Justin Mott

Welcome to be Forum, Tim. I'm glad to hear that we have another guy with an older model boat. I'm sure you are gonna have a great time with it.

One piece of advice. That's tight but I think I can give it a shot. My best piece of advice would be: Cover more water! I find that once you find fish, they are all to ready to bite. You just have to get to where they are. I know this is reverse of what most people say. But I find that only in the worst of conditions do we need to fish slowly to get bites. Many times, we are better apt at discovering those daily patterns or dynamite spots by spending our time looking for fish. Why would you want to spend your time slowly working areas that may not hold a bass when you can quickly fish to find the areas that do. After you have those few bites, then you should slow it down. But I find that most people need to pick up the pace. If you are new to bass fishing, you are fairly apt to be fishing unproductive areas. It takes time to find those great areas or patterns that work well. That is why I support covering more water. You are just more likely to find those productive areas that you can slow down on. Justin Mott

I'm all for fishing in the rain. I find the fishing to be more consistent and a ton easier. You have so many things working in your favor when its raining. One for sure is light penetration. The fish simply can't see your lures as well so you can get away with stuff that doesn't as well in the sunlight. Take your average spinnerbait. In the daylight, you can really see what the spinnerbait is in clearer water for all its good and its bad. I personally feel that you have to be more specific in how you fish a spinnerbait during sunny days to get a consistent bite. But during a rainy day, the lower light penetration covers up the specifics of the spinnerbait and it becomes more of a blur moving. You are allowed to fish it in more ways. Its much the same as how you are allowed to care freely fish a bait in the morning time an catch fish. Sure, you have times where all the fish seem to have fed up before the storm. They happen quite regularly. but there is a simple solution that I use that brings consistent success. Cover more water. Sure you have to experiment with lures and techniques but still cover more water. You are bound to come across a limits worth in a day. If you are looking for a good starting point, the baits mentioned above by Auggie14 are an excellent place to begin. A spook and spinnerbait is where I find a number of successful fishermen start. Throw a jig in there and you have most rainy situations covered. Justin Mott

Most of the new stuff that I learn is from doing a lot of reading. I chunk the information that doesn't suit my style or method on fishing. I keep the information that I can be beneficial to what I do. Then when I think its the right time to break out the new technique, I go all out. I have no trouble taking a box of one type of baits and going fishing all day to do one technique. In my head, it will be all for the better. Oddly enough, my best big fish technique was learned through just luck. Pure luck. I feel like there is so much information out there that you have to choose information based off of your own knowledge. I don't believe that I can comfortably go from techniques that are run and gun techniques to finesse slow techniques so I try to focus my learning around the style that I'm comfortable with. Such as reaction type techniques or techniques that require some type of constantly movement or action from me. Justin Mott

Welcome Greg. I'm glad to see another Bama guy joining the group.

Hmm...well I beat the banks so this isn't too much trouble. Rod Any 6'6" Medium action Rod Reel Also long as its low profile, I can deal with any baitcaster Baits 1/2 oz spinnerbait>>>all purpose 3/8 oz jig>>>all purpose Beaver bait>>>Heavy flipping Squarebill cranbait...KVD 1.5 is high on my list Spook>>>Best Topwater that I know of. Lake/pond/river Alabama River or Coosa River. They are close to home and offer a lot of options to fish however you feel like.

If you are really hard up on money, you can visit Wal Mart and get one of those $3 rolls of line. They don't hold up well over a number of days. But for leader work, they will work just fine. I have done a lot of catfishing using those cheap rolls as my leader line and I don't have any trouble. Justin Mott

Honestly, a number of guys in my area can only fish on certain days. Rain is not going to stop us when we have one goal: to get out on the water. I have fished in what felt like hurricane conditions before. I'm not saying that its for everyone but its what we do around here. Justin Mott

We fish tournaments that range from $1000-$8000. The charity tournaments are typically $1000 pay outs while the big tournament trails are $6000 with the classic being $8000. I haven't seen a tournament that pays below a thousand unless they base the pay off of the number of boats.

I haven't been on this side of the forum in awhile. Not since I used to be on Bassresource, but yall always come up with the best ideas. I will be trying to egg beater idea soon.

