A Real Bass Fisherman

[Mobasser]

Maybe I'm not a real bass fisherman anymore. I seem to fish many of the same baits that I've used for years now.I learn about new baits from my grandson, or here on Bass Resource. I'm not good at drop shot. I've never thrown a Neko rig, or a spybait. I still use standard bass tackle. Aside from an old flipping stick, the longest rod I own is 6'6. I still use round ABU casting reels, and two spin reels. One is a rebuilt ABU Zebco Cardinal 4, which is really an antique now. I rarely fish super fast, having caught more fish on a slower retrieve over the years. I love plastic worms, spinnerbaits,buzzbaits, spooks, and rattletraps. I still like to throw Charlie Brewers slider heads, with a variety of smaller plastic worms. The recent thread on Bill Norman crankbaits got me good. I still use some of those. Catts picture of the old Heddon Moss Boss spoon was another one. I still have a white one, and still throw it too. New things come out so fast now, it's been kind of hard to keep up with it all. At one point many years ago, I made the desicion to focus on where to fish, and stopped putting so much stock in the tackle and baits. They've become tools to catch fish with, but knowing where to use them became the key to all this. At some point I'll upgrade my tackle. It's getting there now. The thing is, I still catch my share of bass with all this stuff. But, to some I probably wouldn't be considered a real bass fisherman nowdays. Anyone else think this way?

[Jleebesaw]

If you fish for bass, you're a bass fisherman. I guess people can have other opinions about what makes someone a bass fisherman, but who cares? 

  Learning new techniques or trying new equipment can be fun and maybe even game changing, but using tried and true tactics is great too. It doesnt matter what anybody else thinks.

[LCG]

I believe they call that wisdom 

[nascar2428]

I don't care what others think, as long as I'm catching em that's all that matters to me. 

[TnRiver46]

Reading that post was like looking in the mirror! Keep on fishing how you like to fish! 

[jimmyjoe]

 

Just now, nascar2428 said:

I don't care what others think, as long as I'm catching em that's all that matters to me. 

  ^^^ True ^^^   This is a great place to learn about new things, but they ain't mandatory. Satisfy yourself, not other people.   jj

[rtwvumtneer6]

I'm a believer that some of the new lures and techniques work so well because it's something different the fish haven't seen before.  I'll go out on a limb and assume some will be a fad, and soon forgotten, while others will stand the test of time.  

 

If you've found what works for you, then you have the best lure out there... Confidence!  

 

If you're targeting bass, and continuing to learn, you're a bass angler in my book.  Period.  

 

[Armtx77]

I throw Senkos like fat kids eating cake. When fat kids stop eating cake, I will stop throwing Senkos.

 

I think new techniques are great and I know they catch fish. Im glad there are guys pushing the envelopes,designing gear to push the envelopes further.

[papajoe222]

To be honest with myself, I've only tried one of the newer baits/techniques in the last 20 years that I use on a regular basis; a soft plastic swimbait.  I still have a Plano box dedicated to Flukes, shakey heads and drop-shotting, but I can count on one hand how often I actually dipped into them.  Split-shotting and wacky rigs get the nod more often, but those techniques have been around almost as long as I have.

I still learn things about bassin', like boat position, that have added to my enjoyment, but even if I were to never learn more than I know now, I'd still consider myself a real bass fisherman.  Look at it this way; You could have a truck bed full of carpentry tools and not be a carpenter, or a tape measure, saw and a hammer and be a darn good one.  Enjoy the sport whatever way you like, a title doesn't define who you are......a bassman.

 

[Fishes in trees]

I like the gear collecting aspect of fishing, bass fishing in particular.  Some could call it an addiction ( some did, when I outgrew my garage years ago and built a 30 by 50 metal building to store my stuff in ).   I lined the walls with shelves and bought many plastic shoe boxes to mouse proof my collection of extra soft plastics.    But hey, if I was extremely partial to the booger sugar, all I'd have to show for it at the end of the day would be a runny nose.

