Asking The Right Questions

[WookieeJedi]

I went out yesterday with my 10 y/o, trying to get him in on some of that frog bite I had going just a few days ago. The full moon and some cooler weather had them a little off, but we still were getting some good strikes, and some good fish were still in there. We worked all day around this litle "island" of cypress and brush with the creek channel splitting around it. This one guy came up with a very shiny new bass rig and asks if I am doing any good. I just pulled the stringer out and showed him. Then he starts in with the questions. What kind of frog is that? Are you moving it fast or slow? Blah, blah, blah. All the while, he's running his trolling motor fast around the island, fishing the same water we were on all day. He made about two laps around it in less than a half-hour. While he was running around like that, we didn't get a strike. Finally, he gave up, and ran down the lake. 15 minutes later, the bite picked up again. He asked me a lot of questions, except for the most important one: "How long have you been fishing this spot?" Seriously, he could have gone to the next little island, dropped his power-pole, and caught a few fish. Sometimes you just have to slow down. And don't get frustrated by a guy in a $300 canoe whacking them while you struggle in a $40,000 bass rig. That monthly payment must suck...

Rant complete.

[Michael DiNardo]

Good job Wook, I love it.

Mike

[Raul]

This anecdote brings back the memory of a trip to Zimapán a couple of years ago, I launched " LaTinAsesina" ( trans: the killer bathub ), put on the massive 6.5 Hp outboard, added the seats, the 30 lb TM, the fishfinder, the cooler, my s*t, my friend Rigo´s s*t and ourselves, right next to us there was this beautiful fully rigged Ranger Z22, big injun on the back ( 250 - 300 ? ), so I fired up the engine and proceeded to move to a spot I located on a previous trip, took me about 10 min to get there, dropped the anchors and began casting, after a few casts I got my first fish and so did Rigo, then the Ranger passed cruising at warp speed ( warp 5 ... maybe 6 ), we continued fishing for about half an hour and then the guy in the Ranger passed again ... at warp speed, to make the story short, while we were there the guy passed 2 times more; later we moved to another spot and I saw him passing again twice; at the end of the day we met him at the dock just to hear him complain how BAD the bite was asked us how we did, I looked at him and just couldn´t resist the temptation:

"Dude, you would have caught a lot more fish if instead of running up and down the lake like mad, all you had to do is to slow down and milk the spots, but of course you ´wouldn´t be able to find any spots cruising at warp speed, How we did ?, we did fine, between him ( Rigo ) and I must have caught over 50 fish each "

[Bassn Blvd]

Maybe he was brand new to fishing and just retired. Perhaps he always wanted a nice boat and but could never afford one until retirement.

Did you take the time to give him a few tips on how and where to fish. Did you introduce him to Bassresource?

[Big-O]

Nice post and IMO, you're absolutely correct on all fronts! You were cordial answering his questions after he probably gets closer than he should've, and you kept your cool allowing things to settle catching more fish.

Although I fish 99% of the time from a big rig, my style of "slow as you go" is also one of my biggest assets. Believe it or not, I still fish from tube floats, small single or two man crafts etc. and I for sure realize the true benefit of working any given peice of water completely... that's the way you find the spot within the spot.

The biggest problem with this style is when the SPEED RACERS see you picking apart any given area for an extended length of time, they always have to investigate and grab a mark... I often move sooner than I would like in those cases.

Recently while fishing on a Friday, the lake was packed and there were 11 boats scowling around one of my favorite areas so I avoided it most of the day. Late that evening when I eased past it again and the crowd was down to 6 boats. I told my fishing partner that I would try to slide in, hit a few fish inconspicuously - lol, then head to the ramp. Several other boats scooted by and others were leaving the area going in for the evening. All had been trolling back and forth on the shallow shorelines. Where I was headed, was spot where the boat was in 45ft throwing to 18 and hold the boat there to fish a ledge no longer than 30 yrds. After 5 minutes of goofing around like we were just killing time, I got the position and angle right. We landed 4 fish up to 8lbs in 7 casts, losing one big fish that pulled off while still deep... and all without making a sound or anyone seeing. We eased out just like we came in. When we got to the ramp, a guy walks over and mentioned he saw me come off of plane way out there... then he said "It would have been alright for you to come on in, but there were so many boats around that no one was doing any good"

www.ragetail.com

[WookieeJedi]

Did you introduce him to Bassresource?

You know what, I never even thought of that. I'm such a noob here, that it never occurred to me. I'll probably see him on the main lake when the hybrids start schooling, nobody can resist that. If I get to talk to him, I'll send him this way. He was younger than me (I'm 44) and he had all the brand name stuff. The kind of guy who wears the G Loomis hat AND has the rods.

I gave him all the advice he asked for, and even tossed my frog over by his boat so he could match color and size. I think it would have felt a little weird telling him his entire approach to the sport is off. I don't mind answering questions, but don't want to get too bossy, everyone has a different style. I even put a fishing report for this lake on LA Sportsman forums. I only have one secret spot on the whole lake, I'll put people on any of the others in a heartbeat.

The area I was in is about 350 acres of shallow flat with those little cypress brush islands all around it. I picked the best one because I already knew which one I wanted, and got there for sunup. While the one I was on is the best one, I know the other ones hold fish too, just not as many. It is a great spot, out of the wind, good scenery, and all the snakes you want for free. Did I mention it was only 1/4 mile from the launch? We had the place to ourselves until we left at one o'clock.

[Dinky]

"Guns don't kill people...." Ooops wrong topic-- start over:

"Boats don't catch fish, fisherpersons catch fish" (with apologies to Issac Walton).

Although I understand why a pro fisherman might sometimes use a "run & gun" strategy in a tournament, I agree that slow and deliberate is much more productive and enjoyable.