Game-plan Commitment?

[Bass Justice]

Hey guys, I just wanted to get some insight on your guys' game-plans when you go out, whether it be by boat or bank. I just bought a Kayak a month ago and have been out about 4 times at a local Reservoir here in Fayette County, Georgia called Lake Horton. I have read various articles and seen some videos buy Glenn talking about having a plan and sticking to it. I just started bass fishing two years ago, and have already accumulated an overpacked tackle box and 6 rods each with a purpose. And yes I pack all six on my Kayak (laughs). 

I find that I overwhelm myself on the lake with all of my gear. Now I certainly don't have 30 laid out rods like tourney anglers do, but I usually have a gear assortment of something like this:

Drop shot, deep crank, rattletrap, spinnerbait, flipping jig, topwater frog(or umbrella rig)

That's usually what I have tied on when I get on the water, and I find myself constantly switching. I know anglers need to find a "pattern" and stick to it, but my question is this:

Do you guys pick a presentation and stick with it? Like should I decide i'm going to crank next outing, and tie on a trap, a deep diver, a medium diver, a square bill and a shallow runner and just stay with it all day? Or tie on 3 different spinnerbaits and leave the other rods at home? Or tie on 4 kinds of swimbaits big and small? Or tie on 4 jigs and flip and cast all day?

Luckily my rod assortment does give me the ability to be versatile with a lot of different lures.

I just want to know what you guys typically do. Now I do know certain baits aren't going to be used in certain settings like jerk baits in the summer or shaky heads when you haven't located fish etc. But I have heard about "finding the pattern" and didn't know if this was meant as in:

1. Finding the pattern of a type of lure such as using a spinnerbait all day, but simply changing the way you retrieve it. Finding the pattern of the LURE itself

or

2. Finding the pattern as in finding what LURE they want altogether, such as starting with a spinnerbait, but then switching to a different lure when you don't have success as opposed to #1 where I just switch the technique WITH that lure.

I hope that makes sense.

I'm still learning the lake, and learning to kayak so i'm not very effective at the moment. I've pulled out 6 fish over the course of about 30 hours of fishing with a limit of about 12 pounds which isn't great, but I feel like I lose a lot of time switching lures. 

Thanks for any input!

-Mike

[BassinLou]

I'm all for a gameplan... but if the conditions change or dictate otherwise, I will definitely call an audible. 

[Cole Richards]

Fish the moment ! Right now you seem like you are trying to tell the fish what they are going to bite on before you get to the lake.  It should be the other way around .  You should tailor your presentation to the seasonal trend of the fish and then the daily conditions , then the pattern will emerge when u get on the water.  My typical rod selection is based on when and where I am fishing .  Spring for example , jerk bait , spinner bait , rattle trap , are good options for power fishing to find fish , once you find them then slow down with a jig , Texas rig or shaky head and refine the pattern.  If you feel like you need to throw the kitchen sink then you are hoping to get lucky basically.  Stick with proven producers to find fish.  Once you have located where the fish are holding then you can refine what they are chewing on that day.  Think covering water with a crankbait  first , then once fish have been located you can refine the presentation.  If I caught the fish on a crank on the rear treble then maybe I need a color change, or a slower presentation , but if it swallowed the whole thing then there is no need to change.  

My rod and reel set up for exploring a new lake consists of the following 95%of the time 

Square Bill crankbait 

Jig and trailer 

spinnerbait or buzzbait 

shakey head worm 

Fluke or senko

small swimbait in clear water 

you can cover pretty much every situation with these lures 

[wnspain]

Carrying all the tackle to cover all techniques in a kayak could be a little challenging, but if you have a method for your madness, I'd say go for it. Personally I carry 3 or 4 setups that are versatile enough to be effective with various techiques, but definately go in with a plan for where I think the fish will be holding, based on water temp, time of year, etc.

 

[Airman4754]

Unless the water is really cold and you are fun fishing I wouldn't suggest changing up retrieves initially with a reaction/search bait. If there are fish in the spot you are on just a chuck and wind retrieve will catch one of them if they are into biting that bait. Some guys will say find the presentation they want then hone in the bait, but for me personally I have a lot more success finding the style of bait then dailing in the presentation to catch size and numbers. 

Basically just go fish and keep it simple. 

[Nitrofreak]

30 rods on a deck usually means they are having some issues figuring out the bite, whatever you fish just make sure to pack your confidence baits along with some patience, a game plan is always good, as mentioned though, things change, if your not getting bit dont panic, adjust and slow everything down before throwing in the towel on what may be a good spot.

[Scarborough817]

35 minutes ago, BassinLou said:

I'm all for a gameplan... but if the conditions change or dictate otherwise, I will definitely call an audible. 

exactly what i came to say, conditions can change and with it so will the bite. I think most of us here are only fishing for fun so don't be so worried about catching fish and just enjoy your time on the water.

[Bankbeater]

Before I go out I check the weather to see what the wind, cloud cover, etc. will be like.  For everything else, I wing it.  There are just too many variables once you get out on the water.

