What has helped you improve the most as an angler?

[the reel ess]

Tying on a jig and not cutting it off-ever. Just making myself use it until I could consistently catch bass on it. And I still don't cut it off.

 

Hiring a So FL guide for a couple days and getting pointers, catching maybe 100 fish along the way. It was expensive, but a good experience I can't get here, alone.

 

I also have a bud with a pond full of dinks. Whenever I want to try a new technique, I'll give it a shot there first. It usually works because they're hungry there and it gives me the confidence in it to use it elsewhere.

[JWall14]

Fish. A lot.

[BassNJake]

I see all the comments about time on the water .....

I spent about 300 days on the water just fishing --- no plan, no real clues, just this spot looks good or man theres got to be 1 on this laydown. Looking back those were wasted days.

So unless you have an idea or a plan, time on the water might not add up to getting better.

 

Then I started learning about seasonal patterns and structure.

These 2 things allowed me to start gaining knowledge to help with my search.

Adding current weather conditions narrowed down the options even more.

 

I also spend a few hours every week practicing my casting and pitching(for about 15 years now)

This has helped a ton as quiet entries sometimes make the difference in a bite or not

[Paul Roberts]

Time on the water, researching how other people fish, researching how aquatic systems work. In that order. However, each inform the others.

[Hawkeye21]

46 minutes ago, BassNJake said:

I see all the comments about time on the water .....

I spent about 300 days on the water just fishing --- no plan, no real clues, just this spot looks good or man theres got to be 1 on this laydown. Looking back those were wasted days.

So unless you have an idea or a plan, time on the water might not add up to getting better.

 

Then I started learning about seasonal patterns and structure.

These 2 things allowed me to start gaining knowledge to help with my search.

Adding current weather conditions narrowed down the options even more.

 

I also spend a few hours every week practicing my casting and pitching(for about 15 years now)

This has helped a ton as quiet entries sometimes make the difference in a bite or not

I don't think people mean to just do random things until it works when they say time on the water.  I know that's not what I mean when I say it.  I think you obviously need to have an idea of what you want to do an what to look for.  That's part of the studying at home for me, but you can do that forever and it won' help you at all until you get on the water and get that experience.

[crypt]

• paying attention everytime I'm on the water. was the best thing for me.

[WRB]

Jason Lucas taking the time to write to a young boy interested in bass fishing and suggesting to get a Langley reel and Connolin bass rod to learn to cast.

Jerry "Red" Cowin the Pleasure Point Boat Landing manager who took the time to teach me how to bass fish as a young boy. Casting skills that have lasted a lifetime.

The passion to fish every minute I could and desire to learn the behavior of the bass.

Tom

 

[DanielG]

13 hours ago, newyorktoiowa57 said:

What steps have you taken to improve the most?

What?!.... improve? That's the goal? uh-oh....

 

Of all the hits and misses I've done over the past couple of years. I guess the top thing is learning my lake. I live on a four and a half mile one with water from a few feet to ninety feet deep. Paying attention to the bottom topography on my Garmin and where the fish are at when I hook them would probably be my best help at improvement.

[jjconnaire]

8 hours ago, GreenPig said:

My Minn Kota Terrova with I-pilot (Spot Lock, Cruise Control, and the Go-To feature used in conjunction with my Solix) has greatly improved my cast to catch ratio. It allows me to fish my light boat in winds that would've previously run me off the lake or kept me home. I can present lures properly without being blown around or constantly fighting to control the boat.The Go-To feature allows me to sneak into a waypoint without alerting the fish. 

I second this! If you are don’t have spot lock or any other trolling motor GPS anchor and are thinking about it.... DO IT! It has single handed lay changed the way I fish. No worries of blowing away or onto your targeted fishing area.  I have a 98’ Alumacraft V16 Lunker Ltd with a 12v 55lb terrova and that thing is awesome.  I threw around getting a 24v but unfortunately I don’t have power on the slip where I keep my boat so I have to lug my 12v battery every time so wasn’t really an option. 

[OCdockskipper]

Time on the water with a Ned Rig tied on.

[Smalls]

Forcing myself to grind out the tough times of the day. For example I used to fish this small lake that was on fire mid morning until about 1 pm. After that you couldn't buy a bite. But even after I got irritated, upset, and obviously not having fun, I made myself stay and figure out a bite. 

 

Paying attention to and figuring out a pattern. I used to think these guys were full of it when they said stuff like "they're sitting on 3.5' tall brush piles, but only the ones that have 3 rocks in front of em". But sometimes it really is like that. So I junk fish til I get a couple bites, then kinda stop and reflect on those bites and try to crack the code for the day. 

[BassNJake]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye21 said:

I don't think people mean to just do random things until it works when they say time on the water.  I know that's not what I mean when I say it.  I think you obviously need to have an idea of what you want to do an what to look for.  That's part of the studying at home for me, but you can do that forever and it won' help you at all until you get on the water and get that experience.

I see this a little differently, to me you gained the knowledge thru research.(studying at home)

That research was not done on the water.

That research gave you an idea of what you want to do and what to look for.

Being on the water gives you the confirmation that what you learned will work.

 

I should have worded it differently as now looking at it, it appears that I was saying something negative to those that responded time on the water.

 

I guess my point is for me trying to learn and understand bass behavior is what helped me improve the most

That was not done on the water. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[928JLH]

Stubbornness. I studied up on a technique tied it on and stuck with it only. I did it with jigs, spinner bait, chatterbait, lipless, squarebills, cranking, and swimbaits. Very frustrating at times but it got me covering water and working reaction bites. Got  me away from dropshot and soft plastics. It was worth it because I got to be very well rounded and out of my comfort/confidence zone.

