You newer anglers need enthusiasm then experience

[Dirtyeggroll]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

 

Bass angling = 90% fishing (which includes a staggering number of both on & off the water deals) + 10 % catching.

and that's on the Good Days . . . . . .

 

A-Jay

 

Catching fish on every 1 out of 10 casts would be a fantastic day!

[A-Jay]

22 minutes ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Catching fish on every 1 out of 10 casts would be a fantastic day!

No Doubt ~

However, I was referencing time spent pursuing the sport right there.

But you knew that.

A-Jay

 

[Bankbeater]

Best advice I ever got was to go to a body of water where you will catch bass. Doesn’t matter how big they are. That taught me what a bite feels like, and different ways to retrieve to get those bites. 

[LCG]

It took me a full season to catch my first bass. Knew nothing at all. Then I started learning, too much at once actually. By my 3rd year I really started to understand it more. Learn one or two productive techniques and study them, practice them, become proficient. Then learn to understand the fish, where they go when and why. And never stop learning. 

 

Perfect example was yesterday. I was at a small fishing area, highly pressured and super hot. Threw a weightless Texas rigged senko into this tunnel area under a bridge and bam. One fish after another, all 2-4 lbs. One guy asked how I was catching them, explained that it's simple, they would rather be in cover and the tunnel offered a perfect place to stay out of the hot bright sun and a good ambush point for the bass. Caught 7 total until the wife called me to come get her. 

 

 

[Whatever]

Pearls of wisdom, Sir!

[scaleface]

37 minutes ago, LCG said:

It took me a full season to catch my first bass. Knew nothing at all. Then I started learning, too much at once actually. By my 3rd year I really started to understand it more. Learn one or two productive techniques and study them, practice them, become proficient. Then learn to understand the fish, where they go when and why. And never stop learning. 

 

Perfect example was yesterday. I was at a small fishing area, highly pressured and super hot. Threw a weightless Texas rigged senko into this tunnel area under a bridge and bam. One fish after another, all 2-4 lbs. One guy asked how I was catching them, explained that it's simple, they would rather be in cover and the tunnel offered a perfect place to stay out of the hot bright sun and a good ambush point for the bass. Caught 7 total until the wife called me to come get her. 

 

 

I've been catching bass in very similar spots all month .

[NavyVet1204]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

I've been catching bass in very similar spots all month .

I wish I had places like that to fish in my AO. 

[scaleface]

21 minutes ago, NavyVet1204 said:

I wish I had places like that to fish in my AO. 

Just for the heck of it I searched Wetumpka, AL and this area popped up . These chutes and   roads  are there not culverts and bridges here ? Seems like there would be . 

 

edited

Oh , I see , you are stationed somewhere .

[RoLo]

 

These young newbies don't have anymore enthusiasm than me,

they just catch more fish than I do          

 

Roger

 

[Shimano_1]

I firmly believe its something where you have to enjoy the grind.  I've got a couple buddies who...like mentioned already...are always wanting to catch fish like I do. However...they'll fish twice a year and throw a rooster tail for 30 minutes then head home. I put in a lot of hours on the water, on here, watching and reading.  Still learn something every time I go and am always willing to try something new. Being persistent, open minded and realistic are the keys to being successful.  There's enough knowledge at our fingertips now to not have an excuse lol

[Dirtyeggroll]

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

No Doubt ~

However, I was referencing time spent pursuing the sport right there.

But you knew that.

A-Jay

 

I knew/know exactly what you meant.

Way more fishing than catching. It’s hard to quantify at minimum 10 times more fishing than catching.

[NavyVet1204]

42 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Just for the heck of it I searched Wetumpka, AL and this area popped up . These chutes and   roads  are there not culverts and bridges here ? Seems like there would be . 

 

edited

Oh , I see , you are stationed somewhere .

Yeah I mean there are a lot of opportunities around, but a lot of that is land that is owned privately or isn’t passable for me. Bridges with those culverts and other piping cover I have no clue where they are. I’m not originally from the area my wife is so I’m still learning the land so to speak.

[DitchPanda]

I fully expect to catch fish on my local body of water..but that's from 20 years and thousands of days fishing it. I still get skunked but hope to learn from it. I've said before and I'll say again that good anglers have the mental strength enough to put their head down and grind. Some guys never get to that point.

[BrianMDTX]

7 hours ago, scaleface said:

Yep . I did not like deer hunting . Gave it a try and its just not my thing .

There’s a lot of similarities, and also a lot of differences. Knowing the habits of the game (deer or bass) is paramount. What do they eat? Where does the food sources tend to be? Where do they shelter? How do they react when pressured? How do they respond to weather? Learning how the quarry lives, feeds and reacts is key. 
 

But there is a huge difference in casting baits to catch bass, and sitting in a treestand or ground blind waiting for a buck to come close to your position and offer a clear shot. Frankly, I love both. 
 

But...hunting ain’t catch-and-release for sure! 

[txchaser]

38 minutes ago, Shimano_1 said:

I firmly believe its something where you have to enjoy the grind.

