How Did Old Guys Catch Bass?

[S. Sass]

Sampo ball bearings, awesome!!! Love the old school baits etc.

Old men never caught any fish. We just went hungry that night.  What many of you kiddos don't know is we use to fish to put a meal on the table. We had outhouses for disposing of the waste to. Yeah modern stuff has come along and some of it is nice but it has made a bunch of ******* out of men these days too.  

[Josh Smith]

I have a bunch of Dad's old spinnerbaits -- all of them, I think. They're worthless! I can't burn 'em without them layin' over and jumpin' outta the water! ?

Josh

[S. Sass]

3 minutes ago, Josh Smith said:

I have a bunch of Dad's old spinnerbaits -- all of them, I think. They're worthless! I can't burn 'em without them layin' over and jumpin' outta the water! ?

Josh

The baits probably work just fine as has been stated elsewhere the 90 mph reels of today were not what those baits were designed to be fished with. They didn't exist. Slow down and let the bait do its thing. 

[Catt]

Quite simple ya young whipper snapper!

We used our brains

I knew more about structure fishing back in 1970 than most do today!

[Josh Smith]

But then the bass won't eat 'em! Too slow and I'll just catch crappie.

?

Josh

[Silas]

At 73, I suppose I'm one of the "old guys". 

As a youngster we fished for food. I was so poor that if I didn't catch fish that day, we might not eat. We were "dropshotting" when I was 8. We were "flipping " when I was 16. And we were "Ned Rigging" when I was 17. 

   Funny how all those were "invented" by the pros. We had no names for those techniques but just knew what worked. 

     Your BRAIN is your most important piece of equipment  

if you thought for yourself more and not just follow the "pros" advice, you might discover somethings that work really well  

  Carry on, Young Bloods!!

      

[Catt]

6 hours ago, Silas said:

At 73, I suppose I'm one of the "old guys". 

As a youngster we fished for food. I was so poor that if I didn't catch fish that day, we might not eat. We were "dropshotting" when I was 8. We were "flipping " when I was 16. And we were "Ned Rigging" when I was 17. 

   Funny how all those were "invented" by the pros. We had no names for those techniques but just knew what worked. 

     Your BRAIN is your most important piece of equipment  

if you thought for yourself more and not just follow the "pros" advice, you might discover somethings that work really well  

  Carry on, Young Bloods!!

      

Another Old Guy 69 year old Rick Clunn once said about lures & techniques, "everything old will become new again!".

[papajoe222]

Along with reel gear ratios getting faster, so have many of the newer lures and presentations. Even for slower presentations, a faster reel can equate to more casts/fish. 

The other thing to consider is that to us old farts, catching is only part of the enjoyment of fishing. Only by slowing down will you discover the true joy of the experience grasshopper. 

[Josh Smith]

There are so many not touching this... ?

Josh

[Raul]

11 hours ago, greentrout said:

The old Mitchell 300 is responsible for a lot of LMB being caught. My dad gave me one and I used what I had at the time and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Caught a few, too.

 

Son of a gun, that reel looks remarkably familiar ......... just can seem to remember where or .....when, memories are blurry. 

10 hours ago, Catt said:

Quite simple ya young whipper snapper!

We used our brains

I knew more about structure fishing back in 1970 than most do today!

Dang, and I thought it was witchraft or " luck "

[Catt]

11 hours ago, Josh Smith said:

I have a bunch of Dad's old spinnerbaits -- all of them, I think. They're worthless! I can't burn 'em without them layin' over and jumpin' outta the water! ?

Josh

Here's where old age & experience can teach you something!

It's called "tuning" like ya would a crank bait!

Hold the spinnerbait with the line tie facing you, look at the blade arm, is it inline with hook? If not twist it till it is!

Take the spinnerbait in your hand & bend both arms closer together!

Dang that was hard

[Josh Smith]

Naw, those old spinnerbaits are obsolete.  I'll have to buy a bunch of new ones without so much lift.

All my reels are high speed.  They even say so:

Way too fast for anything old. 

Josh

[Raul]

3 minutes ago, Josh Smith said:

Naw, those old spinnerbaits are obsolete.  I'll have to buy a bunch of new ones without so much lift.

All my reels are high speed.  They even say so:

Way too fast for anything old. 

Josh

Oh yeah, that´s what the sticker says: "high speed".

 

11 hours ago, Silas said:

At 73, I suppose I'm one of the "old guys". 

As a youngster we fished for food. I was so poor that if I didn't catch fish that day, we might not eat. We were "dropshotting" when I was 8. We were "flipping " when I was 16. And we were "Ned Rigging" when I was 17. 

