| "Ten
percent of the fishermen," the saying goes, "catch 90 percent of the
fish." It's probably not literally true, but the basic idea behind it
is: among the vast number of people who fish recreationally, there is a
small minority that catches not only far more fish overall but also far
more fish per hour of effort than the rest of us do. What that minority shares in common is that they take fishing seriously. That's not to say that they don't enjoy fishing; most of them do. But for them, fishing is essentially a competitive sport; whether they compete against themselves or others, the goal is "winning" by catching the most and biggest fish possible on any given day. Fortunately, though, fishing is like golf in that although you can win at it, you can't really lose. Sure, you can choose to match yourself against somebody, or the rest of the boat, but even if they outfish you, it's hard to call it a loss. Perhaps the best thing about fishing is that it's at least as much fun for lousy fishermen as it is for good fishermen. Here's the way I see it: the thing to really strive for is to enjoy the time you get to spend fishing more than 90 percent of other fishermen enjoy theirs. If you can manage at the same time to catch more fish than 90 percent of other fishermen, that's even better, but it isn't what's truly important. |