Hunting Fish

[macmichael]

When you hunt for fish how many do you catch before you consider that you found them?

[BigKev77]

Lol, Good question. Never really thought about that.

[Mattlures]

1

[SirSnookalot]

1

Pretty much agree.

 

I define hunting fish as trying spot them, then sight cast.  Blind casting into water you can't see IMO is not hunting fish, it's hoping to get lucky and I do that too sometimes.  I've been doing a lot of peacock fishing lately and only sight cast, I can walk a long way before I even make a cast, and only when I spot a fish.  I'm targeting 1 specific species, if another species strikes so be it, I'm there only for the peas.

[Paul Roberts]

Do you mean: When have you found a "pattern"?

[Todd2]

I've had a little saying for years one's a fluke, two's a pattern. If I'm throwing jigs and my buddy's throwing cranks, I wait till he has two before switching.

[roadwarrior]

I always heard 3: The first is the dumbest fish in the lake, then the 2nd dumbest, but #3 establishes a "pattern".

[KYBassin']

This is a good question. I would say 1.....but it only lasts for about 15 minutes.

[macmichael]

Do you mean: When have you found a "pattern"?

Yes, that's what I mean.  I've always been told to use a search bait until you pattern them, then switch to another bait. Does that sound right?

[Paul Roberts]

One fish is not enough to establish anything that would constitute a “pattern” –something repeatable, by definition. I can guess why Mattlures says “1” and that’s bc he’s a trophy fish expert. He’s looking for the often rare big bite. But for anglers trying to put a numbers catch together (say, a limit) it helps to get enough of a bead on what a good number of fish are doing during the time you’re out there, to put a good catch together. There can be any number of combinations of things that put fish in the boat, and lots of combinations that won’t.

 

One fish could be a complete fluke. A pattern is something you can repeat. That’s what you are hunting for. You’ll know you’ve got a solid consistent pattern going when you’ve got several in the boat. Then you assess whether you want to continue hammering away, maybe fine tuning things to catch even more, or maybe look for another combination that puts even larger fish in the boat.

 

There is no magic number that says you’re onto something. You’ll know it when you find it. It’s when you stop hunting and start catching.

 

Often it’s a rate of catch: 3 fish over 3 hours isn’t providing much. The number may vary too, depending on the quality of the fishery, the time of year, the sky and water conditions, angling pressure, etc.. What's satisfying depends on what you're trying to accomplish: have some fun, vie for a top spot in a tournament, catch a trophy, ....

 

Oh yes, search presentations are usually just those that allow you to cover water to locate fish, since fish are almost never equally distributed. Usually these are “faster” presentations but not always. Some locations and conditions require a slower or more targeted approach right at the outset. Being versatile in approach and arsenal, and recognizing appropriate circumstances to apply that versatility allows more experienced anglers to “dial in” quicker to the tempo of the day.

 

Hope this helps.

[Lund Explorer]

I always heard 3: The first is the dumbest fish in the lake, then the 2nd dumbest, but #3 establishes a "pattern".

 

I always thought the dumb fish were the ones your partner caught, and you outwitted the really smart ones.

[Paul Roberts]

I always heard 3: The first is the dumbest fish in the lake, then the 2nd dumbest, but #3 establishes a "pattern".

 

I always thought the dumb fish were the ones your partner caught, and you outwitted the really smart ones.

There's truth in these statements. Rarely do we write our success stories before they happen. Hindsight is 20:20. Foresight, a little hazy.

[SirSnookalot]

I went hunting peacocks yesterday PM, in an hours time I threw maybe only 10 or 12 casts.  I made a few casts when I liked the water activity or when I spotted something worthwhile.  I saw bass swimming and didn't cast at them, not my objective, had they been bigger of course I would have tried to catch them.  I saw a few peas and didn't even cast at them, too small so no point to it.  Some days you score and some days you don't, I love hunting fish and picking my opportunity.  Not the one I was looking for, but it did make for a nice outing.

[ClackerBuzz]

i would break this into two thoughts:

1: locating a fish holding spot

2: developing a pattern on it.

catching one fish is very important.  think of the saying 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water.  you just stumbled into a golden spot. i mark way point, take note of above/below structure, direction of casting angle etc bc you can most likely repeat that success another day.  this is more important to me that the pattern, especially on bigger bodies of water.  but it also holds true in the smallest of farm ponds.  when you find the big fish in the deepest part of the pond they will be there day after day.

 

developing a pattern is keeping the fun going for that day.  noting the location/spot means you can come back and play day after day