[Bladesmith,]

When I am in my boat I carry 4 rigs;

• Spinner bait 
• Crank bait
• Top water or jig and trailer
• Soft plastic

With these I can cover any depth or type of cover. I do not tie on the specific baits until I get to the water and sit and watch for a few minutes. The lake I fish (Eufaula in OK) can change in a single day so I never know what conditions will be until I actually get on the water. I mostly go by "feel" as for specific baits and colors. I watch my depth finder as I'm moving along to determine what depth I am graphing fish. That depth is where I will start when I get to the spot I wish to fish. That depth will usually determine where I will start fishing. This time of year (pre-spawn) the where will probably be on or near a main point with flats nearby or the sides of a creek channel with flats at the right depth. Rocky areas seem to be my best producers at this time. Add all these things up, rocky point with flats, creek channel with gravel or rocky flats, and I can still get skunked but usually not. That is why it is called "fishing" rather than "catching". Such is the allure of bass fishing and what brings me back to the lake year after year; You just never know what kind of day you're going to have until you put the boat back on the trailer. My game plan is developed on the water as I see conditions.

[Bass Justice]

Great replies guys lots of insight thank you so much! Now I do have a scenario that might be why I am so confused that happened to me two days ago at the lake.

I went to the northwest most point of the lake to a small pocket, where a small channel went underneath a highway to another part of the lake. This other part of the lake is private and not accessible by boat or yak, but I stayed and fished this pocket. Part of my inexperience is definitely noticeable when I try to figure out the forage, as I had trouble identifying a huge school of fish that were getting fed upon right in front of this ditch/ channel. As I got closer they appeared to be silver with a black stripe on their back which I thought were Shad, so I started throwing a shad colored Popper PopR bait. But again I have no idea what forage is typical of this lake (or any lake) or how to identify them. 

After about an hour finally a 2 pounder grabbed my PopR and I thought to myself that took way too long since they are actively feeding right here so I switched to a spinnerbait. Again, after about 45 minutes of running this spinner bait through this area, I got bit by a 1 1/2 pounder. After 45 more minutes of no bites with the spinnerbait I switched to a shallow running Shad colored crank and got bit after about 15 minutes, but then went cold again for another hour. So stupidly I left the area and had zero success for the next two hours when I should've stayed. But the long periods between bites were throwing me off. All three times the bass hit those various lures they INHALED it so I figured I had something good going, but maybe I should've switched to a small jerk bait and suspended it right in front of their noses. I know I should have not left the fish but those long periods of no bites were getting to me. Every 10 minutes or so these baitfish would freak out and fly out of the water so I know bass were probably feeding. I didn't notice any Crappie in the area, but I did see some small bass (1/2 pounders?) on the rip rap along the bank running perpendicular to the channel/ditch so maybe it was tiny bass feeding on them. But the 3 bass I caught were all keepers so I wanted to stay.

My inexperience kills me! Haha

[Scarborough817]

i probably would have fished a spook instead of a popper, a jerkbait could have been good or a chatterbait/swimjig

[Bass Justice]

On 3/28/2016 at 1:49 PM, Scarborough817 said:

i probably would have fished a spook instead of a popper, a jerkbait could have been good or a chatterbait/swimjig

Yeah i'm going to try and go back out this Saturday and will hit that spot again to see if there are active fish again. I should have never left the area, but I was just wondering if you guys literally had a plan and stuck with it.

[Cole Richards]

I would have fished a fluke or jerk bait in the schooling fish .  As to identifying the bait fish you can get lots of info about lakes and forage base looking at your states department of natural resources website , they always post fisheries research for lakes and rivers on there.  It is a good way to know what forage and size fish you are dealing with . 

[Bass Justice]

30 minutes ago, Cole Richards said:

I would have fished a fluke or jerk bait in the schooling fish .  As to identifying the bait fish you can get lots of info about lakes and forage base looking at your states department of natural resources website , they always post fisheries research for lakes and rivers on there.  It is a good way to know what forage and size fish you are dealing with . 

Yes after some light research it looks like they are Threadfin Shad

[Neil McCauley]

First off. Sell the kayak. Buy the canoe.

That said, yes, I generally have a plan. That plan is usually made a few months or so in advance according to the time of year, and refined a week ahead according to the weather conditions. That plan is usually based ona a species and then a general presentation. I will target pumpkinseeds with worms, or bass casting crankbaits, or perch jigging, pike trolling swimbaits, etc... The weather the week before makes a big difference.

The day-of, I will stick with the plan unless it seems to be absolutely failing. Your definition of absolute failure may be up to you to decide. Personally it means no fish in the first 2 hours. At that point I switch to a backup plan. At some point my back up plan always seems to be jigging for perch or pumpkinseeds. Hence why I take a couple dozen nightcrawlers almost ever trip in the summer.

I think the key to success is not just having a plan but having one that has been battle tested and proven by yourself in the past. New anglers obviously do not have this luxury. I guess that's the fun of it and the challenge. Eventually you will have a plan and slew of backup plans for every time of year and every condition that could possibly pop up therein. Not many of us reach that point though.

[buzzed bait]

i've fished horton a couple times and only seemed to catch stragglers there... never got on a good bite at all.  

i usually start with a plan based on water temps, time of year, etc.  once i get a bite or two i stick with that bait and start to vary retrieves and such until it either works better or worse...  the changing baits all the time is really counterproductive for me.  

[.ghoti.]

A game plan is nice, but......

I hate to quote Mike Tyson, but this one he got right; "everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth"

[GonFishin]

I know exactly how you feel Bass Justice.  I started bass fishing roughly 2 years ago and I have not figured out what to do and when to do it.  I have several different set ups and a tackle bag full of stuff and I never seem to find the right combination.  And just like you I feel like I change baits and tactics to quickly.  I will say being a part of this forum has helped me learn way more then I would have ever on my own.  Above everything else, I won't give up because there is nothing better than being on the water with the possibility of a giant about to grab my line.

[Bass Justice]

Thanks again for the replies guys!