Is Fishing Mostly Luck? Top Tips to Improve Your Angling Success

Kurt Mazurek | Dec 19, 2024

The author holding a big bass surrounded by good luck charms, symbolizing the balance of skill and luck in fishing. / Kurt Mazurek | Dreamstime.com | © Jenifoto406

Is Fishing Really All About Luck?

"Had any luck?"

If you've spent any time fishing, then you have certainly been asked this question more than once. In fact, you may have asked it yourself a time or two. It's really the accepted standard greeting between two people near the water, if one or both of them are holding a fishing rod. But, is fishing mostly luck?

"Not much," has become my standard response. It's an honest answer. I believe it's basically true. Personally, I don't think fishing success or failure has much to do with luck. But, I know that if every time someone asked, “Had any luck?”, I answered, "Through years of study, practice, and careful analysis, successful fishing can have relatively little to do with luck," I’m only going to end up sounding like a conceited jerk.

The truth is I could go on, "Boy, that Jacob Wheeler and that Kevin VanDam…now, those guys have all the luck!" Again, pretty jerky of me. I realize the person asking is just trying to be friendly and I am genuinely a positive person. I’ve just dedicated a lot of my focus to improving my fishing performance. Outside of this forum, where I feel like I can openly discuss and deeply analyze fishing concepts, I'll just keep my answer to the friendly, honest "not much."

Bass Pro Tour Angler Jacob Wheeler proudly holding one of his many hard-earned trophies. With a record like his, it's impossible to deny his unmatched fishing skills are more important than his luck. / MLF | J. Shangle

The Bell Curve of Luck vs. Skill in Fishing

The truth is, luck can have a little or a lot to do with your success. Think of it like a bell curve—the less you know about fishing, the more luck factors into the fish you catch. On the other end of the curve, if you are a skilled angler, then luck has relatively little to do with your overall success. But, I must acknowledge, some amount of luck, good or bad, IS still a factor for even the best fisherman.

A Tournament Fishing Story: When Luck Played a Role

Let me give you an example from a bass fishing tournament I was in a couple years back. A typical winning weight for that particular body of water at that time of year, would be in the neighborhood of 16-to-18-pounds. A good day would consist of a bag of good medium-sized fish (2.75-to-3-pounds) and one "kicker" pushing the 5-pound mark.

I was having a pretty good day. Everything was going right. I was making the necessary adjustments as the day went on, putting together a solid bag of "mediums". Then, I made a nice pitch to a deep undercut bank where I just knew I would get bit. The "kicker" that I swung into my boat was just over 20-inches long. Success! Then I realized that he was the skinniest 20-plus-inch fish I'd ever seen. Bad luck! On any other day, having a fish that size in my bag would have given me a top three finish. I had properly analyzed how to catch a big fish that day, and I caught a big fish. Unfortunately, it was just an unusually underweight fish.

I believe that's an example of luck playing a role in my outcome—unfortunately, bad luck that time. It's a relatively small amount of luck, but it factored into the results that day. The good news is that over the course of several tournaments, that small percent of luck, good or bad, becomes less and less of a factor when you look at the long term or big picture.

The author proudly displays a big bass caught using skill, patience, and practice. / Kurt Mazurek

Focus on What You Can Control: Skills Over Luck

Plus, the things we define as luck are all the things we have absolutely no control over. I would suggest that instead of worrying about having some luck when you’re fishing, focus on improving fishing performance–your skill, mechanical execution, and mental toughness (the things you can control) and you’ll find much more success much more often.

"Had any luck?"

Fortunately, "not much."

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