in a slump

[Mr. Aquarium]

the past 2 months have been horrible. havent broken 3lbs in 2 months. the whole start of the year since february has been a bust.  one bass over 3lbs, at  5.9

need a slump buster, i kinda lost hope and confidence.   cant wait till warm summer nights and i can night fish. and actually get fish.   the pickerel bite has been fire, kinda had enough with catching pickerel.  i think the slump has been largely due to the insane rollercoaster temps. and cold wet weather pattern. 
also doesnt help, everytime i log on to facebook, i see another slob bass caught today.  saw an 8 caught today. 
this certainly doesnt help my season goal of an 8 plus. 

need a confidence boost

 

end rant

[th365thli]

I've been in a slump too and it's tough to stay positive. I just try and go in with the mindset of learning from every trip and not get hung up on the "result" too much. I try to learn something every trip. Also, stay off the social media! Of course you're only going to see the good things happening to people on there. You're not going to see the other thousands of anglers grinding away. It's social media bias, it makes you think everyone else is doing better, when in reality they're only posting the good parts of their life. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

sooo true about social media. 

 

bright side, saltwater is picking up in my area! nice to get on some good fish after a slow start to the freshwater

[RHuff]

If you live anywhere remotely North in the US man the weather has a lot to do it. Its been such a crazy spring the bass are so unpredictable. Don't worry about it. If you haven't caught a decent bass by July 1, then I'd start to worry. 

[sully420]

At least your catching fish i still have to wait 2 weeks for opener

[N Florida Mike]

I've had a good spring for bass between 5-7 pounds. That kind of got squelched when I lost what could have been a new PB a couple weeks ago. Losing that fish took the starch out of me. I haven't been out in the boat fishing since then yet.

Point is, it happens to the best of us at times.That's what makes it so much fun when you break the slump. And the hard times is when you grow and adapt.

Be sure to share the pics when you break through!

[Mr. Aquarium]

17 hours ago, RHuff said:

If you live anywhere remotely North in the US man the weather has a lot to do it. Its been such a crazy spring the bass are so unpredictable. Don't worry about it. If you haven't caught a decent bass by July 1, then I'd start to worry. 

yep, up here in New England its been wild weather. warm weather one day followed by snow the next. but the pattern has changed to being a warmer one. thank God.  so things are looking up. temps are finally in the 50s but even with the warmer water when its still cold out and raining good luck.

gota keep on fishing, it'll get better

[RHuff]

13 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

I've had a good spring for bass between 5-7 pounds. That kind of got squelched when I lost what could have been a new PB a couple weeks ago. Losing that fish took the starch out of me. I haven't been out in the boat fishing since then yet.

Point is, it happens to the best of us at times.That's what makes it so much fun when you break the slump. And the hard times is when you grow and adapt.

Be sure to share the pics when you break through!

 

 

 I missed my PB last year during the summer. The bass smoked a topwater bait by the edge of a lilly pad field. It was a fight for a solid 3 or 4 minutes (felt like 18-20) and when I finally got him up to the boat I had him turned the wrong way (head down). My father was with me and eased down with the net to attempt to slowly net him and when he got close the bass thrashed again and snapped my line right at the boat. My PB before was right at 5lbs but this one must have been 7 or 8. By far the strongest bass I have ever fought. I felt so dejected for the next half hour and even that evening after I got home. The next day though I said you know, I threw the correct bait to the correct spot at the correct time - making the right decisions. In the long run it gave me better confidence as a fisherman. Keep you head up and keep fishing.  

[LionHeart]

5.9? I'd kill for your problems

[Mr. Aquarium]

1 hour ago, LionHeart said:

5.9? I'd kill for your problems

d**n.   it could always be worse. that 5.9 was in the first week of march, after that its been garbage

[keagbassr]

6 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

but even with the warmer water when its still cold out and raining good luck.

 Weather  affects fishermen more than the fish. Try to remember this.