   Funny how all those were "invented" by the pros. We had no names for those techniques but just knew what worked. 

     Your BRAIN is your most important piece of equipment  

if you thought for yourself more and not just follow the "pros" advice, you might discover somethings that work really well  

  Carry on, Young Bloods!!

      

Forgot "shakeyheading" at 19

[0119]

Don't knock that shaken' hand. My buddy's palsy puts a unique twitching in his zara spook. He can draw a hawg up from the deep in the high noon sun to slam that sucker when ain't nobody catching fish.

[Deleted account]

I've caught bass in Central America with a hand line, not sure what ratio that would be. Equipment needs to be functional, anything else is just gravy. Also, many o fthe older reels had spools with larger diameters, making the IPT of a lower ratio higher.

[tstraub]

I'm pretty sure hand line is 1:1 the line moves exactly the same amount as your hand.

[Fishin' Fool]

16 hours ago, Fishin' Fool said:

Remember that the REALLY old guys used to catch them on cane poles. For you youngsters that is string tied to a stick!

And your grandpappies grandpappy used to use a sharp stick like a spear to fill out his limit. They couldn't cull back then though

[.ghoti.]

15 hours ago, tstraub said:

Exactly, and if they ever televise jug fishing we'll see the pros telling us why a Prairie Farms milk jug is better than a Deans.  And when to use a full gallon , 1/2 gallon, or really lighten up and go with the 1 quart to really finesse jug fish.

That's the funniest thing I've seen here in a while. Well played.

[ogarza]

Man, talk about over-thinking fishing.

My favorite way to catch LMB is with some fishing like wound around a soda can, you basically twirl it around in the air and let go, pointing the can forward, similar to a spinning reel, then you use your dominant hand to work the bait, and then 'reel it in' by circling your hands so that the line is wound clockwise, you will feel EVERYTHING, when you get a bite, put the can down and use both hands to bring in the fish.

It is super easy and super fun, no need for any fancy rigs, a simple worm and hook and and a stone tied to the line will get you a ton of fish. BTW, I also just used matches to repair worms until they were literally half the length.

I started using baitcasting combos since I was like 6 and when I was 10 or so I had switched completely to hand fishing on freshwater, in about a year my dad started asking me how to do it because I was out-fishing almost constantly while we were on the same boat.

 

Edit - You can use an empty plastic bottle instead of a soda can, and store weights, hooks, worms, nail clippers, and a small lighter inside and you have a complete combo for fishing.

[kickerfish1]

I recall some Daiwa Pro caster reels that I had back in the 90s labeled "High Speed" with a gear ratio of 5.0:1. Sometimes slower gear ratio's can help guys that have a tendency to fish fast slow down some. On the flip side if you are using a real fast gear ratio by modern standards you have to be careful not to move the bait to fast.

I have used ultra slow and ultra fast gear ratios for soft plastics. Personally, I know I have to make a conscious effort to pay attention to what I am using but both will work.  

[0119]

1 hour ago, ogarza said:

Man, talk about over-thinking fishing.

Yeah but the fish has a brain the size of a dried up pea! They can be a cunning adversary.....

[Maxximus Redneckus]

20 hours ago, Kevin22 said:

I don't know what to tell you other than the old timers I see around here "stuck in their ways" are lucky to catch 1-2 fish a day when most others are catching 50-60. I don't think I've ever seen myself getting out fished by these types of people. They sure do brag about the good ol days of catching 100-200 bass a day. Don't get me wrong, we've both had tough days and were equal.. but when the fish are willing to bite, they fall prey to the new age baits and techniques and ignore the old school lures. 

Are fish smarter or what? I don't know, they must be evolving and adapting to the predators (fisherman) on heavily pressured water. 

Most likley but not always this is correct....1 or 2 a day for food and most likley them 1or 2 weigh more then the 50 dinks that took all day to catch.then again im kinda sure quality over quantity wins again

[Goose52]

7 hours ago, Josh Smith said:

There are so many not touching this... ?

Josh

I'm 63 and I'm not touching this....

This is a "winter-type" thread when folks got lots of time to talk while they stare at hard water. Well, it's spring and the bite is on...no time for this kinda thread at all...

The old-guy scores today...of course, at a blazing 23 IPT...

[WPCfishing]

23 hours ago, Josh Smith said:

Then why to the pros say it is?

Times were different then, we fished differently and with fewer options, we adapted.. 

[iabass8]

I didn't realize the retirement home let so many out on furlough at once