Consistancy of bass fishing

[HTNFSH]

Hey Guys,

 

I've been chasing bass for just over a year now. I also jumped into the tournament seen (kayak) right out of the gate and really enjoy it. I know I'm competing against the best of my region or state in most cases and thats ok. 

 

Where I fall down is not even catching a 5 fish limit. When 60 guys are catching 5...I get 3. When the bite is tough and 25 get 3-5 fish, I skunk.

 

Time in the water will come, but I also fish a bunch of different lakes from Texas to New York.

 

How do you guys keep it together and not spin out chasing different locations. My biggest lesson so far is more casts...more fish.

 

Thanks

[Catt]

1 hour ago, HTNFSH said:

 

How do you guys keep it together and not spin out chasing different locations

 

Uhhh! Sometimes we don't ?

 

Number 1 key for me anyway is to understand what the predominate prey species in my bodies of water are & how those species relate to structure with each passing season...morning, noon, and night.

[Tennessee Boy]

2 hours ago, HTNFSH said:

How do you guys keep it together and not spin out chasing different locations. My biggest lesson so far is more casts...more fish.

If I understand your question,  I think you are asking what I've always considered one of the most intriguing question in tournament fishing strategy.   

 

You have two competing ideas. 

 

The first idea you eluded too,  more casts..more fish. Or as I used to say a wet lure will always catch more fish than a dry one.  The more time you spend moving to new locations and tying on different lures,  the less time you spend fishing.

 

The second idea.  Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.  If your not catching fish you should try something else... right?

 

Call me crazy but I aways tried to error on the side of insanity ?.  In the tournament win I have always been the most proud of,  I did one thing for 8 hours and had 6 bites and caught 5 good fish.  The 5th fish came over 3 hours after the 4th.  Patience won that tournament for me.  There have certainly been times when nothing was working that I spent the whole tournament as you say "chasing different locations".  That never worked for me but it's certainly possible that the 20th thing you try will win the tournament for you.

 

Of course it makes no sense to go into a tournament with only one plan and sticking to it no mater what.  Finding a balance between being flexible and being persistent is the key and it's not easy.  

 

I only spent about 10 years fishing at the club level.  It will be interesting to see what some of the more experience tournament angler on here have to say on this subject.

[Harold Scoggins]

3 hours ago, HTNFSH said:

Where I fall down is not even catching a 5 fish limit. When 60 guys are catching 5...I get 3. When the bite is tough and 25 get 3-5 fish, I skunk.

Please excuse. Too many mind. Mind the anglers watching, mind the paddle and kayak, mind the reel and lure. Too many mind. NO MIND.

 

Seriously @HTNFSH, it's called "mushin."

 

[813basstard]

Get good at what style you fish. 

I Guarantee you catch most of your fish by fishing your style. They’ll always be outliers, but if you weigh your five on five different styles of bait, that’s called hitting the lotto. 

Make it small and simple. 

Not being so sloppy on flips and working every spot in that Lilly pad field before moving on for example 

[HTNFSH]

Thanks for the honest feedback. Lots of ways to look at this situation and trying to be open minded.  I hope to put in to practice this weekend. 

 

 

[HTNFSH]

Well the weekend has come and gone. I put 35-40 hours on the water from Friday to Monday. Waiting on results, but expect to finish between 10-15 out of 62 for a club event. Given where I was fishing, I expected a top 5, but the big girls were not biting my line except one fish.

 

My go-to style is a texas rig of some sort and Monday was no different. Sunday and Monday I sized up from a 4" tube to an 8" lizard and the size of fish increased from 14-15" to 16-17". It was clear I found a spawning and staging area and fished it hard. I fished the edges of lilies where it transitioned to grass or a weed of sorts.

 

Changing things up I moved off the lilies to more open water and into deeper 5-7 ft of water thinking maybe the bigger fish were deeper. The sun was high (noon) with clear bright skies. I was drifting with wind and making a long cast quartering with the wind a dragging back slowly through the grass when my rod hit so hard I thought it was a pike or smallmouth. As I got it closer the the yak,  disappointment set in when I thought it was a big drum (or sheephead we call them). I didn't bother with the net only to see the biggest darn bass I've ever seen on the right side of the boat. As I reach down and grab it with my right hand by the mouth, my left hand (with the rod) leans over and creates enough slack for her to hop off. I was devastated. 

 

I spent two more hours circling the area after setting 3 waypoints. (100ft radius) I had 3 more bite that felt the same but could not hook up again. I tried the same area again a few hours later without success. My guess is I hit her bed the first time and either found a school or got lucky enough to hit her bed 3 more times.

 

That bass could have eaten every other fish I caught all weekend. I am guessing she was 5-7lbs and 21-23".

 

 

[diversity210]

First you could be fishing against guys that have been doing it 20-30 years, so of course you may drag behind a little.  Whether tournament fishing or just casual fishing for recreation.  You have to find what works for you.  I know guys who love jig fishing.  I know guys that love cranking.  I know guys that love spinner baits and it always seem like they catch the majority of their fish on the lures they love because you develop such a good and effective technique for fishing that specific lure and its important because you learn to present that lure better.  Of course their will be times where you will have to dig deep into that tackle bag and throw something you aren't comfortable with so your familiarize yourself with many things, but you know what works for you.  Also stop worrying about what the other guys are catching.  Just focus on honing your technique and having a good time.  Worrying about everyone else makes you stress and become anxious and it causes mistakes.  Bass fishing these days is a skill that is hones over many years.  So stop thinking your one year is going to keep up with everyone else.  Just the fact that you are in the race is good enough for now

[scaleface]

If your Kayak fishing you're probably not doing much deep structure fishing ,, I wouldnt be . You are  probably junk fishing the shallows. Choose lures that will effectively work the high percentage spots , like  lay-downs , vegetation ... In between the high percentage spots choose lures that will  effectively work and cover water fast . There should be several choices for both . Rotate  through them until you find one that is working . Its hard to recommend what those lures might be due to each body of water has different characteristics .

[J Francho]

I'm almost always in deeper water in my kayak.  I like to fish deep breaks, typically around 12-17' around here.  In a most basic sense, look at a map, and pick areas that are just off the main weed line and where the depth lines are close together, near deeper water.  Trust me, pick 5-6 spots, and fish these.  You keep putting in this work, and you'll be rewarded.