BLOG: High risk, high return?

My day to day routine sees life a little calculated and not overly dramatic in the grand scheme of things. On the water, however, my persona occasionally morphs into the "other guy", someone who sporadically opts for a high risk, high return approach.

The other guy usually comes out when I’m bored - you know what they say about idle hands....

Popular fishing beliefs follow a well worn path - find some structure, locate the bait, chase tides and fish away from the wandering sun. Sometimes, however, I like to choose the low probability play – I like to cast “the speculator”. This involves fishing in a location that can often result in a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” response.

I tend to start talking nonsense and develop useless ideas when bored; unfortunately that trend seems to be on the increase. Digressions aside, if there are four of us fishing in a boat and we approach a likely looking shoreline with current swirling past a rock wall and a noticeable eddy forming, all lures are generally fired towards the fishy looking wall. If the hot spot is bombarded by the masses, I’ll occasionally turn my back to the crowd and cast in the complete opposite direction, throwing the speculator. Conventional thought suggests this to be a low success strategy, but is it?

Catching a fish where you least expect to adds to the anticipation levels, however, fish are often irrational, much like ourselves. Following that school of thought implies that to think like a fish means occasional irrational thought needs to be considered. If the bulk of the fish are in the likely looking spot, surely there will be a crafty loner that will recognise competition from its peers and sit away from the "crowd" - like a sniper assessing a combat zone? Casting away from the hot zone might also entice a bite from the distant school; “what’s that thing over there, let’s get it” may be the spur of the moment fishy thought.

My personal best estuary perch came off a speculator – I was fishing with a couple of competent anglers and while they were fishing the likely looking water I turned my back to the action and fired a wayward cast into a non descript stretch of river. It was a high risk, high return strategy that paid off.

Sometimes you need to challenge conventional thought and question the status quo – while well worn strategies are great for most scenarios, circumstance occasionally dictates a change of tack. If your regular techniques aren’t working or there's too much pressure on a location, it might pay to spend time putting your efforts into fishing areas that seem unlikely to produce. After a little consideration such spots may just be ideal locations to find that lurking "sniper". Why not cast a speculator and see who's home?