Sunday, January 30, 2011

The MAD Fishing Show and the bad mojo

As much as I applaud the shameless fish bragging, a far more important aspect to me is honesty. In the spirit of that honesty I have to admit that the less than infamous and completely non-sponsored MAD Fishing Show is in a serious slump. Even the trips to the most consistent fisheries are coming up zilch. One skunkfest won’t dampen our spirits or lessen our determination but 3 or 4 zeroed out excursions can open a door of paranoia and frustration in my already frazzled mind. Catching fish is never guaranteed but typically Don or myself can find a hot pattern for the day and work it with some level of success even at the worst of times. In the last handful of trips we have slung at least 50 patterns over 1,000 casts to see nary a follow.

Some people tend to blame the weather or the moon phase. Other people may blame the season. I am not above any of those excuses but in truth I can an only blame myself for not catching fish. What makes this situation really bizarre is that I am catching fish on my solo trips but the Matt and Don runs are coming up empty. For the most part I am not a superstitious person unless it comes to fishing. A crazy slump like this will allow my imagination to point towards some type of bad mojo being involved.

Panic and desperation can subtract from a positive mentality as well as fishing focus, which are two very important aspects to fishing. Before my mind gets too carried away with thoughts of doom and gloom I need to remind myself this is January and the fishing can be real hit or miss. However…I am not above resorting to voodoo, even if only to calm the paranoid voices in my head.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.

9 comments:

Bigerrfish said...

Matt, January is just.... well, a tough month. good news is, one more day of that crap...

Coloradocasters said...

Thanks, Josh. The poor results have not been for the lack of trying.

Bruce said...

Matt,
We've all been there. At least you can use the season or weather if it happened in April that would be really bad. You'll have that day where you nail them soon and I'll be looking for the post that will follow...

Unknown said...

If you were having tough luck in July, you might be concerned. It's January and everyone we talked with this weekend was not catching fish...fear not.

cofisher said...

Bad Mojo? Here is your potion for success. Tie a string of garlic cloves around your neck, after your first cast, eat one, all the while twirling a cat (preferably dead)over your head and repeat "Juabba, dolem, exta. Flush yourself with Jim Beam and continue until you catch your first fish or pass out...whichever comes first. Good luck and let us know how it works Josh.

Anonymous said...

Matt, it is very frustrating to have a smell of skunk on you. But like the others have said "it's cold out there and them fish don't want wrestle apparently". Yup, sometimes the fish win!

Dog Hair in my Coffee said...

Uh oh, look out Don. I think Matt might be ridin solo soon!!!
It's January, for gods sake, Matt. Leave the poor fish to their semi hibernation for a month!

Don said...

I have to say that even though the fishing has been SKUNKY...the planning, researching, scenery and of course the fishing is worth it.

The 3am alarm clock(s), 14 cups of coffee, wind chills, road miles, and hikes in the snow along with iced eyelets...will pay off.

truewonder said...

Colorado,
I have to agree with Colfisher, I can only add that you should be spitting on your spinners, bait, lures...are you doing that?! Try it...you'll see.
Your dilemma is not that you're delusional, no- far from it. You are passionate with a big P buddy, that kind of desire can bring a body down into the doldrums deeper than most dare delve when those fish aren't forthcoming...I see in your future a provoking story,your success in retrospect will not lie in the most or the biggest fish caught, but the fact that when many were inside hibernating, you were testing the limits...while spinning and spitting.