Does a black cat run in front of you while driving at night bother you? Do you believe walking under a ladder gives you bad luck? Whether or not you believe in these, superstition plays a significant part in our bass fishing!
All bass anglers, in one way or other, do something relating to superstition. To give you an example: I knew a tournament angler that forgot to put on his lucky t-shirt under his tournament shirt on one tournament morning. Big deal, right?
This fact did not affect the bass locations, but most importantly, it affected his "confidence and concentration." In his mind, he was sunk before the tournament even started because he forgot his lucky t-shirt, and without it, he felt he could not catch fish. Guess what, he didn't! This example may sound silly, but the superstition rituals that we bass anglers do (sometimes without realizing it) can and will affect the way we fish.
It doesn't matter if it is a specific hat, clothing, rod, or reel; if it is something you "Believe In," DO IT! You may be saying that won't affect me, until one day when you forget to do that "something," you will see what I mean.
All of these superstitions directly affect your confidence and concentration when you're on the water. Remember, our efforts should be directed toward our fishing without any distractions. And if we forget to wear our favorite hat, in our minds, that is a significant distraction, because when we don't catch any fish, "It is because we forgot our favorite hat." There is truth to this! Like I said earlier, it doesn't affect the bass but will affect our ability to catch them.
To have complete confidence and concentration, we must do everything we can to eliminate all distractions before we get on the water. If that means we have to wear a specific hat on the tournament, then that is what WE MUST DO!