Confidence

[DitchPanda]

3 hours ago, senile1 said:

Confidence is important, but having confidence in enough lures to cover all conditions is key.  If I only have confidence in a couple of baits that only cover one or two situations on the water, I am going to have some tough days.  Learning the situations and what baits are best for them is so important.  Then one can spend enough time with those baits that cover the different conditions to be proficient with them.  It doesn't have to be a great number of baits, but just enough that an angler is ready for most situations.

 

48 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

As a follow up ~ 

I am at my best, if I have 'confidence' in an area or particular piece of structure

and that's always situational and dependent on season / current conditions.  

That's when I expect to get bit on any cast/every, regardless of what I'm throwing.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

But for the first hour or so, I'm usually pretty pumped up.

A-Jay

I agree with both of these 100%. You definitely have to be confident that you are in an area with not just bass but also catchable bass. Otherwise what's the point of fishing that area. Also you need to be well rounded enough to cover you bases. If your great with a moving bait but any use a bottom lure to save your life and they aren't chasing...well your in for a long day..well maybe a short day actually ?  I'm pretty good with a wide array of lures and presentations...but my strengths are definitely weightless senkos, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits/swim jigs and jigs namely finesse flipping style like a sniper jig. This sets me up for success in most conditions pretty much all year.

 

I would say when I struggle most is actually probably dead of summer at peak heat...I attribute that mostly to not having a boat and lots of fish being offshore. Usually still manage a few.

[scaleface]

Enthusiasm plays a big role in my fishing . What I lack in skill I make up with enthusiasm . I just think I'm going to catch fish . Even when I'm not catching them I still think I will figure out something  somewhere somehow.

 

I fished with guys who are ready to call  it quits after an hour or two . I'm in it for the long haul .

[MGF]

5 hours ago, senile1 said:

Confidence is important, but having confidence in enough lures to cover all conditions is key.  If I only have confidence in a couple of baits that only cover one or two situations on the water, I am going to have some tough days.  Learning the situations and what baits are best for them is so important.  Then one can spend enough time with those baits that cover the different conditions to be proficient with them.  It doesn't have to be a great number of baits, but just enough that an angler is ready for most situations.

Yes. I experiment with new methods and baits in order to expand the number of things that I have confidence in. Once I have some success with a technique, I have another tool in the box that I can deploy with confidence.

I don't have a bait that's a "crutch" bait but I do have some that I have more fun throwing than others...especially when I can't get bit on anything. I can have lots of fun throwing and skipping a jig even without the fish. LOL

[813basstard]

Confidence is the most important thing you can cast. Period. 
Im still convinced a bass looks at whatever we’re throwing and says “hey! Look! Food.....”

 

Have you looked at a buzz bait? What the hell is that? 

I’ve never, ever seen a black/blue glitter worm in nature. Most soft plastics look like a 2nd grade science project.

 

The closer you can cast to their mouths, the better your results I would imagine.

[WRB]

You develop confidence in certain lures by catching bass on them and lose confidence in lures when constantly getting skunked.

The more time you spend on the water certain lures keep working for you and others don't. You continue using what works and discard or put away what doesn't.

I don't know a bass angler who doesn't have confidence lures or doesn't like to try out new lures. 

The question is when to stop using your pet lures and try something new? My suggestion is try out new lures when the bite is good, not when the bite is bad.

My tendency is to force feed bass something they don't want because I have confidence with it. How do you know when it's time to change? It's easy when your partner is catching them and you aren't. Fishing alone you just need to listen to yourself, should I change? Yes!

Tom

[Columbia Craw]

So over the years, I think Iv'e developed more confidence in my ability to assess and evaluate the conditions and the situation to make better decisions in the what to use where.  Unlike A-Jay, I still enjoy the process of using different lure and techniques when there is a good bite on.  