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, LionHeart said:

5.9? I'd kill for your problems

I was thinking the same thing. I haven’t caught a 6 lb bass in over a decade. I haven’t caught a largemouth over 3 in about 2 years. Edit: ok I remember a 20" lm from last winter that was probably about 4lbs. Luckily i find a lot of 3-4 lbs smallmouth to keep me wishing. And I fish pretty much daily after work if there’s enough daylight left 

[FishDewd]

Well... some of us have never even caught any 3+ lb bass, so I'd say consider yourself lucky. :P

[NittyGrittyBoy]

My boats been tore up, impeller went out on outboard, trolling motor gave up the ghost, rear deck was rotten, and my trailer was in horrible shape from beating down dirt roads.

 

Been busting my tail to get everything fixed. Haven't fished in 3 months out of my own boat. Postspawn bass are eating everything and im stuck wrenching. 

 

5.9 is great start...

[papajoe222]

I just went through a stretch of seven days on the water with nothing to show for it. The fish would move up shallow late in the day and the night would turn cold and they'd be gone. Two days of unseasonably warm weather, and I'm finding them on beds and pairing up scouting for bedding sites.  This has to be the WORST April that I've ever experienced. Sweet May finally brought about a change with an overdue day of catching.

[Mr. Aquarium]

you guys that havent caught a big largemouth  must live in canada.

i saw clean beds yesterday, only had an hour to toss a line. missed a few, pads were coming up. 

going to head out today for slump buster. problem is IDK where to go. to many spots to fish

[WRB]

From your prior posts  you are located in northeastern region where It's been cold this year. If your goal is to catch a 8 lb LMB you may have set the bar too high. 8 lb bass from New England are rare so don't believe what other are saying regarding catching bass that size. 

Tom

[NittyGrittyBoy]

8lb down south is still growing.... Haha 

 

Good luck on your quest nonetheless! 

[Mr. Aquarium]

you'd be surprised at how many 8s are pulled,  i broken 7 3 times that i can remember. saw a 8.3 last week as well as a few 7s.  a 9 was caught a few weeks ago

[NittyGrittyBoy]

What happens when you do catch a 8? Stop fishing? Haha, shoot for 9!

[Mr. Aquarium]

hell ya shoot for a 9.  or maybe switch to smallie fishing more. thats something i seriously need to work on.  
theres always one bigger. theres a rumor of the state shocking up a 16lber few weeks ago

[NYWayfarer]

On ‎5‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 9:42 AM, LionHeart said:

5.9? I'd kill for your problems

Same here.

 

99% of 5lb Bass caught in my area are 2 and a half pounds in reality. Anything over three pounds is a double digit fish to the locals.

On ‎5‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 1:37 PM, th365thli said:

I've been in a slump too and it's tough to stay positive. I just try and go in with the mindset of learning from every trip and not get hung up on the "result" too much. I try to learn something every trip. Also, stay off the social media! Of course you're only going to see the good things happening to people on there. You're not going to see the other thousands of anglers grinding away. It's social media bias, it makes you think everyone else is doing better, when in reality they're only posting the good parts of their life. 

Social media is the debil.

 

Reminds me of watching Roland Martin fishing when I was younger. Man I thought he was catching a fish on every cast ! That is until I learned about editing. 6 hours of fishing crammed into a 20 minute show.

[Mr. Aquarium]

dammmmm, that sucks.  in 2016 i had 10 bass over 5lbs, biggest 7.8 and 2 smallies over 5. wouldnt mind that happening again, that year was epic. 

[WRB]

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

you'd be surprised at how many 8s are pulled,  i broken 7 3 times that i can remember. saw a 8.3 last week as well as a few 7s.  a 9 was caught a few weeks ago

There are several good New England/northeast area BR members who haven't caught a 9 lb LMB, very few 8 lb. Nothing wrong with setting your goals high. If trophy size bass are your goal expect down periods as the population changes.

Tom

[soflabasser]

Fish at night