How To Know When To Move From A Spot Or Switch The Technique

[RMcDuffee726]

How do you guys know when to switch the spot that your are fishing or completely switch up the technique.  I could potentially be fishing the right spot with the wrong technique or I could be fishing the wrong spot with the right technique.  How do you know when to change?  Are there certain signs you look for or do you just operate on gut instinct? 

[buzzed bait]

 

[BassnChris]

I think this will get a lot of different responses.....because everyone fishes a little different.

I will throw to a spot I feel 'should' hold a fish with any given lure a number of times.......varying speed of retrieve or number of twitches......maybe 6-12 casts per speed or number of twitches. Then try with another type of lure. Usually the people I fish with throw different baits until we find the 'one' that works.......cuts down on the number of casts I must make when alone. And when I'm satisfied they aren't gonna bite.....move to the next spot and repeat.

[roadwarrior]

Fifteen minutes.

 

If you have waypoints the fish are ALWAYS there SOMETIMES, but not necessarily when YOU are there!

The best example is ledge fishing. You need several spots and go back throughout the day. The bad news

is they may not be there; the good news is that when you find them, they are ALL THERE!

 

 

[WRB]

The boat bass angler with sonar can determine if the spot has fish on it and with practice can determine if those fish are active feeding bass, how deep those bass are and if any bait fish are nearby. This information helps to solve the problem, only trail and error trying to catch these bass will answer it.

No panacea in bass fishing and the reason we call it fishing.

Right location, right time, right lure = success.

Tom

[basscatcher8]

Like WRB said I dont stop unless I see signs of life on the screen. I feel like I'm wasting my time if I dont. Obviously there are other signs of life than whats on the screen. Activity shallow on the water surface will get me to stop to. But I usually stick with a tool until my head says maybe something else will work better. If your mind is on any other lure than the one your using your not concentrated and need to change.

[Bassun]

I'm constantly "modifying" my technique and lures to try to establish a pattern.  Each fish caught should put you closer to finding the pattern at that moment.  If we get locked into just one technique, chances are we're giving up fish.  I think the harderst part for me is to leave an area that just feels right, but your not getting hit.  I know early on, I used to stay waaaaay to long in an area.  Think back of a cove, or big flat, etc. not a single doc or point etc.

 

During my first few years on the lakes, I though we were fishing pretty efficiently, and did a good job catching what we could out of a given area.  Then one day our club was holding an open tournament, and I did some fun fishing with an old vet.  He was fishing water faster with a shakey head then I did with a crank.  I honestly thought he was trying to back seat fish me at first he was going so fast, then we started getting a few bites, then midway down that same bank - he pulled up the trolling motor and we took off.  He had picked up a pattern, and his experience told him where the fish were.  I was still trying to figure out how he was fishing the worm so fast lol.  [and he was right, we got into better numbers at the next spot and he did slow down a bit there]

 

The point being, if you are on familiar waters you can get by with fishing an area much more quickly than you can on new waters because you have years (in his case about 30 some on that lake) of experiences to draw from.  I've also found that unless you are a pure powerfisherman, most of us spend too long in an area if we are looking for the best 5 fish.  Now, if you are fishing just to catch fish - slow down and pick apart an area, nothing wrong with it if you are getting bit.  But if there's money on the line, wasting time in unproductive waters is just wasting time.

 

I didn't really answer your question so I guess for me if I'm getting no hits with search baits, I leave an area quickly (now).  If I do get a few hits, then we will slow down and start working an area and building out a pattern and changing baits quite often to try to dial in the bite.  Each move from then on is an attempt to improve on that pattern.  If we're catching them from under docs, then I will buzz right by a big weed bed and just cast a spinner a few times as we pass it just in case, then at the next dock we will slow down and fish it hard.  Unless of course we pick up bites in the grass...

 

The biggest mistake I caught myself donig early on when trying to find fish was that I would go from one great looking place, maybe a cove with a defined channel and lots of lay downs and not catch anything, to another great looking place...with the same set up.  If they are not holding in a cove with "X" structure and cover, then why go to another cove with the same thing? 

[RMcDuffee726]

I really appreciate the responses guys!

[Ratherbfishing]

It depends on how sure I am that the area is good and if it looks like the weather conditions will remain constant or change.  In one lake which is trolling motor only, I will use a fair amount of battery power just getting to a flat of submerged cattails and I'm not about to leave before picking it apart pretty well.  On one day (which was hotter than Hades), only two pockets held catchable fish but I'm glad I stuck around to find them.

[mjseverson24]

Two different answers for two different situations...

