Traits Of The Successful Angler

Having spent the past fifty years trying to improve my carp-fishing (and succeeding to only a very limited degree) I realise I will never achieve the dizzying heights of those I admire. The advent of YouTube brought the exploits of those such as Tom Maker and Mark Bartlett (to name just two) straight into my living-room. Surely, if I imitate the tactics, approaches, and techniques of those two  outrageously successful carp-anglers, I too would surely achieve similar results? 

Nah… hasn’t happened. Never has. Never will.

Richard Walker, often called the ‘Father of modern specimen hunting’ was very much a ‘if I can do it, then so can you’ type of person. I don’t know where I first read it—somewhere in that jewel of a book Still Water Angling I think; his intention—bringing the catching of big fish within the reach of everyone, succeeded, starting what became known as the ‘cult’ of big fish hunting or ‘specimen hunting’. I started fishing for big fish in the late 1960s and caught my first carp using exactly the methods Walker described. I’ve been trying to get better and better ever since. I realised a very long time ago, however, my progress had halted as the results of more successful anglers far surpassed my own meagre efforts.

It wasn’t for want of trying
Like every other form of human endeavour, carp-fishing has a range of competencies. Like all competencies they are arranged into hierarchies. There are those who excel at a competency, and those who do not. Successful anglers (and by that I mean those who catch the most) fall into the top 20% of participants following what is known as The Pareto Principle—this is the broad rule that states that for any given productive activity, 80% of the output is generated by 20% of the participants. This rule can be applied to manufacturing, the financial sector, fishing, as well as many other forms of productive activity. 80% of all fish caught are from 20% of the anglers.

Amongst psychologists, competency is the biggest indicator of a potential for success. When you think about it, it’s not brain surgery: those who are the most competent, produce the highest level of output. Competency, however, is a complex thing and influenced by many different factors, including IQ (although it is very non-PC to say that), and the type of personality of the competent. Basically what this is saying, is that it is not enough to have Cognitive Ability (which is what IQ is), there is a ton of other stuff which it must be married to in order to be more than averagely productive. That ton of other stuff is based around and includes personality.

The five personality traits
The basic five personality traits we all possess are well understood by psychologists:
l Openness
l Conscientiousness
l Extraversion
l Agreeableness
l Neuroticism

Otherwise remembered as OCEAN.

All these personality traits combine in each one of us to attenuate and modify the achievement of our intended goals by causing various degrees of inhibition or enhancement depending on which trait is high or low.

Openness: ‘Interest in ideas and creativity’

You would have thought this was a highly valued trait in an activity where creative solutions are often required to solve immediate problems (generally, that of not getting a bite). An ability to come up with ideas—to try something new—would be a very useful quality when the bobbins remain motionless… Not so!

Unfortunately, those who are high in trait Openness have a much harder time of it than you would think. They are so open to new ideas they find it difficult to focus on one thing. Their minds are full of different options and possibilities, making it very hard to create rational, singular, approaches. Everything is possible…

I am particularly high in trait Openness. I am a creative writer and photographer. Before I retired I was an engineer and was known for my problem-solving ability in response to engineering problems. Unfortunately, I was so lacking in other traits I struggled throughout my career and realised too late I’d chosen completely the wrong profession. Openness is good for coming up with ideas but lousy for focussing in on one thing.

Conscientiousness: ‘Dutifulness and orderliness’
The first thing I do when I arrive at the lake is have a walk around to try and find the fish. Of course, you’re lucky if they are found on the first circuit and it may take several round trips before a fish pokes its head above the water or releases a patch of tell-tale bubbles. Conscientiousness is required to keep on walking until you’ve found them so you know you are in the right area. I get fed up searching very easily because I am low in trait Conscientiousness. This generally means I set-up in unsuitable pegs because, quite frankly, I can’t be arsed to be traipsing round and round. I want to get fishing. Being low in trait Conscientiousness is a real drawback in what is one of the fundamentals of successful angling.

You see, I know what I am supposed to do, but I can’t quite bring myself to do it. It was the same when I was an engineer. I lacked the Conscientiousness to acquire the mathematical skills often required in engineering and struggled through my academic courses. This was exacerbated by a lack of cognitive ability to some degree, but I always found it hard to wade through the endless systematic analyses part and parcel of the engineering process. I find it hard to stick to stuff and see it through to the bitter end. I get distracted by other things easily.

Extraversion: ‘Positive emotion’
Get up and go. Not sitting there while the bobbins refuse to move. Up and about, looking for the fish in other parts of the lake. Extraverts are driven by positive thoughts—they are great people’s people and delight in company. They are very sociable and enjoy fishing with good friends.

