What's your style?

[Hez]

Run and Gun....a few casts in each spot...then on to the next....

 

or...

 

Pick an area and pick it apart?

 

I know a lot of the decision making is based on your knowledge of the body of water and your confidence level...

 

but I am curious as to what drives each style of fisherman...what they look for...for the "runners and gunners"...what makes a spot worth while to stop and not make you feel like you're wasting a lot of time running around?

 

Me personally - I find myself picking spots based mainly on topo maps and bottom composition.  I'm always looking for a few key ingredients to come together that makes the spot I'm fishing "worth while".  Then I like to try to  take my time and pick it apart...fish it in depth.  

[Bassun]

I admittedly spend way too long in one spot.  I change lures too quickly, and locations too slowly...

[scaleface]

I hate to run and gun . I might mark a spot on the sonar , make  a few cast and give up but mainly I spend my time casting .

[Brown Town]

If I get at least bit fairly quickly then I will work over the area more slowly or with different baits. If I can't produce a bite at all I will move to a different area that is completely different than that previous area. However, I have come back to an area I found unproductive later in the day or at night and absolutely crushed them on the same baits in the same spots I couldn't get bit hours before. Knowing your lake is pretty key.

[j19]

I pretty much always start with a run and gun style to try and get an idea of their mood/location quickly. I then slow down and pick things apart.

[Ratherbfishing]

Probably no tournament fisherman would ever accuse me of "running and gunning" but in terms of whether I spend a great deal of time in an area/spot depends a lot on if I'm trying to cover a lot of water and/or get a reaction bite OR if I believe i need to fish very slowly and methodically to get a reluctant fish to bite.  I tend to fish fairly quickly until it's apparent that won't work.  Then I slow down.  then I'll slow down some more.  OR, sometimes I may fish fairly slowly from the git go.  Too many variables (including my own mood) to predict.

[flyfisher]

Being i na kayak there is no run and gun for me so I tend to pick apart a spot.  I have recently started fishing offshore structure and i don't seem to pick apart that as much as something i can see.

[A-Jay]

My style has change over the years.

Started out I just what to catch a bass - any bass and it didn't matter what I had to do to get one. 

Then I wanted to catch lots of bass.

Then I wanted to catch big bass.

Then I wanted to catch Lots of big bass.

Then I wanted to catch bass the way I want to catch bass.

 (which may or may not be the best way) 

Currently I'm looking to catch lots of big bass the way I want to catch them - pretty sketchy.

A-Jay

[Catt]

My style is to catch bass by whatever means necessary

[CTBassin860]

It all depends on how much time i have. If i only have an hour or so,I will run and gun to hit a bunch of spots. If i have 3-4 hours i typically spend an hour or more in one spot picking it clean before moving to the next spot,regardless of if i'm catching them or not.

[d-camarena]

Usually run n gun but when i have a lot of time i will pick apart

 

Big rods, big line , big lures. Im just in it for the big ones, leave the neds at home

[Hez]

Just now, d-camarena said:

Usually run n gun but when i have a lot of time i will pick apart

 

Big rods, big line , big lures. Im just in it for the big ones, leave the neds at home

 

Do you do a lot of punching?  What's your go-to technique for runnin' n gunnin' for the big girls?  

 

[d-camarena]

I was playing about the neds, they catch a lot of fish i just can really use em because id get snagged every cast.

 

But yeah  most of my fishing is punching, flipping and topwater.

If im fishing deep its a jig or football.

I aways look for lilies, mats or reeds.

Throw frogs into lilies, punch the mats and flip the reeds. Works at my locak lakes but i have been to lakes were this is not the case, in those cases i pull out the senko lol

 

 

 

[12poundbass]

My style is junk fishing. LOL. I try this and try that, read this and try that. Haven't really developed a style yet. After no bites and taking X number of fish off for my wife I resort back to the trusty Senko so finesse?

 

     Sincerely,

  Confused in Michigan ?

[gim]

2 hours ago, d-camarena said:

Big rods, big line , big lures. Im just in it for the big ones, leave the neds at home

 

LOL good one.  The ned does definitely catch a lot of dinks that's for sure.