Some of my best days are when I grind all day (usually in crappy weather, hot/cold/win) with very little to show for it, and somewhere along the way I solve the puzzle. That moment when it all comes together, and you can back into what the missing pieces were. And then just unleash on them because you are dialed in. Sometimes even over a span of multiple trips, where I have to ruminate on it all week, wondering what I missed... then it finally comes together. 

 

I think far too little time is spent on the -where- and far too much on the -what-. Growing up we always cast our baits into the most open water we could find. Now it feels like the opposite. 

 

 

[slonezp]

23 minutes ago, txchaser said:

Some of my best days are when I grind all day (usually in crappy weather, hot/cold/win) with very little to show for it, and somewhere along the way I solve the puzzle. That moment when it all comes together, and you can back into what the missing pieces were. And then just unleash on them because you are dialed in. Sometimes even over a span of multiple trips, where I have to ruminate on it all week, wondering what I missed... then it finally comes together. 

 

I think far too little time is spent on the -where- and far too much on the -what-. Growing up we always cast our baits into the most open water we could find. Now it feels like the opposite. 

 

 

I think too much time and money is spent on fishing and not enough time and money spent on...fishing. Time to roll it back.

I brought up my grandson in an earlier post. He'll fish for hours and his only distractions are wildlife. Yesterday he was shaking the dirt off the nightcrawlers, before we put them on the hook, so the bluegills wouldn't have to eat dirty worms. He walked knee deep in the lake to release the fish. That's what it's all about. 

 

Seriously. You all are catching fish to let them go. Think about it.

I've got a wall of skin mount personal bests, and none of that compares to the joy I see in my grandsons eyes when he catches a 4" bluegill. Yesterday I had 2 spincast 2 foot rods going at the same time. Cast one out, set the hook and let him reel it in while I got the other rod baited up and cast out, set the hook and let him reel it in while I unhook the fish, he shows momma the fish he caught, releases it and reels in the next one and rebait the first rod...repeat. I was more disappointed in momma because she was texting on the phone the whole time we were fishing, but that's another story.

 

I formed bonds with my father fishing. With my grandfather. With my son. Now, with my grandson. Screw the fish, I can buy them at the grocery store if need be. Fishing is not about the fish. It's about us as humans. It's about chasing dreams and leaving legacy's. I've spent tens of thousands of dollars chasing a fish with a brain the size of a pea.  Who's the idiot?  

 

 

[islandbass]

9 hours ago, scaleface said:

There just seems to be a lot of newer anglers posting lately that seem frustrated by not catching anything and they want to know what they are doing wrong  . Thats a difficult question to answer .  Like that old Indian on Josie Wells said "Endeavor to persevere" or " Keep on keepin on ".

Thanks, I kind of figured that but since you’ll mostly find on threads with higher end gear and or rattle bait monkey cages, I must have missed those. 
 

I too have run into folks like that and if they knew how much time paying my dues to make mental and physical notes, experimenting with techniques, tweaking this and tweaking that, and on many occasions, despite the knowledge gained large or small, and still going home without even a blue gill nibble, they might even be shocked that I chose to persevere and never gave up, like many of you here. 
 

Others have already chimed with decades of experience under their belt they still realize there is still so much to learn and that is so true!

 

I appreciate that you gave them the pep talk and encouragement because many of these young guns could easily give up and turn toward immediate gratification on the social media platform of their choice and let go in that cyber world. 
 

I am not even close to being an expert but more often than not, if folks are open, I’d share what I know with them. 
 

I recall once when I was fishing a father and young son started fishing close to me.  
 

As they got close enough for me to see his gear I noticed he had an ugly stick tiger type rod and probably 20-30# maybe even higher up line. 
 

I asked what he was targeting  and he said whatever is biting. From the looks of it, you could tell the dad was a newbie and to add more pressure, the gills were super active. 
 

I showed him how to tie the palomar knot, prepare a DS rig (all my stuff) and he set up my UL rod for his son. I showed him how to put on the night crawler and his son was into the action in no time flat. The little boy was very excited and happy catching those gills. When all was said and done he mentioned to me, “Thanks for helping me look like a hero to my son.”

 

That said it all and made my day. 
 

Lastly to those you might encounter who get discouraged about going days or weeks without catching fish. Tell them about my brother. The ideal story of persistence. For nearly 14 years I had been trying to get him to catch his first bass. It took him that long. So tell them they have nothing to cry about, lol. 

[DitchPanda]

10 hours ago, A-Jay said:

This could apply to all types of adventures and just about any species you'd like to list,

and as veteran bassheads we all have our own version of it but . . . . 

Bass angling = 90% fishing (which includes a staggering number of both on & off the water deals) + 10 % catching.

and that's on the Good Days . . . . . .

Tell me I'm wrong

A-Jay

 

Your darn right that's a good day. Lately my lady asks me well how was the fishing? I've been responding the fishing was great...the catching sucked

10 hours ago, A-Jay said:

This could apply to all types of adventures and just about any species you'd like to list,

and as veteran bassheads we all have our own version of it but . . . . 