 

I like learning techniques that are new to me and often that requires specific gear that I don't already have.  Can't throw A rigs on a pistol grip rod,  or larger swim baits on an ultra-light, stuff like that.  I know Slider fishing has been around for a long time, I read Charlie Brewer's book when it first came out.   I catch more fish throwing sliders now, with the quality gear that I've got now, than what I did in the late 70's-early 80's, when a Skyline Graphite rod was top of the line.  Heck, even the 6 lb mono that I commonly throw now is light years ahead of the 6 lb mono of the 70's & 80's.

 

I think that good gear helps you catch more fish.  I know that using lighter bait casters lets me fish longer without my wrists getting sore, compared to the Calcutta 250's I used to use.

 

As far as what is considered a "bass fisherman" I think that you can consider yourself anything you want.    I frequently consider myself a jerk on one end of the line waiting for a jerk at the other end of the line . . ..

[waymont]

Might as well use a cane pole and some red wigglers.

 

[Tennessee Boy]

I'm a strong believer that you will catch more fish being a master of a few techniques compared to being average at many.  How many techniques you can master depends on how much time you have to commit to mastering them.  The day I realized this was the day my fishing started to improve dramatically.  It also reduced the amount of tackle I need.  

[JustJames]

A real bass fisherman? Count me out. I refuse or don’t know how to fish so many lures like crank, lipless, paddle tail swim bait. I don’t practice my accuracy, Flippin, pitching. I give up fishing so easily, and I’m too lazy to take my boat/kayak out even on my day off. I haven’t caught any bass for quite awhile and I don’t care.

Yes I have newer gears/lure but that is another joy of shopping for me.

[FishinBuck07]

That is a the beauty of all of it!  Baits from years ago still work, it is about what you are comfortable fishing with.  Yeah the rods and reels have probably gotten better with the advancements, but as they say if ain't broke don't fix it.  I am like many other bass fisherman, where I like buying tackle, I am pretty sure I won't use all of what I have purchased in my lifetime.  I also don't care though, it is the one thing I spend money on.  As my wife says all the time when I buy something else and feel bad about it.  "We work hard for our money and you could be spending it on far worse things!"  But like I said that is the beauty of bass fishing, we all do it differently and as long as you do it within the law, then who cares what anyone else says about it.  Do it the way you enjoy it!!

[Log Catcher]

I am like @TnRiver46. I felt like I was looking in the mirror reading @Mobasser post. I have moved up to low profile reels but I do still have some round reels. I am happy with what I have and how I fish. I can't afford to try every new bait or trick they come up with. Since I don't fish tournaments it is not that important to me try every trick out there.

[BassNJake]

This is funny to me because I see it a little differently.

Tourney fishing has opened my eyes to a bunch of guys that have very expensive boats, all the fancy gear and know all the latest bait crazes. 

Yet, they cant catch fish and donate their entry fee each and every tourney.(thank you, btw)

 

But they love driving up and down the lake at 70MPH and hanging in the parking lot trying to show and tell or talk fishing with anyone that will listen.

 

So when I see the guy in the canoe or the guy in the john boat I have the utmost respect as I feel they are more about being a bass fisherman than acting like one

[TnRiver46]

27 minutes ago, BassNJake said:

This is funny to me because I see it a little differently.

Tourney fishing has opened my eyes to a bunch of guys that have very expensive boats, all the fancy gear and know all the latest bait crazes. 

Yet, they cant catch fish and donate their entry fee each and every tourney.(thank you, btw)

 

But they love driving up and down the lake at 70MPH and hanging in the parking lot trying to show and tell or talk fishing with anyone that will listen.

