The old saying goes something like this... "If you don't learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it".
Pretty powerful words, eh?
The original quote can be attributed to philosopher George Santayana where he said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".
Regardless of which version you like more, for us anglers, the meaning behind the quotes act as a reminder to reflect and learn from our time spent on the water.
Reflecting On The Past
With the year coming to an end, and as hinted above, it's good practice to look back and reflect on both the 'good' and the 'bad'.
Most businesses refer to this process as "Lessons Learned" and you can probably guess the goal of the exercise...
To learn from the past by gaining an understanding on what worked and what didn't.
The same approach can be applied to each fishing trip.
Chances are, every time you went fishing this year the combination of weather, water temperature, water clarity, barometric pressure, moon phase, and whatever else you want to include all added up to create individually unique fishing conditions.
What did you learn from each of your trips?
Did you take a minute to notice that one lure produced better results in certain conditions whereas another lure was the golden ticket when the conditions changed?
Making a mental note of what went well and what didn't go so well from past experiences makes it easier on you as an angler in the future when presented with similar circumstances.
Maybe you noticed an uptick in crankbait bites after a hard rain when the water was a bit more murky than usual.
So now instead of throwing a spinnerbait for an hour the next time you're trying to figure out what the fish are doing in murky water, you can start off with a crankbait.
Perhaps, you can relate to a similar experience of your own.
Each fishery is unique and has its own subtle differences which makes it our responsibility as anglers to figure out what works and what doesn't.
Reflecting on previous trips helps make the "figuring out" process a little bit easier when presented with similar conditions in the future.
In Conclusion
As you look back on the past year do your best to remember both the good and the bad moments.
There's probably a few things you screwed up big time on but chances are you probably had a few awesome moments on the water as well.
Always be cognizant of the little things that make a big difference - downsizing from a 7 inch to a 5 inch Senko for more bites, fishing with lighter weights, or utilizing longer casts to prevent spooking fish, just to name a few.
End goal here...
Try and view everything as a lesson that can be used as a means of better judgement for what is to come in the future.
And don't forget to have some fun along the way!
Time to go catch em'!
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