Path to becoming a better fisherman

[MIbassyaker]

Just now, Team9nine said:

 

Yes, the Prorok articles were the best ones in my opinion, but the 3 part series in Bassmaster is also a good alternative. I listed the specific issues in my post above. The I-F stuff you listed is good. About everything you bought and read from them in the early days had parts of "The System" included in each story.

 

Ah, that's what I thought. The 3-part Bassmaster series is also reprinted in Tim Tucker's book "More secrets of the Bass Pros"

[senile1]

6 hours ago, scaleface said:

There was no internet . I read magazines and put in lots of time on the water .  I spent a decade trying to learn deep water before it finally began to click .

 

@Team9nine nailed some of the best resources for learning about the habits and movements of bass.  A number of others have mentioned time on the water and @scaleface makes an excellent point about how much time may be needed.  I think many of us often go to these resources and study the information but we don't realize what it takes to apply it on the water.  How many of us have studied these guides, reviewed and chosen some likely looking places on a map of a large lake, and then proceeded to those areas and fished them only somewhat differently than we have in the past?  I know I have.  An angler may think he has discovered one of the best large points available on a lake, but he won't know the full picture of how bass use it until he has researched that piece of structure on the water and in different seasons. Don't shortchange the mapping of structure just because you have the best electronics available.  Use those electronics to help decrease the time needed, but make sure you spend enough time to cover the whole area.  Those tiny "spots within a spot" that hold lots of bass typically aren't found by accident.  

 

[Fishing_FF]

19 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

My advice is to learn how to put a lure where you want to put it.  All the knowledge and gear in the world isn't going to catch you a bass if you can't get the lure where it needs to go.  By all means learn as much as you can at the same time, but off the water casting practice will allow you to put that knowledge to use a lot faster and save you some money.  

 

I'm a new guy to fishing, stumbling my way through to become a better fisherman. I've done a lot of reading through the articles and forums here. I've done a lot of experimenting with tackle, figuring out hook sizes, casting different test lines, tying knots until I could in the dark, etc. I had the opportunity to fish with a FLW tournament guy that wins a lot in the local lakes as well as a well regarded flats guy that has a niche as a lightweight spinning guru. 

 

When I was out with them, I noticed that they could repeatedly drop a lure in the same spot repeatedly. They could hit 12" holes in vegetation or skip under trees or docks like a sharpshooter hits a steel plate out at 200-400 yards. Since then, I've been practicing casting various lures at one of my kids little 3" frisbee in the backyard. It has only been a couple weeks, but I'm already seeing results. First, less lures stick in trees, heavy grass, or lily pads, but also more fish on the line as the lures are landing in spots where the fish are. 

 

Good luck, and great thread!

[MGEOD]

I would say learn the seasonal patterns and as said try to apply it on the water. I have a KVD interview on his thoughts I will try to find and post for you. Also don't be scared to experiment. If they are feeding a bass will bite a bare hook . Time on water is a must. Fish your strong points .. but try other things . I have been a bank beater all my life but recently started to try ledge fishing .. Lets just say I have become addicted to throwing deep cranks and swim  baits.. Don't catch no babies out there in the deep stuff, or at least I haven't . Several trips this summer where I had 15 or so pounds on the ledges .. good electronics and mapping is a must tho .. If I can figure out how to post the KVD article I will 

Kevin VanDam needs no introduction.docx

[soflabasser]

10 hours ago, scaleface said:

There was no internet . I read magazines and put in lots of time on the water .  I spent a decade trying to learn deep water before it finally began to click .

 

Well said @scaleface. Internet forums did not exist when I learned the most about bass fishing. Back then I learned by putting my time on the water, learning from each fishing trip, and reading books about fishing. Honestly I haven't learned much that I didn't already know while reading forums compared to what I learn while actually fishing( besides a couple fishing spots I got from internet forums,youtube videos, google earth, etc).

[CTBassin860]

22 hours ago, slonezp said:

First, you need to buy a $70,000 bass boat. The bass boat will need to be rigged with $10,000 worth of electronics. Second buy a jersey covered with patches because you must look the part while riding around in your new bass boat. Third, you will need 15 combos consisting of $400 rods and $300 reels ( I realize you can only use one at a time, but having the other 14 rods laying on the deck will allow you to switch setups quickly when you are not catching fish on the one you are currently using). Now, what good are all those rods and reels if you haven't spooled them up with 100lb braid. The 100lb braid prevents you from losing fish under all conditions. You will land 100% of the fish you hook. Speaking of hooks, you will need to replace the hooks on all your $20 crankbaits because, for some reason, $20 crankbait hooks don't hook the fish the right way. They must be replaced. You must also buy lots of scent. I think garlic and coffee work the best because they can be found naturally occurring in most underwater ecosystems. A pair of $300 polarized Costas or Oakleys will allow you to see deep into the dark depths of the fishes soul and shame it into biting your hook. 

