What did you learn on the water this week?

[Choporoz]

I know nothing about the source, nor the information contained, but this article is interesting regarding tidal LMB and shrimp:

http://unionsportsmen.org/shrimp-tidewater-largemouth/

[BassNJake]

I relearned that when they are pulling a lot of water; the shallow topwater bite gets tougher but you will still find them if you cover enough water

[scaleface]

I learned why my Lowrance hasnt been working well . If you scroll through  the menu, there under settings, select this item , then scroll some more and push more buttons  there are settings for shallow , deep , salt , fresh and trolling . Mine was set on shallow . Switched it to fresh and it worked perfectly .?

[fishwizzard]

1) I can't make a topater bit happen on demand just because I left everything else at home.  Even if it's just two extra lures, always have something on hand for the entire water column. 

2) That little patch of skin above my shoes but below the bottom hem of my tights really really sucks to get sunburned.  

[Harold Scoggins]

Today's sunrise and sunset is always better than yesterday's....yep, that's what I learned.

[the reel ess]

3 hours ago, Troy1985s said:

I learned that tidal Bass love to eat shrimp as they migrate from the interior marsh back offshore.

This reminds me of another current thread about favorite plastic craws. Someone said it seems bass are just as/more likely to bite a plastic that resembles a craw as they are one that looks exactly like a craw. Well, I have a couple Vudu Shrimp baits I bought for redfish and never used that I think I could probably catch a bass on even if it has never seen a shrimp.

[Troy85]

1 minute ago, the reel ess said:

-Well, I have a couple Vudu Shrimp baits I bought for redfish 

This is exactly what I caught them on.

[Choporoz]

Small sample size, but I'm going to be comfortable extrapolating for now.....

 

Recently was able to observe a decent size bass (2#+) swimming alongside the boat while trolling steady at about 1/3 speed.  Didn't seem to have a care in the world.  After more than a dozen yards, I cut the speed....just a hair...and he bolted.

      As I said, small sample, but it confirmed for me what I've read about how steady troll speed is much better than speed changes.  I sort of suspected that cutting speed would have been an ok thing for him....not so much, apparently.

[Topwaterdude]

Don't post a fishing report about a spot that's holding alot of fish,everybody in his brother will be there next weekend...?

[Log Catcher]

I learned fishing with jigs is a joke. I used one the other day and made 5 or 6 casts with it before I caught one on it. LOL

[DogBone_384]

This week I learned that soft baits aren’t working but top water and square bills are.

 

I also learned I can still find bass without electronics.

[TnRiver46]

I learned that I am still, after hundreds of casts, unable to effectively use a chatterbait 

[Russ E]

my 55 year old knees don't like bouncing in rough water all day, while standing on the deck.

I am not a sit down fisherman, but I may have to re evaluate that decision on rough water.

first time my knees ever ached after fishing.

[Oregon Native]

I may be going back to the ol basics on some rods/reels.  Seems fluro if you get even a small backlash weaken's the line to the extent I can't trust it.   Everything has it's applications and I think on my jerk and cranking rods I'm going back to good ol mono......just saying......to be continued.

 

[Fishingintheweeds]

I learned that I can throw a jig in a pit, and with patience, catch an awful lot of good sized fish there if you can figure out what's going on at the bottom. As the legend goes, in any weather conditions...from calm, sunny and 85, to very windy, cloudy and 50. Even at noon. 

 

Oh, and I learned today, that my feeling that I should NOT be sharing my spots and tricks was probably correct. Thanks, @Topwaterdude for the confirmation. 

 

My favorite things to do are:

1. Fish places that look like they would never have fish and are extremely inconvenient.

2. At those tough places, deny ever seeing fish there and just say I'm seeing how my lure works in the water or practicing casting.

3. Say that I've heard they're there and I've seen a couple but it's tough! I may also say I saw fish jump but I'm not sure what they are.

 

I'm torn between that and being a really good guy and giving away everything I've learned. But...I hate fishing in a crowd. And I already fish from the banks. 