I can't say for sure exactly how my fishing has progressed since the methods I use have stayed relatively the same with a few nice additions. I have just recently came back to the site as my fishing has picked back up and of course this is the best resource for information that you can find anywhere. There is always somebody that has a useful technique or style to pick up. The articles are also the best I have ever picked through. Honestly, I have taken a stronger hold on a great technique this year and added another technique recently that I wouldn't typically use. It seems like each year I add a strong presentation for a specific season and situation that gives me a chance to win an extra tournament. I still have a few things on the list that I want to learn more about but I'm happy with how this year has came along. Justin Mott

I've had the same favorite lures from almost the start of my fishing days. My dad has been tournament fishing from well before I was born. So when it was time that I could handle a tournament, I naturally picked up his techniques. Since then, I have held those same baits as my favorites and I won't hestiate to use them no matter the conditions. I've added a few layers and techniques to help during specific times of the year, but my favorites have stayed the same and may always be that way. Justin Mott

I honestly can't visit a lake without making a plan. I am generally visiting a lake to practice for a tournament or to fish one, so I try to spend my time as efficiently as possible. I'll get a general idea of how the lake typically fishes, fish size, what kind of cover , water color, etc. I also get a map and based on time of year and also various areas that just look fishy, I will plan out the areas that I think are worth a look with a red marker. I don't deviate from the standard lures that I will be throwing much. I'm looking to catch my fish, not someone else's. But I will select a size and color that fits the lakes better. After that, I will spend my first day on the lake following the plan and trying to find a pattern. I believe the time spend developing a game plan helps me stay focused. I fish fast and cover a ton of water in a days time. If I didn't have a map saying to go here next and then there, I could sputter out and get confused on where to go next. When I was first branching out on my own, I hit this problem more times than not. People would give me advice and say that the fish are here but I couldn't catch them but didn't know where to go after that. As my frustration grew, my focus grew. I started studying and asking for advice. it didn't take long before my dad to just say, "You need to plan more." So now I plan for more areas than I can truly fish in a days time so that I will never not have somewhere to go and can stay on pace. Justin Mott

I'm very similary to Geo G's post. I would get a little closer and and work more parallel. I also have to slow down just a tad bit more than I do with a partner to hit places that I would normally leave for my partner. If I were you and I'm guessing that you are fairly new to bass fishing or learning a new area or technique, try tying on the baits that you like and what your partner throws and run with that. I like to have a bait to fish on top, middle, and bottom...but I rarely use the bottom bait for anything more than flipping into cover. I feel like with a rotation of a spook, crankbait, and a beaver bait you can't go wrong. The next thing I'd suggest is to cover plenty of water. I'm not saying that you should have the trolling motor on high but more like a comfortable pace where you are casting to something new atleast very 3 casts. I hold the train of thought that bass are easy to catch once you find them. They are just hard to find. So we need to fish more areas to have more success. Justin Mott

It always amazed me what you will find that can cut through the skin while fishing from the bank or wading a creek. I remember getting a tack in my shoe 45 miles from the nearest town 3 miles up a creek. You just wander how things get there and why. Justin Mott

Hey Guys, I had a big tournament today and even though it was a tough tournament, I got to learn a great lesson for late summer conditions. Just to get everyone caught up on my little world of fishing. I spent monday, tuesday, and wednesday morning practicing for a major tournament on our river. The first two days of practice was terrible. I caught 3 3lbers in the first two days and that was my only keepers. I had spent those two days running river banks and backwater areas looking for some type of pattern that the fish might be using with the river being a little low and no current what so ever. I failed. lol On wednesday, I took a guess at the fish being suspended in the river and figured topwater could draw them up with a little luck. Well I had that luck and caught a 17 pound limit. Given that fishing is a game of taking guesses, I said that I will put the bank on this type of fishing and let the chips fall where they may. I thought that "if things went right" we could catch a few 4 pounders early and then work hard the rest of the day and catch enough 3 lbers to put together a solid limit. well the tournament days comes and we start the day off running strong. On the second stop, I hook a 3-4 lb bass and he pulls off. What can you do but shrug it off and keep working? So believing that we had the right plan even more, we press on, but end up not catching a solid bass for the rest of the morning. We go into our "search mode" to try to redefine a pattern and catch a few 2 lbers in 6-8' of water but thats not the quality that we are looking for. So we give the shallows a hard run. Sure enough, I have a big girl react the my spinnerbait falling on her head but she doesn't hook up. She didn't want it but didn't like it in her face. We continue to push hard and miss a few ofter fish reacting to other baits but we can't put together a method of actually catching these good fish and the bites are so few and far between that luck and time wasn't on our side. We ended the day and the tournament completely out of range to even compete. 16 lbs won. The comforting side of this deal was that we were in the right areas to catch close to that and give a good showing. but the lost fish were tough. The real kicker to me was that we decided to fish back to the dock. While testing a few other presentations, I catch a 4 lber. She ate it deep. A whole nother level of excitement hit us as we came away thinking that we were in the right areas and that we had a presentation that might of caused a few of our misses to connect. Sure we still would of lost the early bites and that we could just be giving ourselves so false hope. But in my mind, we will be on the right starting path come the next tournament this time of year. So tough tournament but great lesson, Justin

I can't say that I have but Dwights PBs is simply amazing to me. I give you mad props for that kind of accomplishment.

