How many times have you fished the same rig or jig all day? How often have you used your favorite presentation instead of experimenting with one less practiced or preferred? Have you ever felt lost on the water, unable to choose a proper approach?

Guilty on all counts? Through preference, sheer laziness, or lack of understanding or direction, we avoid making choices, or make the wrong calls. Versatility can be a double-edged sword -- the luxury to be able to make choices, but with choices, it becomes necessary to make them.

Among the armada of versatile anglers float many who have difficulty selecting which tactics to apply. They have all the recommended gear, but can't put the maze of options into practice. The difference between tools and skills is that tools can be bought, but experience is needed to develop the skills to use them.

BASIC GAME PLAN

Establishing successful fishing patterns is a process. Each time you fish, you run through a system of decisions: choosing a general area of a lake-river-reservoir, selecting appropriate seasonal habitat, determining how fish relate to it, choosing likely presentations and boat control based on fish position and mood, and then fine-tuning a presentation or switching presentations to maximize your catch. It's not leaving the dock with something tied on the end of your line and predetermining that you'll use that something all day, even if it was successful in the past. The smarter you react, the more fish you'll catch.