Secret/tips To Success

[loodkop]

When I started I was told by a wise old angler to keep my mouth shut and my ears open if I wanted to learn anything. I have modified this by adding " ask good questions". One of the many reasons I enjoy this forum is the opportunity to " listen/read" so many experienced anglers and receive quality answers to my questions.

[DelfiBoyz_One_and_Only]

When I started I was told by a wise old angler to keep my mouth shut and my ears open if I wanted to learn anything. I have modified this by adding " ask good questions". One of the many reasons I enjoy this forum is the opportunity to " listen/read" so many experienced anglers and receive quality answers to my questions.

Come on loodkop!  BR is the secret I wasn't going to tell anyone about!  That is the all time untold secret! shhhh

 

Jay-

[ColdSVT]

two things

first accuracy with my casts. I was lucky enough to fish with a two time classic qualifier and he outfished me four to ome with the same bait and presentation. the only difference was his casts were right on the money where as mine were six to twelve inches off.

second, I learned if you know there should be a fish in a certain place cast in there until you tick it off enough to bite. I have thrown into a spot up to ten times before I got that fish to eat!

[PABASS]

Ask questions, Bill Dance always told us to ask questions and I do and it normally pays off. I am fishing allot of new waters lately and asking questions, depth, lure type or lure, color has helped me produce fish.

[Mike L]

 Just a few I thought of...

*Clean your hands after touching anything that will get transferred to your soft plastics...

* Shutdown the big motor way before you reach where you want to fish and coast in...

* Keep the trolling motor on, especially in real skinny water if you can. Constantly turning on and off can spook em...

* If fishing from a boat without a carpet, be real carefull about dropping things...

* Scent is not only for soft plastics...

* Don't be afraid to retie often, (I allways retie after the 3 rd catch)

* Always have a bottle [not a can] of Sprite or 7 Up with you, to stop bleeding if a fish is gut hooked.

* Have plenty of ice on board for the live well...

 

 

Mike

[Tuckahoe Joe]

 Just a few I thought of...

*Clean your hands after touching anything that will get transferred to your soft plastics...

* Shutdown the big motor way before you reach where you want to fish and coast in...

* Keep the trolling motor on, especially in real skinny water if you can. Constantly turning on and off can spook em...

* If fishing from a boat without a carpet, be real carefull about dropping things...

* Scent is not only for soft plastics...

* Don't be afraid to retie often, (I allways retie after the 3 rd catch)

* Always have a bottle [not a can] of Sprite or 7 Up with you, to stop bleeding if a fish is gut hooked.

* Have plenty of ice on board for the live well...

 

 

Mike

Interesting...never heard that before.  How does that work?

[Mike L]

Interesting...never heard that before.  How does that work?

 

If the fish is bleeding, just pour a little down it's throut. The citrus acid act's as a clotting agent and will stop the bleeding.

 

 

 

Mike

[WRB]

Sure-Life's Please Release Me is formulated to stop bleeding without further harming the basses soft tissue or gills.

Tom

[Bluebasser86]

Don't be lazy. It's that time you decide your knot is "good enough" hook is "sharp enough" or cast was "close enough" that you'll miss out on the fish of a lifetime. Never stop tinkering, I'm always looking for a better mousetrap. 

[Loop_Dad]

 Just a few I thought of...

*Clean your hands after touching anything that will get transferred to your soft plastics...

* Shutdown the big motor way before you reach where you want to fish and coast in...

* Keep the trolling motor on, especially in real skinny water if you can. Constantly turning on and off can spook em...

* If fishing from a boat without a carpet, be real carefull about dropping things...

* Scent is not only for soft plastics...

* Don't be afraid to retie often, (I allways retie after the 3 rd catch)

* Always have a bottle [not a can] of Sprite or 7 Up with you, to stop bleeding if a fish is gut hooked.

* Have plenty of ice on board for the live well...

 

 

Mike

 

Hey Mike, I too find this interesting...never heard of...And why a can does not do the job?

[Bluebasser86]

Hey Mike, I too find this interesting...never heard of...And why a can does not do the job?

The citric acid causes the blood vessels to contract, stopping the bleeding. A can would do the job, but they're a lot harder to seal back up and use again 

[Mike L]

The citric acid causes the blood vessels to contract, stopping the bleeding. A can would do the job, but they're a lot harder to seal back up and use again 

 

Yep, Thanks Blue

 

 

 

Mike

[SmokeRise1]

From a few different articles I've read, this soda/citric acid trick is not true.  Just dropping the injured bass back in the lake is supposed to be better for it than keeping it out of the water and dumping sugarwater down it's throat.  Anyone have scientific info on this?

[flippin and pitchin]

The greatest ability an angler has is to process information and apply knowledge while on the water.

 

Have options and don't limit yourself or put yourself in a box.

 

90 percent of the fish are in 10 percent of the water.  Find that location (ZONE) even if it takes 7 of your 8 hour day. That one hour may be the fishing experience of a life time.

 

Never find yourself competing against another angler.

 

It's possible to have too much stuff and actually impede your choices.

