Random Thoughts While Shaving #2

[Catt]

I read on here dozens of times anglers who say "when fun fishing I use this tackle but when I'm tournament fishing I breakout the good stuff".

Or ever more astounding "I fish for 5 keepers first and then go in search of a Kicker"!

I can not understand this mind set!

I don't care if its taking the kids out or fishing a Bass Champs tournament I hit the water with the same mind set.

Catch the biggest fish in the area

[Bass Dude]

I like when the pros say "now I can go out and swing for the fence." So otherwise they would have gone out and only fished for keepers, not the big fish!

[LgMouthGambler]

Some days its just tough fishing, so you always want to try and get limit first. Once you can say I have 5 alive, or whatever limit is, then you can concentrate on that tedius flipping and pitching and jigging for the mule in the grass.

[retiredbosn]

I never turn my live well on, don't worry about numbers or weight, but I don't tourney fish either, just out there to clear my mind and have a good time.

[Sfritr]

go big or go home..........

[Catt]

My mind set is regardless if I'm fishing with my grandkids, tournament buddies, or alone FULL THROTTLE!

I never go fishing with the intentions of catching small so I never hold back tackle or myself.

[Nitrofreak]

There is never a time when I fish, regardless if I am by myself or with family or friends, that I don't go for broke.

Although when fishing with family it does have a tendency to try your patience...I think those are the times when fishing becomes even more challenging, at least for me, I will put my rod down and teach my family, huh funny thing is that it's the wife that is not willing to learn, my 2 daughters love to learn...I don't get it.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

I would not ever hold anything back but I fish to catch fish, period. I don't have a mind set of size. I would much rather catch a small dinky fish instead of trying to catch a big one all day and coming up empty handed.

As far as the 5 keepers and then kicker mentality you have to remember that those guys get paid by fish weighed in on the scale.

I've seen plenty of people get paid by having small fish at weigh in, but have yet to see anyone get paid for not catching anything.

[Diablos]

I just hope to catch some fish.

[J Francho]

About the only thing I leave behind when in a tournament are the swimbaits. It's not really because I don't think I could catch a winning limit with them, it's just I don't know enough about using them to be as confident as I am with other baits. I do hear guys say, "alright, I got a limit, now I can upgrade!" and A LOT. I never got it either. I catch a keeper rat, and I'm saying, "I hope you don't spend much time in the livewell." All the fish caught are a gift, even the dinks. I guess I don't make much out of fun/rec fishing and tournament fishing. If it isn't a tournament, I might intentionally cross my buddy's line, or throw a dink at him. But really, the only difference is where the five biggest fish go, and when I break out the camera for snaps. Fun/rec, we take pics as we catch them, and toss them back. Tournaments, wait until the weigh in for pics.

[Dwight Hottle]

Trophy hunting is where it's at for me. While i'm chasing a big girl the smaller ones always keep the line tight. I just don't target them.

[Bassn Blvd]

My tackle remains the same if I'm fishing for fun or a tourny. Why practice with something you're not going to use during game time?

Fishing for fun is my practice time for a tourny.

[B@ssCrzy]

I am trying for consistency and hope that I run into one of the big ones. As I get better I hope to put myself in a better place to consistently catch the big ones.

[Sam]

Well Catt, good insight but let me add the following.

When in a tournament it is imperative that you have the maximum number of keepers to weigh in. Once you attain that you can "swing for the fences" and go for the big ladies.

As for using less brand tackle when fishing for fun, I do this so I don't take the chance on breaking or losing my high end rods and reels. I use a BPS rod with Shimano Sedona 2500 reels. Works out nice for me and I don't worry about breaking off a tip or a rod in half (both have happened to my high end rods when fun fishing in the past).

As for not trying to catch the biggest fish around, we all always try to do this.

At the private pond in Maryland I caught one of the four pound ladies with a Rooster Tail on an ultra light rod. Talk about fun landing that lady. Lucky for me she hit the Rooster Tail right by me feet and I could scoop her up easily.

Take care and I look forward to more of your insightful and informative posts.

[200racing]

i enjoy catching fish period. so if a see a pack of dinks or bream ill bust out the light rod with a small baits or my fly rod and have a ball.

i would never waste tournament time doing that.

as far cheap/practice vs. expensive/tournament.

all my lures are on the cheaper end,so i dont any top-shelf stuff to save.

[Hooligan]

My mind set is regardless if I'm fishing with my grandkids, tournament buddies, or alone FULL THROTTLE!

I never go fishing with the intentions of catching small so I never hold back tackle or myself.

That's some of what was in my question in "that other thread". I can't understand why anyone, at any point, wouldn't go at it full force. Regardless of if it is for enjoyment or for money. If you're going to enjoy it, enjoy it to THE MAX, not just half way.

If I go fun fish, as stated previously, it's most often to learn more about a specific lake. I'm not going to goof around, I'm going to go all out.

In a tournament, it's imperative to have a limit to weigh, yes. However, it's also the mentality that I'm fishing for five good bites versus fishing for one at a time; see the difference? There are those that fish for one at a time, and that's what they get. One. Fish for five solid, then four, then three.. Keep that at the forefront. I NEVER go into a tournament fishing for a small limit. Never. It's counter-productive and it's simply not going to keep you on your max game.

[Lund Explorer]

Random thoughts that are a tad different.

One group I fished tournaments with gave you placement points if you weighed in fish and a goose egg if you didn't catch anything. On lakes that I didn't fish very often, hadn't had the chance to find a winning pattern, or I just didn't like, I would target any keeper I could to simply get some points towards making the classic.

While I never started out with the goal of weighing in a limit of dinks, there were times when the pattern I thought would work flopped. Pounding easy docks for a limit sometimes still put me in the money.