[Topwaterdude]

59 minutes ago, Fishingintheweeds said:

I learned that I can throw a jig in a pit, and with patience, catch an awful lot of good sized fish there if you can figure out what's going on at the bottom. As the legend goes, in any weather conditions...from calm, sunny and 85, to very windy, cloudy and 50. Even at noon. 

 

Oh, and I learned today, that my feeling that I should NOT be sharing my spots and tricks was probably correct. Thanks, @Topwaterdude for the confirmation. 

 

My favorite things to do are:

1. Fish places that look like they would never have fish and are extremely inconvenient.

2. At those tough places, deny ever seeing fish there and just say I'm seeing how my lure works in the water or practicing casting.

3. Say that I've heard they're there and I've seen a couple but it's tough! I may also say I saw fish jump but I'm not sure what they are.

 

I'm torn between that and being a really good guy and giving away everything I've learned. But...I hate fishing in a crowd. And I already fish from the banks. 

My feeling on it is just like anything in life when you work hard for something and figure it out it's more rewarding,if someone tells you where to go ,what bait to use,what depth,what type of presentation,you wont ever learn anything and what's the point of fishing, that's the fun part is trying to figure it out, other wise if it was just about catching I'd probably focus on shark fishing.

[senile1]

The only water I was on this week was the water standing in my mushy yard.  I learned that constant rain mixed with lightning and no sunshine is very depressing.  But then again, I have to count my blessings as I haven't had to deal with anything like hurricanes Florence and Michael.

[Somd Fx4]

Today I learned heavy winds aren't kayak friendly. But still managed to catch a dink on a squarebill. I love fall crankbait fishing. 

 

Up until last weekend I had no faith in crankbaits. I threw them a lot this summer and nothing. Last weekend, I tied on a silent Grizzard shad KVD squarebill. After my third cast along rip rap I caught my first crankbait fish. It was no trophy but a fish nonetheless. Today, I went right back down to the same spot with a chart black back rattling squarebill and caught my second crankbait fish.

[sfpalatka]

Thinking that your drag is locked down and it is not. I was flipping in some water hyacinths and hung into a GIANT bass. Needles to say that my drag wasn't tighten down all the way not allowing me to pull the bass clear of the water hyacinths before it got rid of the hook. I had pulled bass out of the slop before with it. But apparently not as big as this one. 

[tander]

The bite was off. What I learned is sometimes it is better to go golfing than fishing, well maybe. ?

[Choporoz]

5 minutes ago, sfpalatka said:

Thinking that your drag is locked down and it is not. . 

Right....what's with the gremlins that loosen drag in middle of the night??....I miss a couple every year because I didn't check/adjust my drag at start of the day.

[ApacheGuns515]

I learned that Coho Salmon are the most A hole fish on the entire planet who will literally jump all around you like dolphins yet decide to eat absolutely nothing that you toss near them. 

 

Seriously, 30+ anglers standing side by side tossing everything from live bait to egg sacks to spoons and the Salmon just jump on by giving everyone the middle finger. Even had one jump on the boat ramp then just jump back in the water lol. 

 

That was my first Salmon fishing experience...I guess now I can understand why just scooping them out with a net is illegal. I could have just waded out there and grabbed one by hand. 

[scaleface]

On 10/11/2018 at 8:42 PM, Russ E said:

my 55 year old knees don't like bouncing in rough water all day, while standing on the deck.

I am not a sit down fisherman, but I may have to re evaluate that decision on rough water.

first time my knees ever ached after fishing.

I'm not   a sit down angler either , not even in small crafts . This year I have been forced to sit down because of back  pain . I need to   shorten all my rod handles down two to four inches .They are too long and I dont like having to hold the rod out away from my body that far . It is contributing to   the back issues . 

[flyfisher]

I learned that even though baitfish are schooling it doesn't mean the fish are keying in on them with the water temps still in the mid 70's.  

[YaknBassn]

I learned to start fishing with my gut feeling.  Fished a small tourney yesterday.  Winner caught his stringer and big bass in the exact area I started the day fishing.  

 

Could've been me.  But no, I just HAD to go fish deep.   And I hate fishing deep.