Go Figure!

[STWA]

I have been out fishing a few times not as much as I would likeÉ that would be every day. My wife has something to say about that, she is not a fisherperson, nor a fan of my fishing exploits. Her idea of fun is to see me working around the yard, or just working period. With the tournament here I hope my pre-tournament practice was worth it. Look, the time spent in practice is work nobody likes work but it has to be done, ask my wife. Practice is an investment toward success and rewards. It is a result of time and effort.

Investment and success are the important words here, take your weekly pay if you are disciplined enough to save (invest in a CD or municipal fund) just ten percent of your weekly income at 4% interest in ten years you would have $649.29 for every dollar you saved. You would have put in the bank over the period just $520 and got a return of $129.29 that is almost 25%! In twenty years you would earn over 50% return on your savings that is amazing and over that period as your pay increases the amount you put in the bank/invest increases, you could be a millionaire in no time at all. Then my friend you can go fishing every day. Twenty years may sound like a long time if you start young you will not even notice the time passing. You will be busy with the family, work, and getting ahead. It will seem like no time at all when you will be reaping your rewards.

This year with the high price of gas I am approaching the tournament differently. I am trying a ÒnewÓ technique. I will troll when necessary but I know that big walleye are just sitting out there on structure and will hit bait bounced along the bottom. Controlled drifting and jigging to put the bait in front of big walleye is not really new just forgotten by many however, to the young fishermen it is new.

A jig tipped with a minnow or half a crawler bounced over structure is dynamite, many of the pros on the walleye fishing circuit rely on this method. It is cost effective because you do not burn gas all day. Here, lets look at some numbers, the cost of gas we will assume is $4.00 a gallon. When you troll for eight hours the trip usually burns close to ten gallons. Jigging is usually closer to shore so the runs are shorter. So say you conserve 4 gallons (that would be enough to troll a couple hours plus jigging). Over the summer you plan to go out twice a week, fish 7 of the 9 tournament days, for a total of about 33 trips to fish. If you save 4 gallons a trip you just saved $132. That is enough money to take your wife out for a very lovely dinner or buy yourself a really cool reel. On the other hand, if you bank the savings in twenty years it would be worth $278.10 at the 4% interest figure we used earlier. 4% by the way is conservative you should be able to do better. Nevertheless, let me tell you this, the dinner with your wife will pave the way for future allowances for you to go fishing, consider it an investment for the future. So here it is $132 gas savings, or $278 return on your investment, or dinner with the wife priceless, you make the call.

by Y. R. Moneyworth

 

View the full article on STWA website