Slowing Down

[N Florida Mike]

I totally agree with fishing slow, if using soft plastics ( not counting the Zoom uv speed worm )?  My motto is” if you arent catching fish , you're fishing too fast.

But I have enjoyed learning how to fish with moving baits like spinnerbaits that cant be fished too slow. I typically do better in spring and fall with moving baits. Just have several rods rigged with different baits and when the right condition for one of them arises, use it. But 90% of my fishing is soft plastics, and I fish them very slow. I will let it sit sometimes 15 seconds or more before I move it. Most of my biggest bass were caught that way.

 

[mcipinkie]

Let me tell you what I think I know:

 

Basically I'm a slow fisherman.  I like to work my stuff carefully.

 

However, after 45 years of tournament fishing, I have noticed that day in and day out, with an occasional exception, most successful tournament anglers, at all levels, fish fast.  Now some of this is due to the competitive aspect of tournament fishing.  "I got to fish that before some one else does." 

 

I'm 74 years old and it has been hard for me to speed up, but I have, and find myself more successful.  The goal as it was explained to me is to put your bait in front of as many fish that want to bite as possible.  You can make 10 casts to a fish that doesn't want to bite, and maybe you can convince him, or make the same 10 casts trying to find a fish that wants to bite. 

 

Of course there are exceptions.  Four day tournaments with every target on the lake getting hammered, high sky cold front days, 36 degree water, severe fishing pressure, but I've won more money fishing fast than fishing slow.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

I fish waaaaaayyy too slow . But I can’t help it 

[papajoe222]

I find it next to impossible to fish slowly for any length of time. A two or three minute cast seems like an eternity to me.  I'll do it in the summer at times, but an hour later I'm reaching for something I can burn for a reaction bite, or picking up stakes and moving to another spot. Before I leave, I'll give a fast moving presentation a go. I've already gone through the water column and need to give retrieve speed/fall rate the same opportunity.

[georgeyew]

I really enjoy this thread. I have trouble slowing down. I always start off at the beginning of every fishing trip with the goal of slowing down but by the end of the trip I always be back to my old habits. I guess part of it is that I just have too many baits that I want to try. So it is really difficult to slow down. I sometimes wish I have less tackle to make things less complicated.

[geo g]

I would consider myself a slow fisherman at heart.  I fish plastics 90% of the time because that is what I enjoy doing.  Throughout the day I will burn a bait just under the surface, Jerk and sit a bait, slow roll a bait along the bottom, snap off the bottom and let it fall back, and dead stick a bait.  When I find something that works I will stay with it until a change is needed.  When it really gets tough I always go to slow methodical approach.  Downsizing and slowing down has saved many a day for me. 

[N Florida Mike]

I wanted to add that I fish a topwater frog occasionally and I fish it at least as slow as I do soft plastics. But the bites are fewer and far between. I have the patience for plastics, but not as much for frogs. Almost all the bites I get on frogs are fishing them very slow. I usually quit them too soon because I think Ill get more bites with something else.

[Todd2]

I've fished a Texas rig exclusively the last 3 times out.  It's been the only rod on deck. I have changed up the plastics but mostly a ribbontail. When I get to the laydowns, points, cuts, etc. I'm slowing down and making multiple pitches.

 

The part that I've been doing different is between the good stuff.  I usually just hop it fast and try to hit as much as possible until I get to the next tree or whatever. What I started trying here lately his casting out in front of the boat in about 10 feet (our thermocline) and swimming the Texas rig pegged right along the bottom like Charlie Brewer wrote about. Just a slow roll, ticking the bottom, but not stopping.  On 2 out of the 3 days this has produced the bigger fish. (The biggest of all came out of slowly working a lay down). I want to give this technique some more time because swimming a Trig is not something I normally do.

 

So I guess what I'm saying is I think there is a place for both..slowing down and covering some water efficiently. Good post.

 

 

 

 

[Mobasser]

40 minutes ago, Todd2 said:

I've fished a Texas rig exclusively the last 3 times out.  It's been the only rod on deck. I have changed up the plastics but mostly a ribbontail. When I get to the laydowns, points, cuts, etc. I'm slowing down and making multiple pitches.