 

Tournament fishing ---> Typically I have a few areas that hold really good fish, and I will sit on them all day until they decide to bite, I will throw a ton of different baits, but I will throw the one that I feel should be most productive most often. I typically rotate between these spots faster in the earlier part of the day, and slower as the day moves on. It seems like the key to being a good tournament angler is patience.

 

Fun fishing ---> I like to move around a lot trying different things, I would say I will cast a lure 5-10 times before grabbing a different rod, and after around 20-30 min without much production I switch spots. It seems to me the key to a successful day of fun fishing is catching a bunch of fish and hopefully a few real nice ones mixed in. Fun fishing is also a great time to learn and become competent in new and different techniques.

 

Mitch

[AK-Jax86]

For me it's hard to switch up/move on. I tend to fish areas where I have caught big fish or someone I know has and also tend to stick with the baits that have been proven to catch them.

For instance I fish this spot LOADED with massive FL double digit bass! I am not a lipless crankbait guy but I have been throwing it the past few weeks at this spot. There is this 10yd area where there have been 3 double digit bass caught all within a couple months (and this lake is massive so there has to be something to that area). There was an 11.1, 11.8, and a fish this guys girlfriend caught that made my buddy's confirmed 14lber look small! So when I fish this lake I fish that atea almost exclusivly, haven't caught my double digit yet though lol

[Swampstud]

Its a tough one, learn what techniques and lures to use for specific weather conditions. Once you get this down itll narrow your selections down. If im new to a lake i just start junk fishin until i figure a pattern out. After bout the 2nd time out ive got things figured out, but not always.

[Ozark_Basser]

It depends on the circumstances you are faced with in my opinion.  It just depends on what you prefer and what the bass prefer.   The only way to know is to try different techniques. Through this process you'll find what your strong points are for the different situations you've been faced with, but it's different for everybody.  If I troll up to a spot with shallow grass, the first thing I'm thinking is spinnerbait.  Some people might be thinking they need to break out a texas rig, or pitch to the holes in the grass, or run a crankbait along the deep side of the grass line.  It's all preference, but if I start catching them on one technique I'll stick with it until the bite slows or If I see another tecnique that fits better with where I'm fishing.  

[Paul Roberts]

How do you guys know when to switch the spot that your are fishing or completely switch up the technique.  I could potentially be fishing the right spot with the wrong technique or I could be fishing the wrong spot with the right technique.  How do you know when to change?  Are there certain signs you look for or do you just operate on gut instinct? 

Wow! Big question.

 

First, like confidence, gut instinct works for those with experience to draw on. It doesn't work in reverse. No one was born knowing how to catch bass. You have to learn that.

 

I’d suggest you read, watch vids, fish a lot, discuss. That's the process.

 

Good questions to ask:

-How do bass operate? What are their limitations?

-What is bass habitat? Where is it on your waters?

-What are the primary prey species in your waters?

-What are bass, and prey, seasonal habits? And how does that look where you live?

-How do conditions (sky, water, in particular) affect fishing?

-What lure types fit where you fish? (the easy part)

-How can you tune/alter lures to get them to fish right? (often the trickier part)

 

If this is old news, then…

 

I like the simplicity of Roadwarrior’s answer. "Fifteen minutes." You need to find active willing biters, and that may mean moving around a bit if you don’t know productive spots already. If you already do, you may need to adjust your presentations to get bit. Often you just have to wait for something to change –fish become active, fish move in, you hit the right speed or triggering in your lure.

 

Do we ‘know” ahead of time? Not always. But if you understand bass, prey, water, conditions, you’ll have some ideas as to what directions you should head. The rest is up to the bass.

[RMcDuffee726]

All Of you guys have inspired me so much to take my fishing much more seriously. I will now analyze every situation I find myself in. I want to become a better angler and every response helps me out. I'm very happy to be part of a community that wants to help new bass fisherman as much as you do. I really appreciate the responses.

[Slade House]

Ive found that if you use the count the number of casts you make on a spot vs minutes spent on a spot that you will be more effective. 

[slimshad]

Alot of times I will change baits while fishing the same structure.  Big laydown, go by it with a crankbait, throw a spinnerbait around and in it, toss a jig around and in it and then a smaller texas rig.  Same with a grass bed or a flat.  i don't just go through an area with one bait.  When i say area i mean "backs" of a creek, scondary points an main lake.  Yesterday i started in the back of a creek and work several different baits out to the secondary points.  I caught small ones at first then fund some keepers as i moved out of the back.  I like to keep moving in the fall.  Get the right bait figured out then you can go back to some of the areas you caught bigger fish and hit it again with that bait.  So to answer your question, I move and change baits ALL the time.  I don't count the casts or the minutes.  Just fish whats in front of you and see if you can put the puzzle together.  Good luck, we all learn something everytime we go out.