What has helped you improve the most as an angler?

[Columbia Craw]

Fishing different bodies of water.

 

[newyorktoiowa57]

for me it has been a combination of fishing ponds where its easy to build confidence in a technique coupled with finding the right action rod for that technique

[Joe S]

To be honest for me it has simply been time fishing.   This past couple of years i haven't been able to get out on the boat very much (just too busy) but i realized i had an hour to kill here and there which drove me do more shore line fishing.   I could get in a solid 50 minutes mutilple times a week.  It was great, and kept my fishing needs satisfied.    

 

Also, since i only had the hour i would limit what i brought and only focus in on using 1 type of bait/lure each time.  This gave me good learning time with that particular lure.    You'd be surprised what you can do with each type of lure when it's all you bring and you want to rip some lips. 

 

 

[Russ E]

Side imaging, gps mapping and spotlock has simplified bass fishing a lot for me.

 

I am not sure it has made me a better angler, but these modern electronics sure makes finding and staying on areas a lot easier.

 

[schplurg]

Been thinking about this question.

 

I think for me, as a new bass fisherman (which I think is important), it's learning about bass behavior. I want to say time on the water, and I feel that will become more of a factor later, but I think educating myself off the water has helped more, especially since I don't know any good bass anglers to hang out with and learn from.

 

Maybe like driving a car. You can tell who paid attention in Drivers Ed and who didn't as you cruise down the freeway. Many things involve learning the basics before you ever put them into practice.

 

My friend has fished most of his life, fairly avidly though not primarily for bass, but I out fish him usually. He's the first to point it out.

 

I learn quickly usually, and I've spent a lot of time here at BR, as well as Youtube and reading other articles. I have more in-depth (book)knowledge than he does. He has decades of time on the water.

 

I pretty much am hooked on this bass fishing thing, so I learned a lot fast. I have a lot of time on my hands sometimes.

 

I think that at some point though time on the water will be much more valuable. During the season I fish several times a week, so I do have a lot of time on the water too. Hmmmm oh well, that's what I think about it, at least for today.

[CrankFate]

Other people that know how to fish and time.

[DINK WHISPERER]

When my son became my fishing partner at 8 years old. He doesn't overthink anything like I do. He picks his baits randomly and does whatever feels right. And it usually works in his favor too!!!

I sometimes talk myself out of a certain pattern or even going altogether. Not him, he's always ready to go. 

[scaleface]

I joined a bass club at nineteen . First thing I noticed was my equipment and my casting ability were not up to par . I corrected that quickly .Then hit a wall . The guys in my club , every single one I fished with were bank beating , junk fisherman . Never did one of them employ a worm or jig or move offshore . I started fishing solo , putting time on the water and exploring    deeper.  I had a lot of unproductive days but I was learning . I fished outside the box , trying anything that came to mind . Slow rolling spinnerbaits on deep stumps . Wrapping lead solder around crankbait hooks to get them to run deeper...But the big  change in success came on that first bass caught on a Texas rig . After that quantity and quality skyrocketed . Even when fishing other lures , I had a better understanding on where bass were because of the success brought on by the worm/jig.

[RB 77]

Time on the water.

[John O]

Getting out on the water as much as possible and practice what you've learned on YOUTUBE and other sources...

 

[Do1982]

Soft plastics.  When I was first getting into bass fishing most of my fishing was done with cast and reel lures. Mainly spinner baits with a small amount of crankbaits on the side. Opening myself up to soft plastics and the ways to fish them has made me such a better fisherman. I feel almost any day, I can go to almost any lake, and catch at least one on a soft plastic.  I may have a few days that get ugly, but I seem to rarely get skunked.  Mostly because I feel at some point I can at least catch one bass on a soft plastic. 

[newyorktoiowa57]

2 hours ago, Do1982 said:

Soft plastics.  When I was first getting into bass fishing most of my fishing was done with cast and reel lures. Mainly spinner baits with a small amount of crankbaits on the side. Opening myself up to soft plastics and the ways to fish them has made me such a better fisherman. I feel almost any day, I can go to almost any lake, and catch at least one on a soft plastic.  I may have a few days that get ugly, but I seem to rarely get skunked.  Mostly because I feel at some point I can at least catch one bass on a soft plastic. 

I started to experience this too last year.  Before then it was all spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, frogs, and lipless.  Tough to beat a 1/4 texas rigged craw/beaver. 

[Jonas Staggs]

Not in any specific order but....

 

Fishing more

Bassresource

YouTube 

Internet articles 

Micro fishing 

 

[The Maestro]

Lots of good answers already. I wil say that for me I feel like I leveled up in bass fishing when I was no longer bothered in the slightest by not getting bit for an extended period of time. When I was starting out I would get really frustrated when I would go a while without catching anything. This would cause me to lose focus which would lead to even more frustration. 

 

I guess after having experienced it first hand many times I finally came to understand that a big one can bite at anytime and sometimes the fish can really shut down and then turn on like a light switch all of a sudden and sometimes they don't. That's just the way she goes in fishing. You just gotta keep your head in it and keep grinding and eventually you'll be rewarded.

 

Now I can go for multiple hours (probably even the entire day) without a bite and I'm just as focused and into it as I was at the start of the day. Took me around 8 years of serious fishing to reach that point.

[bazzelite19]

Starting at a young age. It seems if you start young you gain a serious passion for it and it just sticks with you. I'm almost 30 now and ive fished my whole life, and will fish the rest of my life for sure. 

[RAMBLER]

Bass Resource has been some help, as have other publications and web sites.  The way all of that has helped me most is owning more tackle than I can put in my boat and far more than I will ever use.  I am the prime example of the person that owns the most tackle and catches the fewest fish.  My own imagination has caught more fish than anything else.  Sometimes I use tackle differently that most people do and later on I find that there is a name for that rig.  Didn't know before, that each rig needed to be named.

[Ogandrews]

1- switching to strictly braid to a leader/ straight braid as well as using the right rod for the lure

2- applying tactics I think should work to places where people around me don’t fish like that and gaining confidence doing stuff differently than the people around me

[NorthStar]

1. Boat Control 

2. Electronics

3. Tournament butt kickings

[FishTank]

PPP

 

Patience 

Practice 

Persistance

 

And focusing on gear and just better ways in general that increase my fishing fun