Bass angling = 90% fishing (which includes a staggering number of both on & off the water deals) + 10 % catching.

and that's on the Good Days . . . . . .

Tell me I'm wrong

A-Jay

 

Your darn right that's a good day. Lately my lady asks me well how was the fishing? I've been responding the fishing was great...the catching sucked

10 hours ago, A-Jay said:

This could apply to all types of adventures and just about any species you'd like to list,

and as veteran bassheads we all have our own version of it but . . . . 

Bass angling = 90% fishing (which includes a staggering number of both on & off the water deals) + 10 % catching.

and that's on the Good Days . . . . . .

Tell me I'm wrong

A-Jay

 

Your darn right that's a good day. Lately my lady asks me well how was the fishing? I've been responding the fishing was great...the catching sucked

10 hours ago, A-Jay said:

This could apply to all types of adventures and just about any species you'd like to list,

and as veteran bassheads we all have our own version of it but . . . . 

Bass angling = 90% fishing (which includes a staggering number of both on & off the water deals) + 10 % catching.

and that's on the Good Days . . . . . .

Tell me I'm wrong

A-Jay

 

Your darn right that's a good day. Lately my lady asks me well how was the fishing? I've been responding the fishing was great...the catching sucked

 

Sorry about the multiple post..had a little issue

[schplurg]

I'm still pretty new to bass fishing and this year was a complete skunk until July, at least within 30 miles of home. I caught ZERO from Feb through June. And I hit the banks frequently. It's very tough here, but zero fish was really starting to fill me with doubt.

 

"Did I actually catch fish last year, maybe it was a dream cause I stink now" I didn't think of quitting but I doubted myself and everything I thought I knew.

 

I explored the local creek a bit more and discovered some new areas and bingo, I'm hammerin' em.

 

I tried a "senko"(Dinger) for pretty much the first time, T and Wacky rigs, and success was mine! Wow this thing really works!

 

So now my confidence is pretty high. You just have to keep fishing. In the back of my mind I knew that it would click again one day, but doubt was definitely strong.

 

There's really no other choice but to keep fishing. Throw anything, some fish will eventually come along that is dumb or crazy enough to bite any bait you throw  

[roadwarrior]

 

[Koz]

I've always said that if you want to catch fish get yourself a light rod, a hook and bobber, and night crawlers. But if you want to catch bass you need to be methodical and have some patience.

[Oregon Native]

Learned many years ago to approach fishing kind of like bow hunting.  If we stomp through the brush or make a lot of noise in the boat we lower our chances a lot ...there's always exceptions of coarse...but being consistent is being one with nature you might say...at least that's my story and I sticking to it.  It may turn a no catches day to a fish or two day.

[Guitarfish]

I learned fast and forgot fast when I started out.  Then I started to make notes on a wire bound pad every time I went.

I wrote down which boat I was using (Basshunter, float tube, etc), lures tried, time of day, moon info, water temp, if there was current moving, how many I caught and even how many other fishers were there at the same time.  I still have note books from 1995 on the areas I fished most.  Reading thru them before I go triggers memories of success I had, so if current conditions are close to the same listed,  I'll go fishing expecting some luck.

 

The info is especially helpful since I can never remember what time of year I was at any particular spot.  

[Bankc]

On 7/28/2020 at 4:51 PM, Bankbeater said:

Best advice I ever got was to go to a body of water where you will catch bass. Doesn’t matter how big they are. That taught me what a bite feels like, and different ways to retrieve to get those bites. 

And use live bait.  Live bait is so much easier and generally cheaper if you're not doing it everyday.  And don't be afraid to target panfish early on.  They're usually a lot easier to catch, especially on a dock.  That'll teach you what a bite feel like, and give you a sense of "you can do this".  Not many people are equipped to fail over and over again and still keep at it knowing that they're going to keep on failing for a long time to come before they finally get it.  So it helps in any endeavor in life, if we can have some early success to look back on for motivation.

 

It's like a video game.  No one likes a video game that's extremely difficult from the beginning.  And no one likes a video game that's easy at the end.  The key to a good video game is to ramp up the difficulty as you progress.  So you're always challenged, and you have to earn everything you get, but never frustrated to the point where you think you'll never be able to do it.  

[TnRiver46]

On 7/28/2020 at 8:27 PM, scaleface said:

Just for the heck of it I searched Wetumpka, AL and this area popped up . These chutes and   roads  are there not culverts and bridges here ? Seems like there would be . 

 

edited

Oh , I see , you are stationed somewhere .

I’ve fished that river many times! I’ve dissected that map in my mind so much ....... when I saw it on the screen of my phone it almost scared me hahaha.

 

@NavyVet1204, check out Dustin Connell on YouTube, he’s from a bit north of there but has plenty of videos on how to catch coosa river spots and largemouth. I camp on the Alabama river every year for a week on Memorial Day, have for about 22 years straight