 

So when I see the guy in the canoe or the guy in the john boat I have the utmost respect as I feel they are more about being a bass fisherman than acting like one

Preach it

[GReb]

I ran into a real bass fisherman last weekend. An old coonie. Wasn’t @Catt .  At least I don’t think ?. Ol’ boy was working that rod tip going from stump to stump. We finally crossed paths and talked a bit. I commented on his Junebug ribbon tail and he smiled and said if they didn’t like his worm than he better just go to the house cause that’s all he fishes. At the end of the day he had caught twice as many as any other boat

[OCdockskipper]

I would suggest the definition for a "real" bass fisherman is the guy who figures out a way to catch them no matter the circumstances.  The gear, the method, the boat are all personal preferences that help that person accomplish that goal.

 

I do think it is helpful to be open to new techniques and gear, sometimes it will work better or increase your enjoyment.  Like the OP, I prefer shorter pistol grip rods, but I will pair them with a nice reel like a Revo.  On my spinning reels, I'm old school in that I like the Shimano line pickup feature and double handles found on some of their reels, but I learned pairing it with a modern line like Nanofil solved many problems.

 

As for lures, I am always interested in seeing if new lures will do something better than my existing lures.  I love throwing Zara spooks, but there are times a Whopper Plopper is a better tool.  I'm always giving new soft jerkbaits a try to see how well they skip, but I typically return to a Slug-go or Senko after the trial.  Trying new baits resulted in learning Midwest Finesse (Ned Rig), something I am sooooooo grateful that I know now.

 

Not every thing new should be adopted, but some new things will make your fishing life better.

[the reel ess]

There are lots of ways to skin the bass fishing cat. When my dad and I started bass fishing, we only had one mentor, his buddy. Well, we only fished 6" plastic worms for several years. Then I branched out to crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwaters, The C-rig and I was bait monkey-bit thereafter. Thing is, my dad still usually caught as many or more or bigger bass than me with just that 6" worm. He just had great confidence in it.

 

I just get great pleasure from trying a new bait and succeeding.

[lo n slo]

3 hours ago, JustJames said:

A real bass fisherman? Count me out. I refuse or don’t know how to fish so many lures like crank, lipless, paddle tail swim bait. I don’t practice my accuracy, Flippin, pitching. I give up fishing so easily, and I’m too lazy to take my boat/kayak out even on my day off. I haven’t caught any bass for quite awhile and I don’t care.

Yes I have newer gears/lure but that is another joy of shopping for me.

ok, where is our James, and what have you done with him?

[WRB]

The oldest active bass anglers I know are still on top of current techniques and lures and like me tend to fall back on what actually works.

Dee Thomas (flipping) and Don Iovino (finesse) are both hall of fame bass anglers who still bass fish. Dee caught 12lb+ Jig bass about 3 weeks ago still tournaments fish, Don is still guiding, fishing local tournaments, seminars and setting up Lowrance units.

Any time I want to know what's new Don's knows.

Me, I still fish hair jigs with pork rind trailers.

Tom

PS, both Dee and Don are 80 years young.

[Todd2]

There's a fine line..fishing with the old classics vs. trying new stuff.. One day last Spring, I had one of my best days ever on a Ned rig for numbers and size. It felt like I do no wrong with it. Got back to ramp expecting others to have similar results and was surprised how slow it'd had been for most. That's one case where a "new" technique paid off.

[TnRiver46]

If you don't have two power poles you aren't a real bass fisherman here. Funny thing is their trolling motors have spot lock too but no one is ever sitting still. The main driving force behind it is money, just like the fishing clothing debate on another thread. If they CAN convince you that you need a $3k depth finder, $3k trolling motor and $50 pants, they will gladly sell them to you. Think of how many mouse traps are on the market and the snap traps they designed 100 years ago are still better than any of them 

[scaleface]

The average bass anger doesnt have time time to fish everything . Its not that I am bad at fishing a  drop shot I just dont have the time for it . I have accumulated quite the amount of tackle over the decades . Now days  ,something has to really appeal  to me and fill a niche  before I  purchase  it.