 

I prefer to almost always start with a faster, power technique.  At least for a little bit.  Sometimes I probably don't give it enough time but I feel like if I'm power fishing and covering water an active fish would smack it pretty quickly.  That hasn't worked very well lately so I've switched to a more finesses style of fishing in a more specific area after a little bit.

[ohboyitsrobby]

I like to cover water till I get bit then slow down and figure out if it's a random bite or there's multiple fish around. Unless I'm fishing somewhere I know there's gonna be fish then I'll just fish that area the way I feel will work for the conditons.

[lo n slo]

pick it apart with my texas rig, but i am admittedly hard headed, and this probably hinders me at times. i will throw a rat-L-trap in the fall (or early spring) along with some flukes or the occasional spinner bait. my old football coach ran the wishbone and we only had about 10 plays. but we could run them in our sleep. thats the way i feel about my texas rigs.

[BigAngus752]

12 minutes ago, lo n slo said:

pick it apart with my texas rig, but i am admittedly hard headed, and this probably hinders me at times. i will throw a rat-L-trap in the fall (or early spring) along with some flukes or the occasional spinner bait. my old football coach ran the wishbone and we only had about 10 plays. but we could run them in our sleep. thats the way i feel about my texas rigs.

"I fear not the man that has practiced ten thousand kicks once.  But I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times".  Bruce Lee

 

You are a Kung Fu fisherman!

[ww2farmer]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

My style is to catch bass by whatever means necessary

Same here.

 

I prefer to catch them shallow, and on a jig or frog. But they don't always prefer to bite that way.

 

I have won tournaments in the dirt with anchor rope line tied to pool ques, and I have won them off shore with a spinning rod

[Columbia Craw]

I will generally start shallow because shallow fish are often aggressive. I will not hesitate to go deep. I also try to get action so my GS can get bit. That's important. 

[BrackishBassin]

6 hours ago, Bassun said:

I admittedly spend way too long in one spot.  I change lures too quickly, and locations too slowly...

 

Coming from saltwater, I have the same issue. I'm used to soaking bait in the same area for extended periods of time. So, having 20 different lures to choose from, I tend to try and soak them all before o decide to move on. As a bank fisherman, I don't have as much of a choice as the bot guys, but I still feel like I spend too much time in one area. 

[BuzzHudson19c]

I fish from a kayak, so I tend to pick spots apart, especially if I know I'm on fish. But like with anything it really depends on conditions and where I am.

 

For instance last week I fished a lake with a lot of camps with small docks. There was a little wind and it was overcast. Instead of throwing jigs and soft plastics and taking my time I took maybe four casts at each dock. Ran buzzbaits, spooks and frogs down the sides and had a great day.

 

On the other hand I fished a river today and we have had a bunch of rain so the current is ripping. I paddled to big current breaks where my kayak would stay still and tossed plastics into the current.

 

Circumstances dictate tactics, but if I had to choose I like to exhaust all options in a particular spot before moving on.

[CroakHunter]

I like to slow down, I'll fish a jig in the same deep brush pile for an hour if I know a big one is in there. My fishing partner is a run and gunner, always wants to be turning that reel handle. Luckily I have slowed him down the past 2 tourneys and we have been in 2nd place both times and taken big bass in both as well. I'm the type of guy that just wants 6 bites in a tourney. Because I feel like that's all I need to be in the money. I'm not the type to fly around and get a quick limit then cull and look for a kicker, id rather just catch 6 kickers off the bat.

[scaleface]

I dont consider covering water run and gun . Ive covered most of the shoreline of a 200 acre lake in 1 day a couple of times . To me run and gun is pulling up to a spot ,toss a lure a few times , start  the big motor and moving on . 

[MichaelCopeland]

6 hours ago, Bassun said:

I admittedly spend way too long in one spot.  I change lures too quickly, and locations too slowly...

I can relate to that. Sometimes it's the other way around. I won't stay long enough in a spot and move around a lot with the same lure tied on.