My Head Is About To Explode

[georgeyew]

I just started fishing this year and I think that it is safe to say that I am pretty much hooked. But I am overwhelmed with all the information out there on the subject. I have read every article and watched every video on the site and my brain is about to explode. With all there is to learn about different types of lures, color, water clarity, depth, rods, reels, temperature, season, and on and on, it feels like an endless up hill battle.

I wish that I could just find one style of fishing that works for me in all seasons and just stick with it. Dang it, I just want to catch fish!

I truly have an admiration for those experienced anglers that had the patience to learn everything through time and experimenting. I have the benefit of reading and learning from everyone's experience, and I can't even keep up.

I hope that one day all of this info will come together and fit like puzzle pieces.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[roadwarrior]

Well then, just keep it simple. I fished when I was a boy, but lost interest for a couple of decades.

In 1997 I "discovered" the Senko. That lead to catching lots of good size bass and a few monsters!

The Senko brought me back into the sport. Surprisingly, I don't fish this bait much anymore, but

that's another story. This is my suggestion:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/13845-guaranteed-to-catch-bass/

[georgeyew]

Thanks. I have been fishing the senko. Sometimes if I go too long without a catch, I'm tempted to try something new. And that's when I start reading/researching and the cycle begins again....

I will try to stick with the senko and be more patient with it.

[Clint C.]

I've been watching shows and fishing since I was little. Still have a notebook full of notes from all of the fishing shows I watched when I was 8,9,10 years old etc. It's seems impossible to remember everything there is to know. The more you fish the more instinctive everything will get. My best lesson is if I get that "feeling" that I should be using this and throwing it there, do it. That feeling only comes with time though =0)

[Darren.]

Totally agree with RW on this. Think simple.

I've spent a lot of money over the years on multiple techniques. The technique I've settled on today is "finesse", as in lighter line, smaller baits. You can finesse a 2oz jig, but that's not what I'm talking about.

I don't fish tourneys, I fish because I love to. I learned that I didn't need an entire toolbox, or golf bag, of tools/clubs in order to enjoy the sport.

I primarily use two spinning rods and one baitcasting setup. I have more, but don't need or use them.

I catch fish. I use soft plastics because they work for me. You don't have to break the bank to enjoy the sport. When you see a dude on TV doing a dramatic hookset on an awesome baitcasting setup with a big ol' spinnerbait (etc), don't imagine that is you. Resist what we call the baitmonkey :-).

There are times I will even drop back to ultimate simplicity and fish long poles with no reel. Just a length of line, a slip float, hooks, and live worms.

[BassmanDan]

The best advice someone gave to me was to spend the majority of my time and effort figuring out where the bass (and their food) live in the waters you fish and why (channels, bottom-cover, prime points, etc.). You can simplify things with just a jig or some kind of plastic (like a senko). Then figuring out where the big fish's living room is in your lakes will make your confidence go sky-high.

[Nitrofreak]

Take into the concideration that you are reading what works all over this country, it does not work for everyone everywhere all the time, all of the information is ment to help you be a more succesful angler by knowing and sharing what all of us have found.

Quite often it is still the simplest things that still catch those stubborn little fish that drive us nutt's, you have already said you catch fish, but have trouble only on given days, the senko is a fish bait that will catch them on the most stubborn days there are, don't overthink, if you have a senko tied on just start simple, change the senko and fish it weightless, or add a small amount of weight and change your technique, pick it up off the bottom and let it sink again, fish it T-rigged, fish it wacky rigged, just play with what you have already and explore that bait to it's fullest potential, then look into other baits if you want to.

Get comfotable with fishing one bait and knowing what it can do for you before get overwhelmed, patience and lots of it !!!

[aavery2]

Fishing can be as easy as a cane pole a bobber and a bucket of worms, it can be as difficult as you want to make it. The great thing about it is that there is room for all of us, and as long as you are enjoying it, then you are doing it correctly.

Get in where you fit in.

[georgeyew]

Get comfotable with fishing one bait and knowing what it can do for you before get overwhelmed, patience and lots of it !!!

Thanks for the insight. Now there is the variable of different color of bait for different water clarity. But I think I have the basics on that: clear water = light color bait, muddy water = dark color bait....is that right?

[J Francho]

Spend more time on the water, and less time reading. Seriously. When you are faced with your own unique situations, and have questions, post them here. Then the reading material will be specific to your exact situation.

[roadwarrior]

On 11/20/2012 at 10:47 AM, georgeyew said:

Thanks for the insight. Now there is the variable of different color of bait for different water clarity. But I think I have the basics on that: clear water = light color bait, muddy water = dark color bait....is that right?