 

The part that I've been doing different is between the good stuff.  I usually just hop it fast and try to hit as much as possible until I get to the next tree or whatever. What I started trying here lately his casting out in front of the boat in about 10 feet (our thermocline) and swimming the Texas rig pegged right along the bottom like Charlie Brewer wrote about. Just a slow roll, ticking the bottom, but not stopping.  On 2 out of the 3 days this has produced the bigger fish. (The biggest of all came out of slowly working a lay down). I want to give this technique some more time because swimming a Trig is not something I normally do.

 

So I guess what I'm saying is I think there is a place for both..slowing down and covering some water efficiently. Good post.

 

 

 

 

I agree. It really is about finding the balance between super slow, and quicker retrieves on a given day. Charlie Brewers method of slowly swimming a plastic bait is one way to cover water, and still fish slowly enoupgh to draw strikes at the correct depth and speed. This has worked for me a little on suspended bass, but I've caught many more by slowly hopping plastic worms along the bottom, as opposed to swimming them. As you've pointed out, it can pay to try both ways, to see what may work. It's a tricky balance sometimes. One way could work well for a time, then change over the course of a trip.

[scaleface]

When I'm fishing deep flats I do so quickly usually with a crankbait  . As soon as I hook a bass , I toss a marker buoy . I'll continue to throw a crank as long as I catch more fish , then I pick up a worm rod , Sometimes the worm is the way to go .

  Last week I found a school on a point and caught one with a crankbait but subsequent cast resulted in nothing . I caught a couple with the worm . I think the crankbait scattered the school .Those fish are getting a lot of pressure now . Next time I'll start out with the worm .

[king fisher]

10 hours ago, georgeyew said:

. I sometimes wish I have less tackle to make things less complicated.

I wish I had more tackle, so you can send me what you wish you didn't have, and both our wishes will come true.

[scaleface]

11 hours ago, georgeyew said:

I guess part of it is that I just have too many baits that I want to try.

Thats a problem I use to have . All my fish this year have come on four categories . Spinnerbait , toad , worm and crankbait .

[king fisher]

44 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Thats a problem I use to have . All my fish this year have come on four categories . Spinnerbait , toad , worm and crankbait .

Variations of lures in those four categories can fill many tackle boxes. lol.

[WRB]

I agree with Catt saturate an area throughly where you know bass are located. If the bass are eating a crankbait use a crankbait, jig use a jig. The speed of the lure isn't have fast you move.

The average weekend bass angler is influenced by their favorite pro. If KVD is your guy you tend to cover lots of water fast. Rick Clunn you tend to disect the area where bass are located to catch as many as possible from that location.

If you target big bass moving around fast covering water reduces your odds. The old saying don't leave fish to catch fish is as true today as it was 50 years ago. When to hold them or fold them is the difference between a good day or being blanked, no easy answers.

Tom 

[r83srock]

Tournament fishing and fun fishing aren’t a whole lot different, given the goal is the same, which for me is to catch 5 quality bass that day. So many times I would fish a tournament and my thought process would shift, mind become cluttered and I would speed my retrieves way up. This has improved over the years but I still have always to go. There are proven predictable times where a fast/louder retrieve can be productive, often during prime feeding times.sometimes that window can happen during high sun noon, most of the time for me it’s early morning. I do feel that if you found fish that you are best served slowing down and dissecting the area. There is a bit older gentleman who fishes team trails and local opens with his son. They are some of the most tenacious, slow jig fishermen I’ve seen, and they put themselves at the top or in the money often.

[Mobasser]

When I used to fish club tournaments years ago, many times the same 3 or 4 guys came out on top. One guy I fished with was older than me, and always seemed to do well. He picked prime spots to fish, then, liked to use a spinnerbait or trap as a search lure. He would always fish the spots slowly after, usually with a blk/blue Culprit worm. If he had hooked fish on the faster baits he he would spend more time there, before he exhausted the area and moved on. A pretty simple approach, but I saw it work for him several times, placing in the money.

[soflabasser]

On 6/27/2020 at 7:48 AM, Mobasser said:

In your own experience, have you found that fishing slowly has caught more fish overall, as opposed to fast retrieves?                                                                                                                                              

In my experience I catch more bass per trip when I am using medium to fast presentations. Have had days I have caught over 100 bass and lost count of +50 bass days. Have caught +30 pound 5 bass limits and bass over 10 pounds. When it comes to big bass I have caught them with slow presentations to very fast presentations. A reaction style presentation can be very effective for big bass in highly pressured waters.

