Learning to Fish from the Internet

[Manly Studson]

I fished as a boy mostly with live bait and spincast reels. In college I began using spinning gear, but fishing was ultimately put on the back burner for career reasons. When I resumed fishing, the internet had been born, and I spent countless hours online learning new fishing skills. I’ve been fishing for a few years now, but I still learn much from websites like Bassresource and YouTubers like Ndyakangler. What about you? How much have you learned from the internet? Who/what are your trusted internet guides on the subject of fishing?

[JT Bagwell]

I think the internet, in particular YouTube and sites like Bass Resource has definitely shortened the learning curve. Back when I was a kid, I had to wait for the next issue of Bassmaster magazine or Field and Stream magazine to come to the house or until I got to see the latest episode of Hank Parker or the Bassmasters to come out.

 

Now days, you can learn to fish a Bull Shad, an Alabama rig and a Shakey head in 10 minutes from your smartphone. 

 

It still takes time on the water to master the techniques, but you can have the fundamentals down before you ever leave the house.

 

 

[JustJames]

I can tell you, I learn 90% from forum like bass resource and you tube even from Googan Squad where a lot of ppl hate but watch their channel. I used to fish where I came from but that was totally different here.

[Bluebasser86]

I'm just old enough that I learned a good majority of mine from trial and error, mostly error. I think that's helped me a lot though because I've learned to be patient and I'm not afraid to fail because I know it's part of the deal. I'm constantly trying to learn anything I can from reading and watching videos. Never know what little trick someone might have that I've never thought to try. Guys on here telling me to think of my dropshot sinker as an anchor that I'm trying not to move and just shake the bait is what finally made the light bulb turn on for me and got me over my mental block with fishing it.

[MIbassyaker]

Without the internet, I wouldn't know anything about "drop shotting", "chatterbaits", or the difference between rod power and rod action. I also wouldn't know anything about baitcasting gear, whether I should have some, or when I should use it.

 

And quite aside from instructional info, I wouldn't know nearly as much about fishable waters in my area, as i wouldn't have had access to all the maps, lake surveys, and tournament results I can find online.  I regularly fish places I would never have known about without the internet.

[Hammer 4]

I started fishing in the 1960's, obviously there was no interwebs back then. It was 99% trial and error, except for the older guys that offered tips now and then. Equipment wasn't what it is these days, so if didn't have gobs of $$ you made due with rigs that weren't designed for the type of fish you may be catching, in my case a light action spinning rod with a 3000 size reel..spooled with 8 lb mono, which I used for freshwater and saltwater to catch 10 to 15 lb. Bonita, you learned quickly how to fight a fish.

 

Nowadays, things are much different, I pick up tips now and then from here and youtube, but not much..

[Manly Studson]

6 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

I regularly fish places I would never have known about without the internet.

I forgot about the impact of online maps. I agree. That resource has been a huge help. It’s always fun to find a new place to fish and to let your phone steer you in the right direction.

[scaleface]

I pick up things occasionally . Then I'll be out on the water and it comes back . I like fishing on  long extended points and usually start either deep or shallow and work my way the other direction . As I was heading to a point one day , I noticed a lot of fish at a particular depth , it was a lot shallower than the thermocline . I then remembered a post by WRB about the life zone in a lake . As I approached the point the fish showed up more frequently at that depth . I started there and wore them out . So that is something I look for every time I go fishing , the life zone .

[Jermination]

Great for fine tuning or discovering small intricacies within a certain style. Majority of my learning was growing up going with my pappaw or uncle. You can read all you want but there just isnt anything that beats being in the boat with someone who already knows and is open to sharing. I'd say the most useful thing i've learned from the internet is how to read my electronics better. Tinker a little setting here, try scanning this type of structure there and so on

[J Francho]

I like the internet for quick answers, like what size braid to use for punching, or why to use a heavier or lighter spinnerbait in certain situations, or even how to rig up a bait.  Things with quick, simple answers that lessen mistakes, and shorten the learning curve.  I think that's where a site like this really shines.  Like JT said, back in the day, I'd have to wait for a magazine to come out, and it featured some piece of tackle or technique, and even then I made mistakes, like putting 20# braid (Gorilla, I think?) on a baitcaster back in the early 90s when it first came out.  It wouldn't have occurred to me to use a much thicker line.  Took me a decade or more to try it again.  Seemed like a pain, until the internet told me otherwise.

[galyonj]

When I was a kid, I fished like a kid. Live bait with splitshot and a bobber for whatever would bite, or soaking chicken livers for catfish.

 

Then I stopped fishing for around 20 years.

 

When I decided to pick it up again last year, I knew I wanted to use lures, and I wanted to, specifically, target bass.

 

I was pretty lost, to be honest. YouTube, as @J Francho noted, helped smooth out my learning curve a lot. Then I found this place and that's helped quite a bit as well.

[Preytorien]

Like the OP experienced, I fished while younger, then got out of it as career, school, and marital events took precedence in my life for a while. Once things slowed down - in a sense - I got back into it thanks to a friend. Similarly, fishing was really different back before the ubiquity of the internet. While it's not replaced time on the water, it's been hugely beneficial to hear terms of things, then actually see them put into practice on-demand. 

[MassYak85]

Most of what I've learned has been through this forum and YouTubers like Bassresource, Tactical Bassin, etc. But I do kind of wish I had a real world "Mentor" to fish with sometimes. It's one thing to learn how to fish a new technique, another to see someone put it in action and troubleshoot different combinations of conditions. 

[Mobasser]

The internet was not there untill I was in my 40s. I learned most of what I know from trial and error, and having a couple of older guys teach me things when I was younger. 

