What did you learn or where did you improve at in 2016 .

[scaleface]

For me it was deep water crankbaits . Ive always had them and caught a few fish here and there  but this year it was my number 1 technique . I got on fish and stayed on fish . One day I took my cousin to a spot . The very first thing I did was strategically  toss a buoy and told him where the dropoff was , where the little jut on the point was and where the fish should be . We both hooked up first cast on Strike King 6 x's . Thats the kind of year it was with cranks.

[Bluebasser86]

I learned how to run and gun better. I fish a lot of small lakes and have a bad habit of putting the trolling motor down and just fishing, even when I know it might not be the most productive area. I feel like I caught a lot better quality fish this year because I only fished the areas I felt gave me the best chances to catch fish and skipped the marginal areas. 

["hamma"]

One thing sticks out like a sore thumb for me that I learned this year is,... being off the water for a long period of time throws you off alot more than one would think. Yeah, of course casting accuracy fades abit, but more important is reaction timing, feel, concentration, confidence, and lure choices, all swirl around in your head. And while these important aspects of the game are doing so. Your actually much more behind in the game as you think, because these things are hindering your attention as to whats really going on at that moment. Putting 2 and 2 together now is difficult

 Your thinking, and doing what you think may be right, and they actually may be the right thing to do, But with your train of thought swirling around in your head, your subconscious is plagued with decisions that are deterring correct actions.  Concentration is off, and the rest just follows, your sense of timing and feel are just a hair off as you try to battle the lack of concentration, with all of this going on, even your lure choices get a second guess, therefore confidence fades, and so on. It rolls like a snowball down a hill,,gaining speed, and getting larger. Before you know it, your lost, catching nothing, and totally baffled

 How did I combat this?,..I relegated to go back to the basics.,First.. I sat for a moment, cleared my mind, ate a sandwich and took all fishing thoughts out of my head. replacing them with positive thoughts, and good memories of my kids. I enjoying the days weather and watched the wildlife, as I wolfed down my roast beef sub.. Secondly, before I even picked up a rod to continue fishing. I considered the basics. Referring to the six basic lures to use, how to work them, where they can be applied, present conditions, seasonal movements, and prevailing available forage. then I re-tied a bit with all of this new info, and back to fishing I went. 

 Did it work?,..like a wonder. That short "hiatus" is exactly what I needed to get back in the battle, I was back to my old self in a jiffy. And although it took awhile for the fish to agree, when I finally did get a hit, I was on it like a fly on poop. Although I didnt catch any pigs this year in the 6 outings I did get.,..I learned that when the chips are down,...follow your roots, go back to the beginning, rethink everything with a clear mind to start with. almost like your rebooting your computer,...Shut down, clear your memory, then start all over again.

 When you have almost 50 years of bass fishing knowledge packed into memory. Its a daunting task, but if done right, you will catch up. It takes that moment of absence, the serenity of no distractions, and absolute level playing field, before you can dial everything into perspective. I needed a absolute clean slate,...and for me it worked. Its possible that, all of those years of memory actually helped in the end. Progressing my calculations expedientially.

 I used to use this tactic when I was tourney angling, and when I came to a day I was struggling, this would get me back on track and put some fish in the livewell. Im just glad it applied this year as well. As I stated above, my injuries hindered outings to only 6 this year, but I made the most of them as I could, and enjoyed each day the good lord gave me to the best of my abilities. 

hopefully this post will help someone else thats struggling, to get back in the game as well

[Catt]

I learned it's getting more difficult to keep my grandson at bay!

Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance!

[Mumbly]

I learned several things: 1) that I have just as much fun fishing alone. 2) Squid fishing is a ton of fun. 3) Don't get mad when Dad (86) says he doesn't think he can go fishing due to knee issues. 4) Bought a Gopro and discovered I talk to myself waaaay too much.

[bassguytom]

I learned how to fish the scrounger jig with much success. (Thanks AJ). Also not to fish from past experiences on the water or memory. Each time fishing to use my electronics more along with what seasonal pattern we were in. More time spent doing this equated to more and better quality fish in the boat. 

[Scarborough817]

i improved on my lure selection, i didn't re-tie as much before i got to the lake and saw the conditions. i inproved on my use of baitcasters, not backlashing as much, i also improved on finsing new spots and not fishing history as much while moving around the lake 

[Red Bear]

21 minutes ago, Bassguytom said:

Also not to fish from past experiences on the water or memory.

Whatever works for you, but i disagree with this statement. how does one even begin to learn to better themselves at something without past experiences to draw from? and if my memory tells me a spot was productive, then to me its worth going back and fishing again.

-------

i honestly dont know that i learned or got better at anything this year lol

i didnt really get to go fishing as much as usual, between attending my neices wedding and some of my cousins VW Drag Races i didnt have as much time

[SJex]

Put alot of work into using spinning gear. Also spent the latter part of the season learning to fish a ned rig.

[A-Jay]

As I added a new fishing platform in 2016 that included an big step up in electronics, I've been learning how to decipher it's display and how to apply it effectively.  Still plenty to learn on that front.

Along with that, and this may sound like a simple thing but I learned (again) just how much I like to drive a boat   especially when it's a little sloppy.

I learned (or perhaps was reminded) how effective a triggering factor speed can be; not to mention how much fun the strikes are.

And finally I've learned that I get just as much happiness & satisfaction reading the post below - as I do having some success myself.

