The Psychology of Freshwater Fishing In Still Waters

Last weekend I fished a few freshwater sections of the Merri River with my mate Roger. We fished for two to three hours using a variety of techniques - worms on the bottom of deep pools with a bit of berley; worms drifted through amazing looking runs; a variety of lures such as soft plastics, vibes, bibbed lures - you name it we tried it. Neither of us had a touch and we saw nothing to suggest there were fish in the river.

At our final location Roger got so disgusted he gave up fishing and sat there with the look of a beaten man. It wan't too long ago that freshwater fishing left me in a similar state. After two hours of dangling a worm and not getting a touch I assumed there were either no fish in the system or I didn't possess a mysterious magical power that would put me onto fish.

The situation revelaed the brutal truth of freshwater fishing - it's bloody hard. No

The depressed "I can't catch fish" state is really powerful. Instead of trying something new it makes you want to go home or just stare at the water in a miserable state. You feel that no matter what you do it's not possible to catch a fish. Fishing reports don't help the issue. og=ften you read

So what's going on here

It's amazing what this

there were some magic tricks I

I though the successful fisherman had tricks up there sleeve that I didn't possess. Or that  fishing into the sunset with my worm scraping the bottom of the four meter deep river wondering what we could do.

 We saw not a

There are so many books written on fishing yet none of them discuss the psychology of fishing. Why? Having the right attitude is more important weapon than any lure in your tackle box.

in your tackle box except that it's in your head.

Fishing reports never tell you how long the people fished for
There is no guide as to how long you should fish for to catch fish
There is no guide as to how important first light is on lakes
There is no guide on the importance of changing techniques