Or just your favorite colors all the time! Seriously, color comes into play occasionally, but it's low on the totem

pole in terms of importance. Take notice on any jig thread of all the "favorite colors". For example, I have just

recently started fishing PBJ jigs, but have friends on here that swear by them. OO Mod fishes black and blue

about 100% of the time!  Me? This year it's mostly been the Siebert Big O Football Jig/

Rage Tail Lobster (Falcon). However, my go-to is still a black jig w/ blue trailer...Old school!

Big O is more than just a bait designer, he is an artist. Go to the Rage Tail website and browse through all the

color combinations he has to offer. I like a bunch of them and I am sure you will find a few you will like, too. The

adventure begins...

Good luck!

[CoBass]

Fishing can be as easy as a cane pole a bobber and a bucket of worms, it can be as difficult as you want to make it. The great thing about it is that there is room for all of us, and as long as you are enjoying it, then you are doing it correctly.

Get in where you fit in.

Excellent advice. When I first started bass fishing I was using heavy gear because that's what I read and saw people on tv using. Where I live, a bass over 4 lbs is considered a really nice fish. I got bored dragging 2 lb fish in across the top of the water with the heavy gear and started going more with light and even ultralite set-ups. Made fishing a lot more fun actually having to fight a fish. I still have heavier gear that I use when I know there is a decent chance of catching 3+ lb fish but when I hit my local ponds for those 1-2 pounders I pretty much stick to the lighter tackle.

[1234567]

My advice for newcomers to fishing would be to start in a pond or canal. The main rule is to find fish. Well everyone says pond fishing is easy, mainly because in ponds, most times the fish are accessible or "findable". The great thing about this is that days crankbaits aren't working, time to tie on a jig or plastic or topwater, you get the point right? The main thing is, you know the fish are there and if one technique isn't working, it will force you to try and learn new ones or work hard for hours to get that one bite! Like others have said, just keep it simple, usually color selection can be limited to darker and lighter colors and I would leave it at that to start with for all your baits hard or soft. Fish where you can reach the fish for now and learn what you can with each technique and then apply that anywhere you go, but first find the fish!! Good luck!

[Tuckahoe Joe]

I just started this past year also. I agree its a lot to take in at first but I feel like Im getting the hang of it thanks to all the information Ive gained from people here as well as hitting the water as much as possible. Like others have said, first you have to find the fish. Then I'd say find a technique or maybe just a couple that you like and get really confident with them. Once have them down, move on to something else. As far as lure color goes, the general standard is lighter/more natural colors for clear water/weather and darker colors for muddy water/overcast days. But thats not really set in stone so you can always experiment with it. What really gets me is rods and reels. Theres so many different specs and brands and models to compare. But yeah, basically just fish as much as you can and when your not fishing, ask questions here and read up on the articles. It will all make sense with time.

[Shewillbemine]

I can relate because I'm an information *****. I read books, magazines, blogs, forums, threads and even instruction manuals.

But as people have said, nothing beats a day on the water with even a little bit of success. I've learned how to move my favorite crankbait to the point that I haven't been skunked on it yet (I just jinxed myself, I know).

Rest assured, your brain won't explode. Humans are awesome like that!

[Will Wetline]

Be patient, George. You can't absorb all this info in one season.

You may or may not have plenty of gear, but the first consideration is attitude: Get out there and enjoy yourself. Don't make yourself neurotic.

Experiment with different baits and presentations at a leisurely pace. You're always learning something even if it's what doesn't catch fish. It's about the journey. Enjoy being on the water. The fish will come as you pay the dues and will be all the more gratifying for having done so.

[SirSnookalot]

Spend more time on the water, and less time reading.

If you read nothing but this sentence you are ahead of the game. Books, videos and tv shows have but 1 purpose, that is to make money for the producers. Not that the information isn't good but so often it may not be pertinent to the kind of water you fish or your geographic area and I think most of it is catered towards the boat fisherman. To be honest I never read a book or viewed a DVD, and tv shows are edited to show you how easy it is, not how it actually is. What little I know comes from fishing a lot and just getting a feel for it, I always keep it simple.

[NBR]

You can read hundreds of books, watch hours of videos and movies, listen to dozens of coaches and other players but you still can't shoot free throws well until you stand on the line and put the ball in the air hundreds no thousands of times.

Fishing is much the same with the added challenge of a live cautious critter that has had something trying to eat him since he was an egg. Time on the water and trust your instincts. Which get better with time on the water added to your study.

[Topwaterspook]

Another simple bait you may try is a weightless sluggo. They are in my humble opinion , the easiest of the soft jerkbaits to rig straight on an offset hook. For some reason they have seemed to fall from favor over the years. When I first started using plastics, these were what gave me much confidence. Good luck to you and Happy Thanksgiving.

[A-Jay]

Be patient, George. You can't absorb all this info in one season.