[Mobasser]

Lots of guys get rattled in a tournament. If it gets half way through the event and they're not doing well, they start throwing everything in they're box. Ive been there and done that years ago. It rarely if ever worked...

[soflabasser]

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

All my fish this year have come on four categories . Spinnerbait , toad , worm and crankbait .

It is better to know how to fish a couple lures well than fish dozens of types of lures and not fish them well.

[A-Jay]

Interesting thread with so much bonus information ~ I like it.

Right off, I do not fish derbies, so what follows may not be applicable there. 

This is more along the lines of 'An Approach' to it all I guess.

 

  So Fishing Fast, Fishing Slow - and fishing everything in between;

for the way I fish, I've not seen it to be beneficial to focus on any one of these exclusively.

Clearly there are times where one 'speed' may be more productive than another 

and I am a proponent of covering and /or eliminating water.

So there's certainly a time & place for fishing with a good pace to help support that objective.

By and large I prefer to seek whatever the 'biggest' bass an area / spot may hold, and not sore lip a bunch of keepers looking for her; which in my mind, may be the same as alerting her to my presence.

Perhaps if she was a true trophy, one not caught before, old & wary, she may be the fish that leaves once the machine gunning casting an area to a froth starts or the buzz from the trolling motor going on & off is heard/felt, or the tick tick from the sonar comes into play.

 By fishing the spot on the spot - first, with whatever I believe the best presentation to meet the goal may be, is what I'm focusing on.  The speed of it - fast, slow or something else, although perhaps predetermined in advance, is totally optional and can (and often is) modified or even completely changed on the fly. 

However, I could be burning a spinnerbait at warp speed or slow crawling a hair jig, the approach is still the same.

Engaged, watchful & alert.

 

Finally, I will say that something I have surely benefited from in recent years, 

was to Slow Down My Mind while I'm fishing; to be present in the moment, if you will.

Allows me to focus better, be more observant and take advantage of deals I may have otherwise missed.  Staying cool, calm & collect during a spirited battle with a big fish helps as well - don't freak out Jerry !

I will admit to flipping out pretty good once Nadine was in the net though . . . 

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

 

 

[N Florida Mike]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

to Slow Down My Mind

This is my normal mindset all the time- not just when fishing.

It comes easy for me for some reason ! ?

[BrianMDTX]

Slowing down my mind is something I always strive for when bowhunting. You are going to miss deer if you do not separate from the hectic day-by-day and allow yourself to immerse in the natural world. Somehow I have a feeling being 20’ up in a treestand, wearing full camo, and sitting as quietly as possible with little to no movement, makes that task easier than fishing from a bass boat, a kayak, off the bank, etc. Even so, it takes me a few days to “let go”. 

[Fin S]

I fish slowly most of the time, it's my nature. My confidence baits are small swimbaits, tubes, and weightless senkos. Fishing too fast, moving spots too often, and staying in the tackle box are a recipe for a bad day, but sometimes I think being overly patient can also be a mistake. The key is knowing when to fish how.

[TriStateBassin106]

Slowing down an area helps really well, I tend to fish my moving baits in an area for a good thirty minutes and I'll switch retrieves up every 15 minutes, nothing on a moving bait means the fish are either wanting a finesse presentation or they're not there. the "lockjaw" explanation some anglers use is a half truth to be honest, the best example of lock jaw is being when bass shut down after a post front or during mid day suspension periods. 

[WRB]

The majority of bass anglers are no more then a casting distance from the bank. 

20 years ago I wouldn't see any bass anglers fishing off shore structure with the exception of a few guides anchored fishing live bait. 

Fishing off shore structure slows you down, deep water requires very precise presentations to get the lure in the strike zone. Deeper water fishing also requires intense concentration to detect strikes. It's a combination of keeping your mind focused yet slowing down.

It's a lot easier to run the bank casting at visual targets fast or slow, the reason most bass anglers do it.

Studing maps, dissecting structure takes time but is very rewarding.

Tom