9 minutes ago, Bassguytom said:

I learned how to fish the scrounger jig with much success. (Thanks AJ). Also not to fish from past experiences on the water or memory. Each time fishing to use my electronics more along with what seasonal pattern we were in. More time spent doing this equated to more and better quality fish in the boat. 

A-Jay

 

[fishballer06]

I went into 2016 wanting to improve on jigs and dropshotting, and to get into throwing large swimbaits. 

I ended up getting into fish head spins and learning all the different ways to use them, and I caught fish on them during the spawn, throughout the summer, and onto the fall. 

So for 2017, I still need to improve on my finesse presentations like dropshotting and shakeyheads. I'd also like to catch some big swimbait fish since I made the investment into it. I'm also looking to improve my frog fishing as well. 

[panfish12]

I learned to use a baitcaster this year. I am glad I finally took the leap and bought one, I have enjoyed using it.

 

[Mastermarsh]

This year I spent most of the season throwing different styles of jerkbaits (hard, soft, suspending, floating, different sizes & color patterns) I set out to be able to recognize which jerkbaits & retrieves are most effective at different water temperatures, water clarities, and learning high percentage areas where I can go on a new lake and always catch a few jerkbait fish.

I also spent a lot of time on learning the art flipping and pitching into heavy cover and how to recognize potential areas that bass may be lurking among cover to maximize my time on the water. 

 

 

[JustinJ]

Giving  the fish what they want, not what I want to use

[gulfcaptain]

I learned how to fish for salmon motor mooching, learned how to rig a cut plug herring, and how to identify which ones I was catching.....lol  As for bass fishing, moved from the shore to a boat, learned to trust my gut, be confident in deep cranking, and learned that dropshot fishing in 50ft of water deadsticking that 3-4" worm all day is like watching paint dry......but it did work and caught a lot of fish.  So I have a new found confedence in that I didn't have before.

[Ratherbfishing]

Hmmmm.... I found that on several occasions, shifting to a smaller bait made a huge difference-although NEXT year, larger baits might be the trick.  You just never know.  I guess I'll say being flexible in SIZE has been a great learning experience for me.

[MassYak85]

I was a lot more patient. If I was fishing a presentation that I thought was optimal for the conditions I didn't tie on a new lure as quickly as I would have in the past. I tried being more methodical about what the fish were doing instead of looking for that "magic bullet" in the tackle box. I also feel I made a lot of progress in applying some of the stuff I've read and heard the past few years on here and other places. I was able to catch six fish over 4lbs this year, and two of them were over 5. Now up until this year I had only ever caught one fish over 4, which was my PB of 5.4 which I tied again this year. Out of those six fish I can attribute five of them to applying something new I learned. Two of them were pre-spawn fish that I caught while applying some of the knowledge of where fish locate during the pre-spawn I had learned. Two of them were on a Whopper Plopper on cloudy super windy days, conditions I had loathed until recently but remembered hearing that buzzbaits and similar lures could be successful during those conditions. One was on a Spro rat in a spot that just looked too good to not have a fish. I casted in twice with no luck, but my gut told me there had to be a fish there. So I slowed down, twitching a couple times and letting it sit for like 20 seconds in between. About a minute of doing that and the lure only moving maybe a couple feet....SLAM! I would have never gone that slow in the past but it payed off. 

And one was just stupid blind luck  I backlashed a crankbait and it was sitting there for like 30 seconds before I got the backlash out and as soon as I got tension back on the crankbait and it began to dive I saw a fish grab...not the most rewarding way to catch a 5lber but I'll take it haha. 

[stk44]

I improved my jig fishing this year. I now have one tied on all year long. Pitching a jig in a laydown, weeds, or lily pads is so much fun. I've caught more 3+ pound fish this year than I ever have before. It's so rewarding to notice something "different" about your line,reel up the slack, set the hook and have a bass on the end of your line. 

In 2017 I plan on honing my skills with football jigs. Still haven't had much luck with them, although I haven't used them much either.

[hunterPRO1]

jigs, went from 0 confidence in them to catching two 7lber in one day once.

[Mike L]

3 hours ago, JustinJ said:

Giving  the fish what they want, not what I want to use

Sometimes... more times than I'd care to admit..This is me

 

Mike

[everythingthatswims]

I learned how to fish an Alabama rig and have a lot of confidence in them now. There is a lot more to understanding that bait than people think.

Also getting better at fishing with electronics.

[scaleface]

2 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

 

And one was just stupid blind luck  I backlashed a crankbait and it was sitting there for like 30 seconds before I got the backlash out and as soon as I got tension back on the crankbait and it began to dive I saw a fish grab...not the most rewarding way to catch a 5lber but I'll take it haha. 

One of these days you will probably have to  pull one in by hand.  LOL   A lot of us has done that at one point . 

[MassYak85]

49 minutes ago, scaleface said:

One of these days you will probably have to  pull one in by hand.  LOL   A lot of us has done that at one point . 

I've had a couple hit before on a backlash. I always just reel in anyways and deal with the backlash after unless it's so bad I have large loops coming out of the reel but I rarely backlash that bad anymore.

[TnRiver46]

Trolling crankbaits for smallmouth and using down imaging. My girlfriend got me a lowrance elite 4HDI for Christmas last year and I have been staring at it ever since 

[Columbia Craw]

Using a plug knocker.  It's being a Marine.  No crankbait gets left behind.