Penn’s Outdoors

I have spooled several of my reels up with PowerPro braided line this year.  I have been a Trilene XL guy for years.  Occasionally, I would get adventurous and put on some Trilene XT but all of these fancy smancy lines were not for me.  Fishing with kids has made the no memory aspects of braided lines very appealing.  Many fishing trips are spent getting bird’s nests out of the spool than actually fishing.  So, I shelled out the bucks and put on the PowerPro.

I have fished twice so far with the PowerPro spooled reels.  On both occasions, Trilene XL -1 and PowerPro - 0 despite using my favorite smallmouth baits on the PowerPro.  When retying this last trip out, I just couldn’t help but wonder if visibility of the braid was the problem. The place I was fishing didn’t have particularly clear water but the braid is sooo thick.  I’ve read all the articles about bass not seeing braid, but my confidence still sank.  As I went home that evening, I began to wonder if I had made the right decision in switching lines.  I know that next time out I will not start out with full confidence in my line, at least until a few fish prove me wrong.

Confidence is such a huge factor in fishing and hunting.  I am convinced that it is the difference between success and failure so many times when on the water or in the woods.  On a fishing trip to Black Lake, NY, the ingredients were right for a topwater bite.  So, I tied on a Strike King Spit-n-King and sure enough the fish started hitting.  But I couldn’t hook them.  I missed so many fish that night.  My confidence in my topwater ability sank dramatically over just an hour, resulting in even more misses.   When I finally landed one, it instantly became a picture fish despite being the wrong species.  

My first buck, many years ago, had nothing to do with my skill as a hunter but rather confidence in my spot.  It was the first Saturday of buck season and the rain was pouring down from the moment that I entered the stand.  Four hours later, I was soaked to the bone and freezing cold.  I wasn’t able to dry my glasses as I had nothing left that wasn’t wet.  I watched a veteran hunter call it quits and climb down from his stand.  Not me, despite not seeing a deer, I knew a buck was on his way.  About a 1/2 hour later, I saw a flicker of movement and watched a buck stop in an opening 50 yards away.  One shot and I had my first buck.  If I hadn’t been confident in my spot, I would have never sat that long.

Here are what I believe to be 5 keys to gaining confidence for your time in Penn’s Outdoors.

Success breeds Success

This may seem to cliche but success breeds success.  I talked to someone the other day who said that he doesn’t use Senko baits because he has never caught anything on them.  I asked him how many times he fished with them.  When he said only one time, I went off on a long-winded rant of how the Senko is the most perfect piece of plastic ever made for fishing.  Later, I thought about all the baits that I have not given a fair shake.  A classic example for me is everyone else’s favorite Spinnerbait.  I may be the only serious bass fisherman in America that doesn’t have any confidence when throwing a spinnerbait.  I just haven’t had much success on them and thus they now spend very little time at the end of my line.  I am sure that I am missing great opportunities to throw a spinnerbait due to a lack of success which has caused a huge lack of confidence.

One way I build confidence in a new bait is to fish it at a farm pond.  Because, I am convinced that a good bait will produce at a farm pond.  Farm pond bass tend to not be too finicky.  They still won’t fall victim, at least in any great numbers, to less than stellar baits.  Case in point, I have never caught a farm pond bass on a Dancin’ Eel.  Sorry Bill!  Obviously, this theory has its limitations.  Trying a new muskie bait on a farm pond isn’t a good test.  But catching a bunch of farm pond bass often gives me the confidence to try the bait somewhere else.  Jig and pig fishing all started for me fishing cold Spring water at a pond in Perry County many years ago.  Many bass later, the jig and pig is still a confidence bait for me, especially in the spring and fall.

Hunting is a bit different. There are no farm ponds of deer.  As we’ll discuss in the section for practice, being successful on the range is important.  I also think that getting into the woods, at all times of the year, and getting close to deer helps build confidence as a hunter.  Any time you can get within shooting distance of a deer or other animal is a success.  The more you do it, the more confident that you will be in your ability to get a shot off during hunting season. 

Practices Makes Perfect 

For hunters, this is not only a confidence builder but an ethical responsibility.  We should never enter the woods not able to use our weapon to put an animal down quickly.  I am not a naturally good shot.  I had stopped hunting for a few years due to a lack of confidence in being able to hit my target.  Now, I have an extremely limited range and do not shoot off hand.  This has helped my confidence when in the woods.  Sure, I may not get some deer that better marksman would but I am able to practice and be sure of the shots in my range. 