[Hower08]

I'm just old enough that I had to wait on magazines Saturday morning fishing shows and renting vhs tapes from the video store put out by different pros. Some videos would be on specific techniques. I still gather some info from the internet but I try to pick people's brains as much as possible

[Bassfishingfred]

I fished as a kid growing up in New York for Stripers, Snappers and other salt water species. Never even heard of fresh water Bass fishing lol. When my family moved to Colorado I tried trout fishing and didn't like it so I quit for many years. Five years ago I discovered Bass fishing and I can't get enough!!! I learned 99% of what I know from guy's like Tacticalbassin and BassResource.....Thank you all for sharing your love and knowledge of the sport!!!

 

 

[Paul Roberts]

I'm also old enough that I didn't learn to fish from the internet. Learning was a much slower process then: fishing, reading, fishing with others, fishing, reading, fishing with others... . Process is the same now, except that the internet has given us access to so many other's experiences and expertise, and the communications tools to more quickly understand them. The rate at which we can learn is unprecedented now.

 

I use the internet a lot, for many aspects of my "fishing". (But still read an awful lot too.) As J Francho put it, the internet is a great reference library for just about any fishing technique question. I've been with BR for a long time now, bc it provides access to so many other fishers, from all over. Not surprising that the internet sources mentioned so far are instructional: BR and Tactical Bassin',. Most fishing YT channels are simply not instructional. Most are entertainment, offering essentially vicarious fishing. Which is fine, here and there, when I can't get out. I can usually glean a few things from them. 

 

Some instruction-focused channels: TB is pretty much spot on with seasonal pattern explanations. They seem to understand those fish. Jon B (at least early on), NDyakangler (adds some good instruction here and there), Fish the Moment, SaltStrong, and InDepthOutdoors. Jeff Little had something promising going a while back.

[MN Fisher]

17 hours ago, Hower08 said:

I'm just old enough that I had to wait on magazines Saturday morning fishing shows and renting vhs tapes from the video store put out by different pros.

 

22 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

I'm also old enough that I didn't learn to fish from the internet.

I'm in this group - minus the VHS tapes. I'd already been fishing/learning for almost a decade before VHS was even available...and we didn't get our first VHS machine until I was almost 20. We didn't have cable TV until I was almost 17, and the local stations where I lived from 14 until then quite frankly sucked.

 

Library books, magazines, and trial-and-error were my teachers from the time I was 8. It's only the last few years since I retired that I've had the time to browse the Internet for fishing information...and this site is the main one I read - So thanks @Glenn for having this great place to learn.

[TriStateBassin106]

Did the internet teach me how to fish for bass? No. Did the internet help me fish for bass correctly? Yes.

 

I'm gonna be completely honest. If it wasn't for the following youtube channels/websites I would still be throwing a basic senko everytime I go fishing.

-Bassmaster.com

-***.com

-Bassresource.com

-Realistic Fishing 

-Tactical Bassin

-NDyakangler 

-Tackle Junky 

-Lakeforkguy

 

If it wasn't for these people/communities I would've never learned so much about this great passion of mine, all thanks to the wonders of the internet. 

 

[Glenn]

4 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

So thanks @Glenn for having this great place to learn.

You're welcome!  There's nothing better than making the world better for other people. Nothing!

[RemyL]

For me the biggest benefit is the equipment information. Instead of asking the guy behind the counter, who's probably never used half of it and knows the margin better than the performance, I can look here and other sites and get a thousand answers from people who actually use the products. From that I can make a much more informed decision.

Ditto HOW to use things. There's not always one right way, but sometimes there's a way that works best for you. Only hearing about the one way that works for the guy you talked to locally sure makes it tough to learn what works for you. Particularly if there are equipment differences. Again, a thousand experienced voices versus one, then filtering it into an informed decision.

 

Reading and watching on the net has helped me get back into fishing without spending WAY more time and money getting started. I still made some stupid choices but I quickly learned that they were stupid and why. It didn't take me two years of trial and error and wondering whether it was just something I was doing wrong. Like someone else said, skinny braid on a bait caster didn't seem like an issue until I did it. Annoyingly, I did it THEN read about the problems, before I'd even cast with it once. Predictably I had issues and ended up respooling with something thicker but at least I didn't waste lot of time driving myself nuts wondering what I was doing wrong. $25 and an hour or so goof is a lot less painful than a lot of wasted fishing time getting frustrated.

[ryanerb]

On 2/16/2020 at 8:58 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I'm just old enough that I learned a good majority of mine from trial and error, mostly error. I think that's helped me a lot though because I've learned to be patient and I'm not afraid to fail because I know it's part of the deal. I'm constantly trying to learn anything I can from reading and watching videos. Never know what little trick someone might have that I've never thought to try. Guys on here telling me to think of my dropshot sinker as an anchor that I'm trying not to move and just shake the bait is what finally made the light bulb turn on for me and got me over my mental block with fishing it.

That may work great if you are at the base of a tree and want to fish that one square inch, but what if you want to work it down a cobblestone bank or grass line? Can the drop shot be dragged too? Or maybe you drag it, then stop and shake at the target, then drag another foot, repeat, etc etc..

[crankbait2009]

I started fishing in 2009.  Between this forum, and Glenn (youtube), those have been my main learning resources.  More Glenn than anything

[Manly Studson]

Although watching videos of others fishing is time consuming, it has proven to be just as helpful as shorter instructional videos. I often ask myself questions like, Why did he cast right there? or, Why is he throwing that lure in those conditions? It’s like I’m on the boat, observing a seasoned angler.

[Ogandrews]

Bass wise I have learned so much of what I know from tacticalbassin, they are the only channel I really take advice from as I haven’t gotten an misinformation whatsoever from them. Be careful who you listen to because so many people are more interested in selling you something than actually giving you information. For other fish I have learned way more on my own due to there being not as much info as their is for bass.