[lo n slo]

i’m as hard headed as they come

[DitchPanda]

5 hours ago, 813basstard said:

Confidence is the most important thing you can cast. Period. 
Im still convinced a bass looks at whatever we’re throwing and says “hey! Look! Food.....”

 

Have you looked at a buzz bait? What the hell is that? 

I’ve never, ever seen a black/blue glitter worm in nature. Most soft plastics look like a 2nd grade science project.

 

The closer you can cast to their mouths, the better your results I would imagine.

Yeah some lures just have a profile that's looks good like a jig looks a little like a lot of things. But most other lures not so much. I've never seen an 8inch gizzard shad with 3 giant trebles hanging off it in nature.

1 hour ago, lo n slo said:

i’m as hard headed as they come

This is My dad to a T. Not sure your age but you guys are probably close. His few is well they but it last time do they will now.

 

[geo g]

I have been fishing over 40 years, and still fish at least 4 days a week.  When I was younger I would always try the new baits, and baits others were bragging about.  I have friends that frog fish all the time and even if it's not working will stick with frogs.  The last ten years I don't even think, or care about what others do.  I used to be a top water guy, and now consider myself a plastics guy.  I will use an array of plastics and work them different ways until I find a pattern for that hour or even that day.  I will work them faster in the morning along breaks and weed lines.  As the sun gets higher, I will add weight work them deeper and throw them into thicker cover.  The higher the sun I will look for clusters of weeds in open water and work the bases of that cover.  I will go to drop-offs and look for bass hugging large boulders and limestone walls sometimes 20 feet deep.  With the plastics I can work the surface, midrange, and deep water all with the same baits.  I am confident I can catch good numbers and big fish using just these baits.  Do what you have confidence in and forget what others are doing.

[Bankbeater]

I don't have confidence in a single bait, but from past experience I have confidence that a type of bait will work in a given body of water. 

For instance I know that crankbaits will work in local lake #1, but in local lake #2 the bass prefer bottom contact plastics.  In lake #1 I'm going to use a crankbait and I know I will catch bass on a crankbait, but until I discover the mood of the bass I may cast 5 or 6 different crankbaits.

 

[Herbert Lorenzo]

The timing of this post caught my eye . Just a few hours ago I told my wife that my next fishing trip I'm leaving my favorite rigs home and trying some of the many lures and techniques that I have available to me that I have never used . I have been thinking that I have so much confidence in the techniques I always used that I have stopped progressing . I know what I will be using are solid bass catching techniques that will be new to me.... and I am excited. 

[Captain Phil]

Confidence is a good thing as long as it doesn't limit you from trying new things.  Tournament fishing will cure you of this.   Standing in line at the weigh in next to someone with a bag of eight pounders is humbling.  Having this happen over and over again is humiliating.   It makes me want to find out what that son-of-a-gun is doing.  If I have to follow them with binoculars, so be it.  Competition makes you better.  The better the competition, the better you will get.  

[Junk Fisherman]

On 6/13/2020 at 8:13 AM, senile1 said:

Confidence is important, but having confidence in enough lures to cover all conditions is key.  If I only have confidence in a couple of baits that only cover one or two situations on the water, I am going to have some tough days.  Learning the situations and what baits are best for them is so important.  Then one can spend enough time with those baits that cover the different conditions to be proficient with them.  It doesn't have to be a great number of baits, but just enough that an angler is ready for most situations.

This is excellent and sums up what I was thinking as I read this thread.  I am a much better fisherman than I was 10-15 years ago and it is due to having more confidence baits for a variety of situations.  I was on a fishing trip last week and had great luck on a number of different presentations including swimbaits, Ned Rigs, Carolina Rigs, shakey heads, jigs, and a scrounger.  Due to years of fishing and getting proficient at those presentations, I feel confident in throwing them.  And I am at the point where I don't feel I have big holes in my arsenal that hold me back at least at the types of lakes I fish.  I am constantly trying to gain confidence in new presentations but I feel I have enough to fall back on.  Case in point- I have a tournament this weekend on a lake I am not very knowledgeable of.  It has a lot of weeds and slop which are not really my strong suit.  Tomorrow when I prefish, besides scouting I want to continue working on fishing a stupid tube and a weedless swimbait that I feel would shine at the lake.  Maybe I gain enough confidence to throw them this Saturday.  But regardless, I have enough other confidence presentations that I feel I should be competitive.  Great topic.  