While this certainly applies to hunters, it also applies to fishermen.  How many fishermen practice their casting?   I am not a professional fisherman but have had the opportunity to fish with a local pro.  The biggest difference between he and I was his casting ability.  While I am happy when my cast lands within a foot of my desired target, almost every one of his casts landed within an inch of its intended target.  There wasn’t a cast that he didn’t think he could make.  I now try to get out in my yard, not as much as I should, and practice my casting.  I have found it has made me a more confident fisherman when on the water.

Research, Research, Research 

Research can include so many different things.  Scouting is one example.  Knowing that there is a buck in the area will keep you from leaving the area after not seeing a deer during the first week. You’ll know its just a matter of time.  I like to scout new bodies of water that I am going to fish.  This is usually cyber-scouting by doing in depth Google searching on the body of water.

Reading is also key.  I have watched a lot of people fish or hunt with certain methods the wrong way.  They then claim that the technique was bad.  Well, they are partially right.  Their technique was bad.  If they had spent anytime reading up on the topic they would’ve known how to fish the bait.  The Internet gives no excuse to at least gain a basic understanding of fishing and hunting techniques. 

A third form of research is to find someone who is a better fisherman or hunter than you and try to go on the water or into the woods with them.  Unless you are someone like pro fisherman, Kevin Van Dam, there is someone better than you.  Watch them and learn from what they do.  Chuck Adams at this year’s Eastern Sports and Outdoors Show took time to help contest winners improve their bow shooting.  I watched one of the sessions.  I guarantee that his insight to the lucky individuals that got the one on one time with him improved their confidence immensely.  You don’t have to go to Chuck Adams but find someone who knows more or is better than you at an aspect of fishing or hunting and go spend some time with them.

Focus through Specialization

Sorry to break it to you, but you can’t be good at everything.  For example, it is tough to be a great jig and pig fisherman and a great fly fisherman. My specialization area in fishing is smallmouth bass with spinning tackle.  Does that mean I can’t catch other fish?  No, it just means this is where I am most confident. Most of my time practicing and researching is spent on this topic.  The result is that when I am fishing for smallmouth, I don’t lack any confidence.  I know that I can catch them as well as anyone.  Whether that is true or not, it doesn’t matter.  That’s the confidence with which I approach a smallmouth outing.  Take me walleye fishing, and I’ll be asking you every 5 minutes if I am doing it right. 

I am planning to take up archery again this year.  I am hoping to learn to specialize in archery for PA’s whitetail deer.  While it is important to be adaptable in the woods or on the water, your confidence will grow as you specialize more.

Gear down and Gear Up

I am a big believer in not taking a ton of fishing tackle with me on every trip (Sorry, tackle junkies!).  I always carry a few baits to experiment with but I limit myself to primarily my key confidence baits, especially when on a new body of water.  As a hunter, you should only be using equipment that brings out your confidence.  Confidence can be very fragile.  After you add that new piece of equipment, the moment something that doesn’t feel right can send your confidence into a free fall.

I also believe in gearing up.  This means not using ultra cheap equipment.  Not all of us can afford real expensive equipment (I know that I can’t) but I would rather invest a few quality rods and reels than have 10 low quality outfits.  Sorry but there is no excuse to be using a $2 Wal-Mart special crankbait.  Trying to hunt with the $50 yard sale bow that it is not fitted to you also has a lot of issues.  In general, low budget tackle and equipment will not provide the same level of success as better quality stuff.  Success is the #1 key ingredient to building confidence.

This is another advantage of specializing.  My spinning gear for smallmouth is where I invest.  If I tried to do it all, I would have to find cheaper equipment so that I could afford bass rods, surf rod, fly rod, trout rods, etc. etc.

In Summary

These are 5 critical factors to building confidence.  If you don’t lack confidence, these are unnecessary.  But most of had times where we’ve lost confidence in our fishing or hunting abilities.   Confidence is a certainly a complex thing, and there is a lot more to it than I have outlined.  But I believe that, if you focus on these 5 facators, you will find your confidence grow when you are spending time in Penn’s Outdoors.