You may or may not have plenty of gear, but the first consideration is attitude: Get out there and enjoy yourself. Don't make yourself neurotic.

Experiment with different baits and presentations at a leisurely pace. You're always learning something even if it's what doesn't catch fish. It's about the journey. Enjoy being on the water. The fish will come as you pay the dues and will be all the more gratifying for having done so.

X2 ~ Nicely put.

It IS all about attitude -

As you noted in your initial post "there is so much to learn about different types of lures, color, water clarity, depth, rods, reels, temperature, season, and on and on, it feels like an endless up hill battle"

And you're right - however - "It's the Journey Not the Destination".

You will never, ever, ever learn ALL there is to know - there's just too much.

And as time goes on, someday you might think you know a good bit, just to have the bass show you (quite definitively) that you do not.

However, when you combine your love of the sport with patience and a willingness to learn you will find that there is so much more to this than just "Catching Fish".

No One catches the big ones every trip out - so if you use that to determine if you've had a good day or not, you might be disappointed. Clearly the objective is catching bass but remember you're not doing it in a bubble.

The Great thing about fishing is that there are enough facets to it to last a man his entire lifetime- and then some.

A-Jay

[Nitrofreak]

Thanks for the insight. Now there is the variable of different color of bait for different water clarity. But I think I have the basics on that: clear water = light color bait, muddy water = dark color bait....is that right?

We can read books and try to gather all the information we want, but what do books really teach us when we get right down to it?

Theory right?

In theory that is the best equasion for colors, in theory everything that works for everyone else with the same circumstances you have should also work for you, but that is not always the case, yes you can take the lighter days, brighter colors, darker days, darker colors approach and it will work just fine, you are correct with the equasion.

But if you take that approach, you start to get into variables, for example, clear waters on a slightly overcast day, then what???

Keep it simple, Green pumpkin as a color for example, one of the best natural colors and most widely used colors on the planet imo, now lets take the Senko and start with the Green Pumpkin, you fish it one day and it's sunny out, you get several fish on it but the next day it's a little overcast and the fish bite it but not like they did yesterday, instead of changing baits completly and going to a black or darker color, all it may need is a little red flake to turn the bite on again.

Start with one bait, in a natural color would be my suggestion, buy that same bait with small changes to it like, red flakes, green flakes, added to it, just a small difference can make all the difference.

Learn to experiment with small changes first before you start changing baits and colors all together, take the time now that you have and profit from this and it will not confuse you so much later down the road, color choices for other baits will be more cost effective down the road as well as you start to build confidence and explore new techniques in the future.

Good luck and be safe !!!

[K_Mac]

Some very good advice here, as always. I will add my $.02. There is no substitute for time on the water, and spending some of that time with those who have already been there and done that can make a dramatic difference. Another simple suggestion that some just never get, is pay close attention to details. It is what separates the the guys who always seem to get it done from the rest IMO.

Once you have learned the basics, you will begin to discover that there are many ways to catch bass and that some of these will suit you better than others. Versatility is a wonderful and necessary thing, but knowing what you are good at and mastering those skills will make you one of those guys who always seem to get it done. Enjoy!

[quanjig]

Huntsman.......... There are no good fish in Huntsman!! Lol! I fish the lake a lot and have had some very nice fish from there. It is my own little test area, new lures, new techniques. You could do a lot worse than cutting your bass fishing teeth on that body of water! I usually have a lot of success around the dam area. The kep it simple mantra holds true on any lake around NOVA but don't be afraid to try new things and don't get discouraged if you don't catch fish. Everyone on this site is more than happy to give beginners tried and true advice when you need it. Good luck and we look forward on reports of how you progress as a bass addict!

[WRB]

Bass fishing should be fun, so you should use lures and a technique that you enjoy fishing with, not something someone else is skilled with.

I have a few questions before making any suggestions;

1. What type of rod and reel do you own?

2. Do you fish from shore or a boat?

3. What lures do you like to fish with?

Tom

[georgeyew]

Thanks to everyone for their advice and encouragement. I went out this morning in the cold and just stuck to the basics of using a senko worm and spinnerbait but came up empty. However, I realized that even with the disappointment of not catching anything, I still had fun out there. The anticipation of a large fish on every cast is a drug of its own. I'll keep chugging away and be patient.

Bass fishing should be fun, so you should use lures and a technique that you enjoy fishing with, not something someone else is skilled with.

I have a few questions before making any suggestions;

1. What type of rod and reel do you own? I have several sets: Okuma Tarvos/Trio, Gander Mtn Rod/Okuma Avenger, Daiwa fiberglassrod/US Reel SX810

2. Do you fish from shore or a boat? I do both, but mainly from the shore

3. What lures do you like to fish with? I really like the Senkos and starting to like the spinnerbaits

Tom