Is it possible that after fishing a lake several times, and not catching quality fish, and seeing huge stringers being weighed in that you loose your confidence in that lake? Do you think that it cuases you to be "beat" before you get to the ramp? If so, how do you overcome it and start locating fish?

Yeah Lake o the Pines! In the spring all those 30lb+ sacks!

I'll work my butt off for 22lbs this last spring. That's been my best yet on that lake.

What keeps me going is, it is rarely the same team that wins every week...maybe a little streak, but it never last for ever...fish move and conditions change.

Maybe one day I'll find the big fish that live on LOP. It's the closest lake to the house, I've been fishing it for 20 years, and still not a fish over 6lbs for me!

I've been to Amistad 3 times and caught a 10lber two of the trips. I LOVE that lake! LOL! Too bad it's 10 hours away! LOP is 20 minutes!

The sport of fishing is much like other sports, in that you can loose confidence in your decision making skills. You just have to get back out there, go to the basics, catch fish, and build on the experience to re-achieve confidence in yourself.

Hubbard Creek is that lake for me...I couldn't catch a cold there now and I use to slay em.

I lose confidence in myself I TRY not too.. but I beat myself up at times.... case in point, Twok, last saturday.

Got a news flash for you. It ain't the Lake.

You aint the only one that has that problem on Pines! I have a place on the lake and it kicks my a$$ on a regular basis! I can seem to catch fish on it, but never anything of any size.

Then what is it? Would love to know!!

The biggest difference in normal tournament anglers and good tournament anglers is consistancy and confidence. Both go hand in hand.
Most avaerage tournament anglers go into a tournament thinking they will get beat by locals, while good ones go into a tournament with a kick everyone's a$$ mentality.

Its possible. What do you mean by "several"?

I've fished a certain lake atleast twice a week this entire year. I didn't weigh a fish for about 2 months. But I kept fishing and finally figured them out. There are still guys that will outfish me any given time out there, but I'm not getting my butt whooped like I was.

You can't LET the lake steal your confidence.

I realy don't think it is a normal or good tournament angler problem. I have fished new lakes this year that I have never fished before in my life and have even drawn a check in one of them. This particular lake I find everything that "should" hold great fish, but come up empty handed! Every Elite angler for the most part can fish a lake and do well consistantly but they have those few lakes that just kick their butts! Every time I go to this lake I fish my arse off and "never give up!" It just has my number! I will continue to fish it, and someday I WILL beat it!!! I will admit that when I am planning a trip there or am fishing a tournament there I feel myself start to clinch up and my mind starts racing! I know this starts clouding my mind and I do not think as clear, and I feel that every tournament guy goes through the same emotions as I on lakes they have problems on.

Having confidence is a plus, but it's no substitute for knowing where a bunch of quality fish are stacked like cord wood.

Confident or not, I think even a novice fisherman can catch a big sack of fish if every time he throws out on a spot and his bait gets to the bottom something goes "THUMP!"

I can tell you by my own personal experience. Confidence is the #1 Key in catching fish and really..anything you do! If you go out to the lake with a bad attitude or thinking "Ill be lucky to catch one" you best bet is that you wont catch nothing. Its all about attitude. If you have confidence in yourself, your gear, and your angling skills, you will catch more fish. Confidence helps build consistency. When you see someone with a 30 lb bag, think seek and destroy and go for 40.

You either have to learn the lake or get lucky. I've been beaten down by Lewisville and Ray Roberts this tournament season. It is my own fault. I need to spend more time on both but even then it does not guarantee success.

The biggest thing that happens to me when I lose confidence is a lose patience. If I'm sitting on what looks like killer structure but don't get bite quickly, I'll give-up, put the big motor down and bounce around the lake all day.

But when I'm feeling good, I'll sit on the spot much longer and fish it more thouroughly (try differiant things). When I do that is when I tend to get nice sacks.