drive, that most likely laughed at all the old dudes and did his own thing.  How’d he win?  Trolling deep-diving cranks right where I initially marked fish.

The obvious lesson I shouldn’t have to keep teaching myself?  Just like anything in life, trust your instincts, be willing to be different, and stop simply emulating the herd.  Odds are, they’re wrong.