looking back

by Gritter Griffin

​I have been specifically targeting redfish in competitive venues for almost twenty years now and I’m pretty sure I have seen just about everything there is to see about this sport. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly!

When I first started competing in redfish events I didn’t know what I didn’t know. But I figured out pretty quickly that what I didn’t know was a heck of a lot more than what I did know. At first, this was a bit intimidating but as I pressed on through the years and enjoyed some modicum of success I began to realize that there isn’t really a magic potion. And there sure as hell aren’t any shortcuts. It is work. Work and time. Work at the craft of learning everything about these fish and use your time spent on the water observing them in their environment. Study what they do and why they do it. Learn their travel patterns and how the weather, tides, and seasons affect their actions and activity. Take notes. Keep a log. Your future in competition is written in those pages.

At every event I hear multiple anglers say things like –“Man, they just wouldn’t eat” or “Oh boy, they were so spooky” or “We caught ‘em all day but it just wasn’t the right ones” or “ We had to let him go because he was struggling” or “We had ‘em yesterday but they were nowhere to be seen today”.

I, too, have voiced each of these laments over the years. But afterwards I would always relive my tournament day and realize that it had noting to do with the fish at all – it was me! I had failed in my job as an expert angler in not recognizing the events that were happening in THEIR world. These are the things that make or break a competitive angler and will determine how well you do in competition.

Study, work, learn. Do not always go out there catching. Go out there learning! Go out there watching! Go out there waiting!

Do it!

And do it repeatedly and constantly.

The results may surprise you.
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Contact gritter@redfishconnection.com