 

If you don't ask the question, you may never get the answer.

 

Most 5 pounders are generally about 3 3/4.

[Dwight Hottle]

Always fish with your best mojo, ie fish with an attitude, be aggresive, think.

Fish big fish water if you want to improve your chances of catching big fish.

When your not catching move or do something different to get your mojo back. Have a plan B, plan C etc.  

Learn to master a specific technique and then add some more. Don't be a one horse pony.  

Study the guys on bass resource that share their techniques & spend their time helping others. You all know who they are.

Lastly put in the time to get better. It will happen.

[Mr_Scrogg]

My secret/tip......

Enjoy your time on the water. The second you stop having fun, it becomes work.

[Highhawk1948]

Finess Fishing/Charlie Brewer Sliders when nothing else works.

[Bankbeater]

Slow down and look around.  I don't mean fishing, I mean in the boat.  You might be passing a small cove or piece of structure that is holding some hawgs, and not even know it.

[Sam]

Like the couple from Mississippi visiting New York City and asking a local how to get to Carneigh Hall.

 

The local replied, "Practice, practice, practice."

[Sam]

Work your spooks to the cadence of "Jesus loves me". Courtesy of flukemaster.

 

Bankbeater, a number of years ago on Lake Gaston we encountered a big thunderstorm during one of our club tournaments and the guy who won the tournament told us that he pulled into a cove to get out of the rough water and caught his five fish limit within a half hour.

 

He also stated that had the weather been nice he would have passed up that cove and that he had never fished it in the past.

 

Go figure?

[Topwaterspook]

Fish into the wind.

[Downeaster2010]

I started to bass fish when it was in it infancy in New England.  At that time we used some selected top water baits, and WORMS.

The club I belonged to all fished worms to a high degree of effectiveness.  We were all really experts with the worm.  One friend

fished an 8 in Manns worm like we do the Senko's now.  He won a lot of tournaments.  He simply put the hook through the belly

and out.  The worm had a slower fall.  Consequently with a 6,7, or 8 inch we all adapted to using that method in open water. In

the brush we still used Texas rig.  Over grass or thick veg, we used no weight, but Texas rigged.  I was out yesterday while a lot

of other boats near me were having trouble putting fish in the boat.  I would have had over 20 lbs at the scale if in a tournament.

And that was just the morning.

 

Tips:

 

Don't just assume hooks are sharp out of the package.  If not sure put a stone to them.  I resharpen all of mine, and keep them

seperate from the unsharpended ones.

 

Fish a light colored worm on a bright day, and a dark color on a dark day.

 

Always let the Jig or worm fall until it hits bottom.  Many people start to retrieve before the jig makes it to bottom.  If I am looking

at a great spot that should hold bass, I will cast a worm out and let it fall to bottom, and wait maybe a minute before I move it.  The

bass could be just over at the next stump, and returning to his hole.  Like above Patience is key here.  Fish no weight in shallow

water, and if deeper got to a 1/8 or even 3/8 weight.  I seldom use larger, because a 3/8 sinks pretty quick.  Remember the slower

it falls the better.  Only use 1/2 in in thick vegetation to get the worm through the top mat.

 

Almost any bass fisherman can fish open water, but it is another thing when you have heavy weeds or lilly pads.  Bass love them

because there are a lot of bait to feed on.  I will methodically fish a lilly pad area until I have caught what is there, or pretty sure

nothing else is in it.  From that point I pull slowly right into the pads, and methodically fish along where the pads are thick.  Most

fishermen will fish the outside, but miss fish in where it is thick.  They pass a lot of lunkers, and I catch them.  Grass is the same.

In the pads, and grass, cast out to visible holes or just beyond with your worm.  Work it back and drop it down in the holes.  Some

times those holes you see are slightly deeper, or have a piece of structure.  The worm is my preferred bait, but I have a lot of others

that I have total confidence in.  Don't get stuck on one bait.

 

The slower a bait falls the more chance you have that a bass will take your offering.  Bass like to hit when a bait is falling.  If you

miss or lose a good fish on lets say a black worm, recast with a purple or different color.  That fish you lost may not hit the black

again, but can be fooled with a purple, or different color.

 

If fishing is difficult, drop down in worm size or jig size, the bass might not want a large bait.

 

Move the boat along only when you are sure you have hit all prospects in the area.

 

If you fish a downed tree, start at the tip of the tree and work in, then move in on one side hitting everything up to the stump.

This way you don't spook a fish pulling one off the stump and there were four more out toward the tip that are now spooked.

 

When I fish with a partner, and one of us hooks up, the partner cast to the vicinity of the hooked fish, sometimes catching a

second fish following the first.  A lot of times you catch one fish and see 2 or 3 others following trying to get what he's got.

 

When working a shoreline, bring your partner up on the front with you.  One work the inside, and the other just a little

deeper, and maybe two different lures.

