Its November already, October seems to have blown by in an early autumnal rush that I missed completely. Cedric from Switzerland was due on one of the tidal weeks but due to the obvious and early indications that it wasn’t going to work because of deteriorating weather we re-scheduled until next year.
In an already difficult fishery I wasn’t about to make things any worse and I know that the strategy that many of my customers and I discuss before booking is the risk of cancellation. With todays easy access to very good and accurate weather information its often very possible to make decisions a considerable number of days in advance. Sometimes these decisions are never very easy however and a lot depends on the customers wishes and circumstances.
Imagine you and your fishing friend (John and Peter) have an annual holiday from work at the same time each year and you have both decided to come to Ireland for a weeks guided bass fishing on one of those weeks. You save hard, update the gear, the waders the boots, the jacket, you make a personal investment of time away from your family perhaps, you book your flights and your time off is planned. Done and dusted – all you have to do now is wait. The anticipation builds and builds, you’re going to Ireland bass fishing with a guide what could go wrong?
Then something like what you see below starts to happen,
Which is better to do? Abandon the holiday on my advice, absorb the cost of the flights, take the few days of notice to make an alternative and spend the week at home somewhat disappointed OR come anyway into a world of pain, brown water, weed rain wind and no fish whilst wondering if this guided bass thing was really worth all that investment?
As an experienced fishing guide I have no hesitation and will tell you as straight as I possibly can, I will absorb the cost of not having you here in preference to the drudgery you will experience in these conditions. Even opportunities to learn become very very difficult under such circumstances. its difficult to concentrate, your heart is often elsewhere and you feel disappointed.
My hope is that such a decision will benefit both of us in the future. The impact of this bad news is different for different people. Cedric from above is self employed, single, and travels frequently. He was disappointed yes but also trusted me completely and is ready for July of 2014. He plans to use the money he saved to invest in a new fly rod and some casting lessons over the winter.
I have learned to take this type of hit at least once in any season and it often gives me time to re-align and get some personal catching up completed.
Its very seldom that I do not see the original client back again the following year or at a different time. Sometimes we can win together, sometimes we can learn, but seldom will either of us lose.
A little bit of fishing in your day - Jim