I follow what he is trying to say. He wants to know have you ever had a day that was amazing even though the conditions made it seem like the day was going to suck. Or have you caught fish in such a way that you couldn't believe it. If I'm right about this, then yes I have seen it happen a number of times. I have learned a few really great techniques from these types of days. My favorite technique came while just playing around and being funny. 20 lbs later, I had a new technique that has helped me consistently catch many big bass. Honestly I think the ones that surprise me the most is when I can catch fish up high on a spinnerbait on blue bird sky days. The conditions and typical thought process says that we should be working the bottom and slower but during certain times of the year this is a go to thing for me and it always turns into an amazing day. Justin Mott

I'm with you on grabbing the worm and keep plugging that bank. I don't throw worms very often but the idea of leaning on your strengths suits my style well. We all are going to see those tough days where the bass aren't interested in us. When they happens, I tie on the baits that I want to throw. I forget the 100 different ideas that might work and throw what I know works for me. I'm not knocking everyone's ideas earlier. Those techniques I'm sure works wonders for them. But its hard to have a ton of confidence in other peoples techniques without seeing them work. No those truly tough days, we have do dig our heels in and keep pounding away like we have no sense in our head. And odds are, the most persistent angler will eventually catch them. The sad part is that is takes working your butt off and being mentally tough. Justin Mott

Burnout is natural. Its almost like the tide. Its comes in and it goes out. Everybody experiences it. What you have to realize that it is telling you that should be focusing on something else. Not that you should forget about fishing for the time being but that your mind is telling you that it is time to grow in a different area. Maybe you are supposed to be blowing a little money on that wife of yours, such as date nights or roses. Or maybe you have some other stuff around the house, friends, or work that you should be catching up on. What I am saying is don't fret about about it. Follow the direction that you mind is telling you to go. Before long, you are going to come full circle and be right back on the fishing train. I've been through a few of these myself. Justin Mott

I fish an average of 8-10 hours when I go fishing. I'm always fishing with my dad or brother in law so the extra rod comes in handy. We average around 15 bass in a days time. There are times where that number could be 5 bass a day. During the summer things get tough in Alabama. But during other times, 30 fish a day isn't that tough if you want to catch that many. The spring and fall can be unreal. We focus on catching tournament grade fish so we aren't focused on simply catching as many fish as possible. But I have heard about guys that can catch 100 fish a day. Of course most of them are babies, but that it still impressive to me. A lot of people's numbers will depend on what they are aiming to do as I'm sure you'll see. Justin Mott

Great Catch! I imagine you'll have many more coming to you whether you are targetting them or not. Justin Mott

This year has been an up and down year but definately a good year. We started off the year with a 3rd place finish and then dropped a bomb and caught 1 fish in the next tournament. Then we lost the fish to push a top five for two in a row before winning one and having two 3rd places finishes in other tournaments that we fished. Given the size of the tournaments (100 boats) we couldn't of asked for more. We had plenty of good luck on our side to finish as well as we did and of course the bad luck of losing so many fish that could of pushed us to a few more higher finishes. To be honest, even with the ups and downs, we have to consider this year a blessing because we didn't have the time or money to practice for any tournaments. We used our methods to the best of our ability and proved to ourselves that we could compete in such as crowd. Justin Mott

I love to fish a spinnerbait. I feel like my level of focus increases while my level of stress decreases. I know that I will catch something given enough time. Justin Mott

Its hard for me to say that my tackle box is complete. Not because I think I need to add X lure or Y bait. But becaus I'd love to have about 20 more of my favorite baits. I came to a realization a few years back that I was never going to learn how to be proficient at every lure that is marketed. I simply don't have the extra money and time on the water. So I have focused my efforts away from learning everything to becoming as good as I can be with just a few baits. So is my tackle box complete Not even close but it has all the baits that I need in it. I just need more of them. Justin Mott