Nitrofreak

Thanks for the offer and someday I may take you up on that for sure, as for now just listen to what your brain is telling you and slow down a bit and focus on technique, switching baits around like that will only make you lose confidence in those baits, right now confidence is going to be a number one priority, me personally I like the twin tail hula grub in salt and pepper rigged up on a 1/4 oz black ball head, usually a killer confidence bait, but it all depends on location for any bait to become a confidence bait. Take your time and work the crap out of one lure with different speeds and use small movements right now would be my suggestion, unless you get somewhere that the fish are chasing down a bunch of shad, but start building your confidence with one bait before you start switching around and learn as much as you can from that bait ok. Good luck and be safe !!!

Welcome to the forum Tartan, your making good progress and already sounds like you are learning a lot, nice job guy's helping him out !!!!

Topo maps are a great addition to where you want to locate some good places to fish, but they are not the only thing that should be included in your map studies, lots of really good info has already been given, so I would like to add by suggesting going to your local impoundment and looking for airel maps of the lake before it was a lake, lots of good info can be gathered from resources like these and talking to the locals about how to fish the lake, speaking with the local game and fisheries dept. can also be another valuable resource for study, the info they can give on bait fish stocked and aquatic plants and the over all health of different areas is important. Most of the lakes I fish are man made impoundments, one being a Nuke Plant lake, as WRB stated about current, it too has a lot to do with how I fish a determined spot, especially when the Nuke Plant has all of their pumps running, the lake has a reverse flow on the lower 1/3. As for what I like to look for on maps are also channels that lead back for incoming fresh water supply, original creeks that feed the lake, then I usually work my way out from there looking for the same as others have posted.

Part of the trick to slowing down is knowing when to slow down, just like your professional over run you encountered, it's time and experimentation, when your burning a crank and the fish are active, they will let you know when they are done chasing after baits, then it's time to be mindful as Paul said it best I think, you must understand your surroundings and what the fish are telling you, we as anglers are always and forever searching out the more aggressive bass leaving the unlearned deeper waters alone and most often not even giving them a second thought, when you slow down and start to understand the approach one must take to fish his or her own waters more effectivly, then will you understand why we slow down, not just in presentations am I speaking of either. Paul, I am in many ways a codger, my body says I am old but my spirit will not allow me to be old and enjoy it LOL !!

Nice post Paul !!!! What helped me slow down was fishing deep water, remember those days when you used to go catfishin at night and a cooler full of beer, sitting on the bank with your rod propped on a forked stick, that helped me to slow down too, imagine yourself doing something like that when you were younger, think like your fishing for something different, but like Paul said after a few fish it will start to come more and more natural, all we have here is time, use it to your advantage.

Right here !!! The most underused resource is ones self, not knowing when or how to adapt to adverse conditions, not understanding the body of water one is fishing, giving up instead of learning, locating fish first before starting to fish, any number of things we could pick and choose from but the end result is always how well you understand when, where, what, why and how.

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There is a level of success here that does not include fish, the question is though, did you learn anything from not catching any fish? High pressured bodies of water with no cover to speak of other than a brush pile or two, usually equates to a very slow day, if you know there are fish in there for sure, then you need to slow way down, high pressured waters are nothing more than a mindset in my opinion, you have to approach these waters very differently, fish spook really easily, so stealth may be a factor, slow moving baits with a more natural look like jigs may be what you need, small baits may be in order here, it really depends on the forage this lake has to offer, you should take a step back and talk to the local game and fisheries and see if any kind of bait fish are stocked and if so decide your colors and size based on some of that info, figure out the bait fish habits and concentrate on that pattern, generally hard to fish or high pressured waters are great learning curves for days on your favorite lakes when the fish that often bite for some reason or another do not bite on a given day. If you are looking to be successful, be successful by learning the lake, the fish will be an added bonus.