I, on the other hand, am very low in Extraversion and generally prefer my own company. If you come into my peg and ask how things are going you will generally be greeted with little more than a grunt. It’s not that I don’t like you—it’s because I am low in Agreeableness. I’ve always lacked social skills and find company difficult. Unless fish are jumping out of the water onto the bank I am unlikely to pack all my gear up, take down my bivvy and move onto the fish. But it’s what successful anglers do. They are high in positive emotion. Extraverts.

Agreeableness: ‘Empathic, sympathetic. Always put others first. Compassionate rather than aggressive in a predatory kind of way’
Those low in Agreeableness are self-centred and feel no need to take the feelings of others into consideration. These types will cast their rig straight into your peg if they think there are fish there. They are blind to the considerations of others. They can be ruthless, deadly. These are useful qualities for the hunter because they will do whatever is necessary to secure their catch, even at the expense of others. Being Agreeable means you won’t do anything to impact other anglers on the lake and will fish away from the fish rather than on them in case you annoy others you can see are better situated.

Anglers high in Agreeableness often miss out on opportunities out of consideration for other members. Those low in Agreeableness must catch at all costs and damn everyone else. As I’m high in trait Agreeableness, that’s another excuse I can make for lack of results.

Neuroticism: ‘Negative emotion. Emotionally unstable; tends to irritability and moodiness’
I am particularly high in Neuroticism. I was diagnosed with Clinical Depression many years ago, which of course is a very negative emotion. I invariably think things will naturally turn out bad. There will always be a negative outcome. I expect to blank most of the time.

If there is one personality trait you could wish for, it would be to be low in Neuroticism. There’s nothing like a positive mental attitude to everything and it’s something I have wrestled with my entire life. Most of the time I fail—but sometimes not and the world is a wonderful place. If there’s one thing we should all cultivate—it’s a positive mental attitude. It will serve us well in all our worldly endeavours. Unfortunately, for those high in Neuroticism, PMA (positive mental attitude) is extremely hard to turn on and off. Oh if only?! You’ve either got it or you haven’t. And that goes for all the Personality Traits. You are what you are.

There is still controversy about what prescribes the personalities we possess. It’s probably somewhere between Inheritance and Behaviour—i.e. most of what we are is inherited through our genes: our DNA. Traits run in families and are often passed on via parents—physical and mental characteristics. Short, stunted folk often have short, stunted offspring. It’s Darwinian succession through genetic inheritance. There is no doubt that some personal characteristics we possess are generated by Behaviours—i.e. the environment we are brought up in determines and influences how we identify ourselves and enact our daily lives. People brought up in highly competitive environments where food is short (say) must compete to survive. That’s a component of Natural Selection by those best able to adapt. Those people will naturally be very low in Agreeableness (empathy for others), would be quite high in Conscientiousness, (devoted to finding food sources) and quite high in Openness since an ability to find alternative sources of food to the exclusion of others requires a degree of creativity. Are such folk influenced by their environment or are they like it naturally? Evolution by Natural Selection. Probably a bit of both, and herein lies a partial solution to the problem of how to get better at carp-fishing.

All our personality traits influence who we are and how likely we are to succeed in our worldly endeavours (carp-fishing being one of them). Being high or low in one or many traits can influence our ability to catch carp—if you are low in Conscientiousness for instance and can’t be arsed to find the fish before setting up you’re going to be at a disadvantage. So how can we transform ourselves?

Conscientiousness is not a skill—i.e. it can not be practised. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. If you do not possess it as a trait then it is hopeless to tell yourself it is what you must do. But there again that’s my negative emotions coming through. I’m high in Neuroticism and naturally think negatively.

If someone has an answer as to how you can change your personality—I’d love to hear it! Perhaps we should attend ‘counselling for carp-fishers’?! Perhaps the answer lies in understanding ourselves and what our personalities are and what traits either support or hinder our carp-fishing? Knowing I’m low in Conscientiousness means I can focus on that. It means I can ask myself whether the reason I’m not catching is because I can not be bothered to get up off my backside and go looking for the fish. It’s about not accepting inferiority—not saying, ‘well, it’s what I’m like and there’s nothing I can do about it’. Knowing why your results are not as expected is about first—realising your deficiencies—and then attempting to do something about them.

Maybe real success is not about matching the results of your heroes, but being better than you were previously? And perhaps understanding and accepting who you are is the biggest success of all?