Based on the above advice, all I can say is buy a bunch of Powerball tickets this week. With $650M you should be able to become a better fisherman.      

You only need 180 dollar Costas my friend

[MGEOD]

Quote

Another thing , and I have been guilty of this to the tenth degree. Don't get caught up in color .. Stay basic . Figure out what they are eating and match the hatch. I have recently joined BASS UNIVERSITY and one thing I have gained from watching the seminars is they don't get caught up on color . Gerald Swindle throws a brown or black jig . I think most of those guys really try to keep it simple . I know for me , the more junk I seem to have to the more difficult I have deciding what to throw. I took a bunch of junk out of my boat .. Plan to keep it real simple and see what happens for a while. I think presentation is more important that color .. As some one said earlier .. Learn to hit your targets when you cast. 

 

 

[CTBassin860]

1 minute ago, MGEOD said:

 

Brown,black,blue and green is all you need.

[MGEOD]

1 minute ago, MassBassin508 said:

Brown,black,blue and green is all you need.

i would add white to mimic shad.. But that is it .. 

[IndianaFinesse]

40 minutes ago, MassBassin508 said:

Brown,black,blue and green is all you need.

Or, you could do what I did and simplify it even more to pb&j and black/blue

[MichaelCopeland]

On 8/20/2017 at 8:11 PM, slonezp said:

First, you need to buy a $70,000 bass boat. The bass boat will need to be rigged with $10,000 worth of electronics. Second buy a jersey covered with patches because you must look the part while riding around in your new bass boat. Third, you will need 15 combos consisting of $400 rods and $300 reels ( I realize you can only use one at a time, but having the other 14 rods laying on the deck will allow you to switch setups quickly when you are not catching fish on the one you are currently using). Now, what good are all those rods and reels if you haven't spooled them up with 100lb braid. The 100lb braid prevents you from losing fish under all conditions. You will land 100% of the fish you hook. Speaking of hooks, you will need to replace the hooks on all your $20 crankbaits because, for some reason, $20 crankbait hooks don't hook the fish the right way. They must be replaced. You must also buy lots of scent. I think garlic and coffee work the best because they can be found naturally occurring in most underwater ecosystems. A pair of $300 polarized Costas or Oakleys will allow you to see deep into the dark depths of the fishes soul and shame it into biting your hook. 

Based on the above advice, all I can say is buy a bunch of Powerball tickets this week. With $650M you should be able to become a better fisherman.      

LMBO!!! That's frickin' hilarious!!! ??

[soflabasser]

12 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

 

Although aside from specific gear and tackle recommendations, the basic info in these books isn't dated much, if at all. WHen they were first published, these books compiled most of the core information that had been published in-fisherman at the time, so they include the F+L+P stuff, body of water classification, and seasonal calendar info.

 

The best part is used copies of these books can be found on amazon for just a couple bucks each. 

 

 

I have a large collection of old fishing books from the 80's and 90's that I cherish for the timeless information they have. I got the first couple books as gifts from my grandparents when I was a child and recently bought the rest of the books to complete the collection. These books are worth every penny! I bough books about muskie and smallmouth fishing, read the books, and used the information I learned to catch my first couple muskies, smallmouths, and other northern fish in recent vacations. 

[scaleface]

When I first started bass fishing from a boat I was not very successful , just like everyone else. I had a lot of days where a skunking or just a handful of fish were caught . A twenty fish day was exceptional . Now a twenty fish day is below average . So where have I improved ? 

 

1: Lure selection . I'm simply much better at knowing what lures to use and when to use them . I dont switch nearly as often .  Over 90 percent of the lures I use fall into four categories . Texas rig/ jigs , crankbaits , spinnerbaits , and buzzbaits . I use other lures but these get the most playing time . No doubt this selection would be different in other bodies of water .

2: Casting . I'm not a great caster and  could use a lot of improvement but I'm a fearless caster . If theres a small opening in a piece of cover I'm gunning  for it until I hit it or snag up in the process . Watching the pros live this year I noticed a lot of errant casting on their part too .

3: Boat control . Get the boat positioned to make the best cast . Often times this means parallel casting to keep the bait in the strike zone for an entire cast .  Why  sit in unproductive water and cast  to shore and have the lure in the strike zone for a small portion of the retrieve ?