LOL !! I would like to see that myself !!.....hhhhhmmmmm, kinda makes me want to get stuck just to watch you pull my lard butt out of the muck lol !! Thats ok though, I will have a few cold ones to share with ya after I watch you do all that work back at camp....what? you didnt think I was going to let you do all that for nothing did ya? There is no way I could sit in one of those things and fish the way you guys do, shucks, I am stiff and sore from getting out of bed in the mornings with an avg. of about 5 hrs sleep, a couple hours on that thing would put me in the hospital lol !!!

Not that I would ever want to get hit by any of these guys, or anybody for that matter, but I am no small fry at 6 1, 250, lol !!! I will say this much for you guys, the tallant that it takes to get your bait to an area while in the seating position is one that I wish not to even attempt, it's quite impressive to watch you guys and gals !!!

Those yak people are kinda strange......you sure you wanna do that? lol !!! J/K yak'ers J/K !! you know we cant wait to meet you guys and have fun with ya !!!

Right now we are dead even, Speed is in there but he may have his boat by the time we get to the date, Soccplayer just got his boat fixed not too long ago and he might bring his too, so far we are good but it would not hurt to have a couple more boaters step up if we could, I have not heard anything from Endless, he may or may not have an open seat, I think he said it would be real close to the date before he knew for sure. Thanx to both you and Teal for offering to take two each, it's good to see how openly you guys are welcoming members to come have fun with us, you both are doing a fantastic job and I personally cant thank each and every one of you for allowing this to happen. It won't be as long as it has been, only 4 more months until we get together, I look forward to meeting each and every one of you guys and gals !!!!

OK whos responsible for letting this thread get so far behind huh ? well? anybody? Bennett, we will find a way to get you a ride, if you wanna go with us then make plans to be there, we look forward to meeting you !!!

As the time draws near, I can see the excitement and the anticipation, I wish everyone the very best of luck and the best of times, have a safe trip too and from everyone and I cant wait to see the pics and video's !!!!!! Have fun all !!!

ROTFLMAO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Drink plenty of liquids, I don't wanna know what a bad day is !!! And dont forget to put the exclamation point at the end of your name either LOL !!!

I'm sorry guy's, my posts have been missing the mark here lately and in some cases missing entirely, I still have an up hill battle of my own to work on but in time I will get back to doing more research and hopefully give more accurate reports with some results from new baits and the local fishing holes around Va. Who knows I may even be able to offer someone some good advise and they catch a big fish or two, I look forward to that, right now the future looks a little rough and rocky and you may still find me missing from time to time so bare with me please. It's nice to know I am thought of though guy's and it gives me hope and strength and a lot to look forward too.

No my friend, I have had some personal issues that needed tending too. But I am working my way back up the ladder and soon enough you will be the fine recipient of a wise crack once again and we shall rejoice in laughter and well being and I shall end up once again on the floor either laughing hysterically or drunk off my arse BAHAHAHAHA !!!!

BEER !! it's great for breakfast, your gonna LOVE IT !!! Yeast, wheat, barley, hopps, water, and alcohol, what more could you want in a breakfast, it even comes in an easy to open can !!!! I mean shucks they even have beer with fruit already blended in for you, talk about nutritional values, it don't get no better than that !!!!

See !! your a sure bet, you already sound like our elected officials.....at least our older ones anyway LOL !!!

Thoughts and prayers on their way and I wish him a speedy recovery as well, let us know how things go for you all if you would please !!!

If I get any more I will let you know how they do in different water color/conditions etc...

OK Who's responsible for this? Phil the groundhog said it was going to be an early spring, I think Phil needs to go......and we replace him with Ghoti

Sounds to me like the engine is setting too deep in the water and covering the exhaust port, have you checked that out?

What is there to say but.... OMG WHAT A TRIP OF A LIFE TIME !!!!!! Guys, seriously, congrats on a great story, video and thank you guys for putting it all together and sharing it with us, that is simply amazing.

I fart a lot, it's probibly a good thing you only felt like you were sitting next to me LOL !!