I knew fishing 10 lakes in 10 days was going to push me physically, mentally, and test my fishing abilities at lakes I had never fished before. But looking back on the 10 for 10 tour, the experience was more than 10 lakes in 10 days.When I reflect on the trip and experience, a lot of the success fishing each day came down to research done months prior to the trip. Where to fish on the lake, what baits to use, how deep to fish, techniques, etc. Most of the lakes I had never fished before, and putting a game plan together definitely helped Richie & I land on fish each day.Some days were non-stop catching. Other days we had to grind for that 1 bite and big fish. On two occasions, we did not get a bite or fish until after the noon hour. That’s a long grind to go all morning, move around, have patience. The persistence paid off. When one thing doesn’t work, try something else.I also fell in love with Kokanee fishing. Trolling around and seeing the rods fold over gave much such energy. Trying to fish the right depth and using the right flashers and lures kept me on my toes and thinking about how we should approach trying to catch Kokanee. And taking some home to grill up each day made me a Kokanee believer. You bet I will be chasing more Kokanee in the years to come!Having a friend along for the ride was a must! Richie and I kept each other going on mornings when things started slow (getting out of bed most of all). Having a friend to help prep the boat, launch the boat, get the gear setup, clean up the boat each day, and experience some of the most amazing places in Oregon to fish made the trip much more memorable than doing it on my own.Fishing the basics. Keeping it simple each day helped tremendously when fishing new waters, just finding a spot to start and go! It’s crazy how many times just fishing the first spot paid off a ton to get that first bite of the day.10 for 10 pushed me in ways I had never pushed myself as an angler. I learned a lot of little fishing things to help me be a better angler, think differently about my approach to fishing new lakes, and got me out of my comfort zone nearly every single day. Let’s hope this trip will help me prepare for the 20 for 20 tour!