4: Identifying potential structure . I had no idea how to fish deep and took many years to start getting the hang of it . Especially points . I was clueless on finding productive points . I fished at short steep points , mouths of coves...and caught a few  fish . Then when I discovered the long tapering points my catching success  hit a whole new level .

[WRB]

Even before you can start down the pathway you need to learn good casting mechanics and the only way to do that is practice. Fishing is a lot like golf, having the proper casting mechanics goes a long way to becoming a good bass angler. 

You can over load yourself by reading too much theory that doesn't apply to catching bass. Knowledge of basic bass behavior will help you eliminate unproductive water.

My pathway started as a pre teen with 1 rod, reel and lure, after a lifetime of bass fishing my journey is still ongoing.

Good Fishing, enjoy your journey.

Tom

[Catt]

Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification!

[Deleted account]

reading will either increase your knowledge or confuse the heck out of you, in either case it will not make you a better angler, only angling will make you a better angler.  

[JustJames]

13 hours ago, scaleface said:

When I first started bass fishing from a boat I was not very successful , just like everyone else. I had a lot of days where a skunking or just a handful of fish were caught . A twenty fish day was exceptional . Now a twenty fish day is below average . So where have I improved ? 

 

4: Identifying potential structure . I had no idea how to fish deep and took many years to start getting the hang of it . Especially points . I was clueless on finding productive points . I fished at short steep points , mouths of coves...and caught a few  fish . Then when I discovered the long tapering points my catching success  hit a whole new level .

Thanks for this, I'm still you in the past. I've spent most of my time fishing at mouth of coves and short steep Point. I hope one day I can find a good productive Point.

[Deleted account]

On 8/21/2017 at 7:48 PM, MGEOD said:

i would add white to mimic shad.. But that is it .. 

And this chair, and these matches and this paddle game, and that's all...

[Nebasska]

Time on the water.... learn from your mistakes and always be aware of your temps conditions and clarity...keeping a fishing journal or just using your cell phone to document success and failure and keep pluggin it wont happen overnight and could take years but oh think how much fun you can have learning!

[WRB]

On November 1, 2017 at 7:45 PM, JustJames said:

Thanks for this, I'm still you in the past. I've spent most of my time fishing at mouth of coves and short steep Point. I hope one day I can find a good productive Point.

Off topic; I haven't fished Canyon lake in several years as we have discussed. Canyon lake, as I recall, does have isolated rock piles that should be visible during low water periods. These are random piles of boulders located on gentle slopes or flats that hold bass and get less fishing pressure then obvious points and docks.

On topic; Study lake maps and sat maps overviews to learn the bottom structure of your lakes. Study what are the primary prey the bass in your lake are eating and where that prey source is abundant. Bass want 2 things, food and shelter.

Tom

[Further North]

On 8/20/2017 at 8:11 PM, slonezp said:

Based on the above advice, all I can say is buy a bunch of Powerball tickets this week. With $650M you should be able to become a better fisherman.   

...but only because you'll have the time to devote to fishing instead of working...

On 8/20/2017 at 9:10 PM, Ksam1234 said:

and everyone has 65 pound braid.. I don't understand you gonna do with 65 pound braid? Didn't know we had freshwater whales ? Prob lost

them not using that 65 pound braid

The reason for 65 lb. braid?  It's the same diameter as the mono we used to use.  THat skinny crap cuts fingers, and breaks if it even sees a rough edge rock...

[Sam]

Kyle, sent a personal message to you.

 

Please do the following so we can help you better:

1.  Go to Introductions and introduce yourself.

2.  Add your location so we can give you specific assistance for your geographical area.

3.  Tell us the bodies of water you like to fish.

 

And last, but not least: keep up with the Forum. Read the posts; ask questions; add your input.

 

All the best for learning all you can about that little green monster that drives us crazy.

[Ratherbfishing]

On 8/20/2017 at 8:21 PM, soflabasser said:

...there are plenty of land based fishermen who caught several double digit bass from land... 

All my fish have come from the water.  Kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pro Logcatcher]

On 8/20/2017 at 10:21 PM, fishwizzard said:

 

I will say that a reasonable pair of polarized glasses is a game changer when fishing from the bank.  I was amazed how many fish I started catching once I had a chance to see them before they saw me.  

Since I wear glasses, I bought myself a pair of clip-ons. I never understood why anyone needs polarized lenses above $40!

[N Florida Mike]

• Go with experienced anglers

•  Go by yourself and apply What you learned from experienced anglers.

  For me ,this was probably 75% of it.

The other 25 % would involve quality forums like this one, watching fishing videos, mags, and books.