[Kev-mo]

Most everything everyone has mentioned is important and has helped a lot. But the thing that helped me the most has been success. Actually catching fish the way I set out to catch them where I set out to catch them. Success breeds confidence and confidence is huge!

[Bankbeater]

It has probably time on the water, and tweaking things I have learned on this site so that they work for me in the water that I fish.

[TnRiver46]

10 hours ago, lo n slo said:

^best answer to any question in the history of earth 

8 hours ago, Siebert Outdoors said:

In all honesty one of mine is scuba diving and observing fish in their natural habitat.  Learning how they relate to structure and move.

I agree with this and love snorkeling but for whatever reason my head feels like it’s going to explode at about 8 feet down. I like the idea of scuba diving but am waaaaay to chicken for that. I’ve tried all the tricks to clear the pressure and nothing ever helps 

 

 

my answer to the OP: having a hook in the water every possible chance you get is my strategy. The learning will all fall into place if you are always fishing. Just like anything else, practice makes perfect 

[scaleface]

When I speak of time on the water I'm talking going fishing and making a day out of it .   Fish deep ,shallow , cold , warm... Thats how I learned where bass lurk and what lures will allow me fish to  it effectively . Sure I watched all the old TV shows of Virgil Ward , Harold Ensly and others  .Read Fishing Facts , In Fisherman , BASSMASTER cover to cover but theres no substitute for  putting in the time and effort .Plus I was always an angler. I started as soon as I was able to hold a pole .

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

Time on the water, researching how other people fish, researching how aquatic systems work. In that order. However, each inform the others.

Another great answer. When Paul says something short and to the point, take notice!!! 

[Mbirdsley]

Reading these forums and just time on the water. Finding and reading info is great but, you have to get out there and do it. 

 

[soflabasser]

9 hours ago, BassNJake said:

I see all the comments about time on the water .....

I spent about 300 days on the water just fishing --- no plan, no real clues, just this spot looks good or man theres got to be 1 on this laydown. Looking back those were wasted days.

So unless you have an idea or a plan, time on the water might not add up to getting better.

There is a big difference between someone who gets lucky every once in a while and a person who is consistently successful in bass fishing and the main difference is successful bass fishermen tend to plan in advance their fishing trips and do the best they can to learn from every fishing trip. You cannot expect to catch quality bass often if you do not put in the work needed, same applies for anything in life. The internet has made learning about bass fishing much easier but it will never substitute knowledge gained while bass fishing.

[txchaser]

Mostly learning from this site or books recommended here. A couple of youtubers Bassresource, Tactical Bassin, and one of my favorites our very own @Paul Roberts

 

Upgraded numbers and some size - Learning where to fish and why - cover, structure, bass behavior relating to those two. My learning edge here is definitely structure and being able to have some instinct around it. I can read a topo map pretty well, but this week I made a 3d map of a small lake I surveyed and I was able to have some big aha moments about what was going on...I could see the steep wall with access to both a feeding flat on a point and deep water, and none of it was obvious from above the water (odd spot for a ledge), and I'm not good enough yet to piece it together from a couple of fragments of a sonar scan. 

 

Upgraded size - Difference in behavior between larger fish and smaller ones. Dinks don't say much about what the big lazy bullies are doing. 

 

Lots and lots of reading and then fiddling on the water too see what I can makes sense of in the real world.

-Recent example that worked - Isolated group of weeds, thought to myself 'huh, I bet something lives there' because it is out in a really good spot with no other structure or cover nearby. Produced three fish up to 5lbs.

-One that didn't work out at all, with very high winds this weekend most of my casts were into the wind since there was no current to orient them another way, always supposed to do that right?...on the ride home I realized that zero of seven fish were into the wind. Five were casting with the wind and two crossways. I still have no idea why.  Would have caught a bunch more if I hadn't been so slow to realize the pattern.

-Last one, fish the windblown end of small water - I've found this to be more like 50/50, sometimes they are there and sometimes they are stacked up hiding from the wind, and I have no idea of the difference, but it is at least quick to figure out which spot. 

[Catt]

10% of the water holds 90% of the fish

 

You can spend time on the water learning how to fish or you can spend time on the water learning how to catch.

[Dens228]

20 hours ago, BassNJake said:

I see all the comments about time on the water .....

I spent about 300 days on the water just fishing --- no plan, no real clues, just this spot looks good or man theres got to be 1 on this laydown. Looking back those were wasted days.

So unless you have an idea or a plan, time on the water might not add up to getting better.

 

Then I started learning about seasonal patterns and structure.

These 2 things allowed me to start gaining knowledge to help with my search.

Adding current weather conditions narrowed down the options even more.

 

I also spend a few hours every week practicing my casting and pitching(for about 15 years now)

This has helped a ton as quiet entries sometimes make the difference in a bite or not

I see what you're saying but by time on the water I was referring to spending the time on the water as in going to the lab and putting theories and ideas to the test.........then filing the results away for future use. 

[Jermination]

Using my iphone. By this i mean after every good catch i had in 2018 taking a pic of the fish & lure i had on. The phone marks a GPS location where the pic was taken. Very easy reference point as to day/time/where/what you were doing

[scaleface]

Failure is a big teacher . One of the reasons I prefer to fish by myself is failure doesnt deter me .  I keep on plugging away . Fishing for several hours with little to no results then finishing with a flurry is very satisfying .