The myth that only those 'notable' Musky anglers
are “Professionals” seems to be a
characterization that is
far too narrow in its scope. As with most myths, the responsibility for this
one lies at the feet of those 'Musky Notables'.
If you look up a
definition of ‘professional’ you get:
As a
dedicated Musky angler, all these definitions apply to you. I don’t know any
dedicated Musky anglers who are not proficient, skilled, trained. practiced
and specialized.
Indeed, we are all
specialists who, over time and experience, have become expert at Musky
angling and an authority relative to our approach to finding fish and, as
often as not, putting fish in the boat.
Just because someone has
been certified as a guide, something that anyone with the guide license fee
can do, that doesn’t make him or her anything more than a person running a
business who fishes for Musky.
Just because someone has
articles published, that only means that they took the time to document
their thoughts and found an outlet, magazine or internet, that figured that
the article would be interesting to that outlet’s readership.
We all know that there
are days when we are ‘skunked’ on the water and days when skill combined
with luck net us a quality fish. (I don’t use the
word trophy because someone’s 45” fish is no less a trophy than another’s
56” fish.)
Having a patch on your shirt does not decrease the
possibility of being ‘skunked’ nor does it make you any more professional
than the angler who is not acting as an ‘advertising billboard’.
Any accomplished Musky
angler deserves the regard of other Musky anglers. Remember that when you
are looking at a Musky angler on a Musky video or in Musky articles in a
magazine or on the Internet, you are not seeing a Musky angler who is any
more professional than are you.
Confidence on the water
is a key element to being successful on the water…be confident in your
equipment, your skill as a Musky angler and your execution of the Musky
hunt.
As a professional, you can do no less.