Even when I was catching decent keepers, I've come to the point where catching 50 fish that all weigh 3 lbs doesn't advance you up the leader board. So I can honestly say that on those days I went looking for a kicker. That usually meant a change in location and baits to areas that may have held large fish, just very few of them. Odds were that I couldn't catch more than the 15 lbs I already had, but one 5 lb bite bumped me to a more respectable 17 lbs.

Finally, I found that there were certain non tournament days when a kicked back style on my part was the way to go. It may have been the chance to put the wife or kid's success in front of my own. Sometimes, it was just to have fun. If you think about it, that's probably why we all started fishing to begin with. It was the same way with golfing. Even though there was a time when I carried a 2 handicap, I was still up for a day when the only clubs I carried for an entire round was my 7-Iron and a putter. My point is, that the quickest way to turn a hobby into a job is to treat it that way. Slow down, take time to enjoy the simple things!

[Catt]

When I go out far a day of fun fishing I'm still making all my preparations the exact way I would if I were fishing a Bass Champs tournament. I never head out with the hopes of randomly running into fish!

The same goes for tackle, all I own is my tournament tackle!

When I go fishing it is 110% or not at all

[BrianinMD]

Starting the day in a tourney it depends on the place and weather whether I go for larger fish or not. If the place the tourney is being held is not known for large bags, or the weather has messed things up I will target getting 5 keepers in the boat. Other places you know going in it will take big weights to win so I fish accordingly.

Tackle is the same between fun fishing and tourney time. The more time you use something the better you get at it.

[Lund Explorer]

When I go out far a day of fun fishing I'm still making all my preparations the exact way I would if I were fishing a Bass Champs tournament. I never head out with the hopes of randomly running into fish!

The same goes for tackle, all I own is my tournament tackle!

When I go fishing it is 110% or not at all

You're lucky Catt. I'd like to explain a little further why I'm dancing to a slightly different beat.

I have discussed on here before about my long time friend and fishing partner Mike and how he lost his battle with ALS. One story I have never shared was the last chance we had to fish a tournament together. It was the annual fishoff for a 30 boat club we belonged to. You didn't need to catch fish, place in the money, or anything other than to enter into five of the eight regular tournaments to qualify for this tournament.

In the years prior to Mike getting sick, he and I would fish all eight tournaments and then look forward to fishing the fishoff regardless of where it was. We actually had the somewhat funny distinction of always finishing in 4th place. Something like five years in a row. It got to the point where the tournament director would offer to give us the trophy and prize money for that place prior to blast off!

The last year we fished tournaments, things had changed. A couple of tournaments that involved long drives or lakes Mike didn't like, we didn't bother to fish. He even used a substitute in the last tournament of the year so we would have our five tournament requirement. That year's fishoff was on Muskegon Lake which was a rivermouth lake just off of Lake Michigan. Over the years, the lake had gone from a very good smallmouth lake to one that had few smallies and primarily largemouth. Mike Loved Smallies!

The morning of the tournament, I picked him up at his house and we began the 1 1/2 hour drive to the lake. As we drove to the west, I could tell he wasn't into the trip. Twenty minutes from his house we had crossed the Muskegon River. The same river that fed the lake we were headed to, but still had the distinction of being good smallmouth water. As we crossed the bridge he kind of groaned that he wished the tournament was being held there. He complained about how much he hated fishing for those darn green fish. Another twenty minutes or so down the road we came to an intersection where turning to the right would put us on the road heading straight west to the lake. I turned left, which just so happened to lead us right back to the river.

When Mike asked me what the heck I was doing, I told him I was going fishing. I was going fishing with my best friend at a place where he wanted to be. We didn't catch a lot of fish that day, but they were all brown. While we still had the chance to fish quite a few times after that, Mike and I never fished in another tournament together. The last few times we got on the water we didn't even fish that hard, we just went fishing.

The day I turned that truck to the left, I quit being a full throttle fisherman. I can understand why so many guys attack the sport the way they do, I just wanted you to know why some of us don't.

Edit: I should add that for these last few years that I only fish one tournament each year. It is a memorial tournament held in Mike's name to raise funds for ALS research and it is held on that same river at the same launch. It is a day that I spend going 110% in celebrating his friendship.

[Catt]

Believe me I am not a Run-N-Gun angler, I am one of the most laid back anglers y'all will ever meet. Most of y'all would get bored with my slow methodical approach to bass fishing.

If for instance I were to take the family out this coming Saturday I would still study the weather 3 days prior to and after Saturday. When we arrived at lake I would still take into consideration all factors than would help to make it a productive trip.

You there is nothing less than 110% effort on my part

[J Francho]

The day I turned that truck to the left, I quit being a full throttle fisherman. I can understand why so many guys attack the sport the way they do, I just wanted you to know why some of us don't.

Ummm, it sounds like you attacked the sport of fishing fine that day. Skipping a tournament to go smallie fishing IS full throttle.

[WookieeJedi]

I have never fished a tournament, but I can understand the mindset behind getting some fish in the box quickly. That's bound to do a lot for your confidence, and take some stress out of the equation. It would seem that fishing for fun involves an entirely different decision-making process. Last week, if I was fishing for pure weight, I never would have gone after those shallow fish with the frog, I would have targeted the post-spawn fish out in the creekbed. Those are plenty easy to catch and there's lots of them. The frog bite is usually less productive, but more exciting. As it turns out, I got into some big fish after all, but even if they had been dinks, there's no way I'm pulling off a frog bite to go fish a Carolina rig. Those fish will be there all summer, the good frog bite you only get once or twice a year.