[TriStateBassin106]

On 6/13/2020 at 11:33 AM, A-Jay said:

As a follow up ~ 

I am at my best, if I have 'confidence' in an area or particular piece of structure

and that's always situational and dependent on season / current conditions.  

That's when I expect to get bit on any cast/every, regardless of what I'm throwing.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

But for the first hour or so, I'm usually pretty pumped up.

A-Jay

I second that, the first two hours will make or break you on the water, Always have a backup plan! 

[TnRiver46]

On 6/13/2020 at 8:15 AM, frogflogger said:

When not fishing for money - I'll change around throw crazy stuff, I've learned a lot doing this - and at this stage of my fishing (70+yrs.) I like to catch them my way - it's fun to throw a big noisy topwater gizmo in the middle of the day and have giant blowup Occasionally.

You described my style perfectly! Probably because I don’t fish for money..... My buddies will Outfish me numbers wise with live bait floating river smallies but I will throw a top water midday and a lot of times get a big ole 20”+ golly whopper hit it so hard I get splashed on the strike 

On 6/13/2020 at 7:15 PM, lo n slo said:

i’m as hard headed as they come

Texas rig in deep brush?

[Ratherbfishing]

I go with what I know (or believe I know) first and if that doesn't pay off, I then begin a process of elimination.  When that doesn't work, I have lunch.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

This is a double edged sword. No confidence, you’ll fish too fast or change baits and spots Willy-Nilly. Overly confident and you try to force feed them and miss out on opportunities. Location, depth, mood are the main puzzle pieces. Figure that out and you can have confidence in the bait you can put in front of them. 

[lo n slo]

8 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

 

Texas rig in deep brush?

yes!.....and all points in between ?

[dodgeguy]

On 6/12/2020 at 2:10 PM, A-Jay said:

Interesting topic ~ 

So 'past experience' - we all have it.

Some good, some bad.

Anyone have any 'future experience' ?

Me either.

Years on the water teaches us many things.

 I rely on it; Heavily.

Flip side - I used to be the guy who, once I got on a 'bite',

would constantly switch baits & presentations, looking to find, 'what else would work'.

Did it for a few years - pretty certain That Move cost me many fish and with out much,

if any, up side.

I Do Not participate in that Tom Foolery any longer.

I get on a bite - and I will Wear It Out !

That's my story and I'm Sticking to it.

A-Jay

 

i agree with this!!! why change ? i might try different colors but wont switch baits.

[NHBull]

Confidence is the rest of  practice, time and results in certain circumstances.  When I was in my early teens my father was teaching me golf and was determined that I needed to be confident in all my clubs.

For weeks on end, I was allowed to play with 2 clubs, one being a putter.

This forced me to learn all clubs in all conditions and effected my decision making to this day. Tying this back to fishing, for the last few weeks, the NEKO and Fat IKA have been those baits with limited success  with jigs.

For the rest of the week, jigs will be the only things I throw.  Admittedly I am willing to sacrifice short term success for long term gain.  I may also let my partner take the bow.

[EWREX]

my confidence bait actually varies from each different place i fish. some lakes i can throw a wacky rig all day and catch numbers, some places i can throw a wacky rig all day and catch one or two. i always have my confidence baits tied on where i know i can likely catch a fish, which is a stick bait (wacky, neko, t-rig), ned rig, dropshot, chatterbait, jig, and a t-rig for flipping.

[Choporoz]

On 6/13/2020 at 8:35 PM, DitchPanda said:

His few is well they but it last time do they will now.

 

I so love this sentence... I can't stop reading it