 

After the spawn, and water warms up bass will move to rock piles in the coves, then to offshore ledges.  Why is this.  It is

because the bait go, and the bass follow.  As you know there are always some fish to be caught shallow on shorelines, but

80 pct are on deep rock structure, or vertical inclines.  Of course deep is relative to where you live.  I have caught small

mouth bass in 80 feet of water, and largemouth in 40.  I don't recommend this deep unless desperate.

 

If you listen to a radio when fishing, and I do a lot.  Keep the deep pounding beats to a minimum, and light on the volume.

 

Learn to walk the dog.  A spook will catch big fish, and pull them out of 30 of water.  Plus its a blast.

 

Fish shade side of structure first.

[DelfiBoyz_One_and_Only]

I started to bass fish when it was in it infancy in New England.  At that time we used some selected top water baits, and WORMS.

The club I belonged to all fished worms to a high degree of effectiveness.  We were all really experts with the worm.  One friend

fished an 8 in Manns worm like we do the Senko's now.  He won a lot of tournaments.  He simply put the hook through the belly

and out.  The worm had a slower fall.  Consequently with a 6,7, or 8 inch we all adapted to using that method in open water. In

the brush we still used Texas rig.  Over grass or thick veg, we used no weight, but Texas rigged.  I was out yesterday while a lot

of other boats near me were having trouble putting fish in the boat.  I would have had over 20 lbs at the scale if in a tournament.

And that was just the morning.

 

Tips:

 

Don't just assume hooks are sharp out of the package.  If not sure put a stone to them.  I resharpen all of mine, and keep them

seperate from the unsharpended ones.

 

Fish a light colored worm on a bright day, and a dark color on a dark day.

 

Always let the Jig or worm fall until it hits bottom.  Many people start to retrieve before the jig makes it to bottom.  If I am looking

at a great spot that should hold bass, I will cast a worm out and let it fall to bottom, and wait maybe a minute before I move it.  The

bass could be just over at the next stump, and returning to his hole.  Like above Patience is key here.  Fish no weight in shallow

water, and if deeper got to a 1/8 or even 3/8 weight.  I seldom use larger, because a 3/8 sinks pretty quick.  Remember the slower

it falls the better.  Only use 1/2 in in thick vegetation to get the worm through the top mat.

 

Almost any bass fisherman can fish open water, but it is another thing when you have heavy weeds or lilly pads.  Bass love them

because there are a lot of bait to feed on.  I will methodically fish a lilly pad area until I have caught what is there, or pretty sure

nothing else is in it.  From that point I pull slowly right into the pads, and methodically fish along where the pads are thick.  Most

fishermen will fish the outside, but miss fish in where it is thick.  They pass a lot of lunkers, and I catch them.  Grass is the same.

In the pads, and grass, cast out to visible holes or just beyond with your worm.  Work it back and drop it down in the holes.  Some

times those holes you see are slightly deeper, or have a piece of structure.  The worm is my preferred bait, but I have a lot of others

that I have total confidence in.  Don't get stuck on one bait.

 

The slower a bait falls the more chance you have that a bass will take your offering.  Bass like to hit when a bait is falling.  If you

miss or lose a good fish on lets say a black worm, recast with a purple or different color.  That fish you lost may not hit the black

again, but can be fooled with a purple, or different color.

 

If fishing is difficult, drop down in worm size or jig size, the bass might not want a large bait.

 

Move the boat along only when you are sure you have hit all prospects in the area.

 

If you fish a downed tree, start at the tip of the tree and work in, then move in on one side hitting everything up to the stump.

This way you don't spook a fish pulling one off the stump and there were four more out toward the tip that are now spooked.

 

When I fish with a partner, and one of us hooks up, the partner cast to the vicinity of the hooked fish, sometimes catching a

second fish following the first.  A lot of times you catch one fish and see 2 or 3 others following trying to get what he's got.

 

When working a shoreline, bring your partner up on the front with you.  One work the inside, and the other just a little

deeper, and maybe two different lures.

 

After the spawn, and water warms up bass will move to rock piles in the coves, then to offshore ledges.  Why is this.  It is

because the bait go, and the bass follow.  As you know there are always some fish to be caught shallow on shorelines, but

80 pct are on deep rock structure, or vertical inclines.  Of course deep is relative to where you live.  I have caught small

mouth bass in 80 feet of water, and largemouth in 40.  I don't recommend this deep unless desperate.

 

If you listen to a radio when fishing, and I do a lot.  Keep the deep pounding beats to a minimum, and light on the volume.

 

Learn to walk the dog.  A spook will catch big fish, and pull them out of 30 of water.  Plus its a blast.

 

Fish shade side of structure first.

Good stuff my friend, good stuff.

Jay

[Deleted account]

Work your spooks to the cadence of "Jesus loves me". Courtesy of flukemaster.

Working different lures to Zeppelin songs works for me, now if I could only learn to work a Rico backwards...

[Tuckahoe Joe]

If you mess up a cast, fish it like you meant to do it.  There's been quite a few times where I made an off target cast or clipped something while casting and didn't get much distance or after pulling myself out a tree and still gotten bit on the retrieve.  So even if you blow a cast, fish it like you mean it.