Hindsight - Would you have done anything differently this season?

[Spankey]

I just pulled the plug on the 2020 season yesterday. I’m happy with my results for the most part. Extremely happy that I got my two grandsons to catch some nice bass. Now they should have that taste for catching bigger bass.  Or at least what the potential is each time out. 
 

I have no big plans to really do anything differently in 2021. I am gonna go back to my roots and get on the river and see if Mother Nature is bringing that back around some. But there is nothing new to getting back to being a river rat. 
 

I feel that I didn’t fish a few lures that I’d put up there as pretty productive for the most part. I didn’t fish a rat-l-trap anywhere near the amount that I normally would, fishing a weightless Zoom Fluke, chromed crankbaits and jerkbaits, the basic pop-r’s and 3/8 oz. jigs. 
 

Sort of got hung up throwing lighter 1/8 oz. and 3/16 oz. jigs, throwing more creatures and craws, and crankbaits that were more on the matte side. These produced but I should have somehow mixed those others in more. I caught one bass this season on a firetiger craw pattern this year. I’m at a total loss with that. Clearly had the time to do it but didn’t. Sort of handicapped myself. Sort of fished in tunnel vision. 
 

But no big plans for upcoming other than get those back in the mix. Fish top water more. I have to find some VMC Sureset treble hooks. They are a hard find locally. Dried up and they (local shops don’t know what I’m talking about). Have a few different hard and soft bait patterns I’d like to pick up through the winter. Mostly colors that fall between colors that have been working. 
 

Hopefully you northern guys get through the winter. I’m looking for an early spring. 

[MN Fisher]

I'm planning to do more soft plastics in 2021. This year was mainly about the hard-baits...cranks, jerks, spinners, swim jigs...next year I'm going to do more bottom contact, especially T-Rigs (I WILL catch a bass on a T-Rig...I will, I will).

 

9 minutes ago, Spankey said:

I have to find some VMC Sureset treble hooks.

Go to Rapalas site...I had to do a mass hook add - got a bunch of lures for free that didn't have hooks - so ordered direct.

[Spankey]

6 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I'm planning to do more soft plastics in 2021. This year was mainly about the hard-baits...cranks, jerks, spinners, swim jigs...next year I'm going to do more bottom contact, especially T-Rigs (I WILL catch a bass on a T-Rig...I will, I will).

 

Go to Rapalas site...I had to do a mass hook add - got a bunch of lures for free that didn't have hooks - so ordered direct.

Thanks for the heads up. This is my plan, take for example. The Rapala Original Blue Gill pattern is one of my top producing patterns. I don’t have that  Sureset on any of them. I’d like to get it on at least one of them. The original silver, top producer, I don’t have a Sureset on any of them and like to get one on them also. They were a stock hook on the DT’s back a few years ago. I thought they were a good rear treble addition. Not sure why they dropped them. They clearly work. I’ve caught many short striking fish on DT’s that have them. 
 

I saw the pic you posted last week and seen a few of the original Rapala DT Bluegills in there. Was envious. First thing that caught my eye among  all those lures. 
 

Good luck getting them hooked up. 

[Choporoz]

1.  More better homework prior to getting on new water.

2.  I need to rewatch some G-man videos on PMA.  I got taken off my game for way too long by missed/lost fish.

3.  I may need to set an alarm at certain times in tournament day.  Perhaps divide the day into thirds.  In a typical 8 hour tournament I, too often, get to about hour 6.5 and realize I hosed my game plan and I spend the last 90 minutes flailing.

4.  I say this every year, but I have to improve my boat positioning.   Fishing from a kayak has unique challenges, but I get impatient often and compromise my casts with bad angles.

[Bankc]

I whish I had adapted to the seasonal patterns better.  During the first half of the year, I was too eager to ignore what worked in the past and switched my game plan to what I thought would be the new seasonal patterns, before they actually arrived.  Then, in the second half of the year, I stuck too long to what worked in the past, and didn't change things up to account for the seasonal changes.

 

Next year, I'm going to try to spend more time targeting deep water bass, and try to get better at dissecting lakes that I'm unfamiliar with.  You can read maps all day and think you know what you're getting into before you arrive, but then you show up and the water temperature and clarity is different than you expected, as is the amount and type of cover.  Suddenly, your old game plan is rubbish and you have to improvise a new one based on your old map studies and all of this new information being thrown at you.

[TnRiver46]

Hindsight: I should have trained to be a boat motor mechanic after high school 

[Spankey]

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hindsight: I should have trained to be a boat motor mechanic after high school 

If I had to do it all over again I’d been a Veterinarian. Been told my whole life I have a better way with animals than I do with people. 

[Russ E]

I don't have any regrets from the 2020 fishing season. (it is actually still going here)

This year I stepped out of my comfort zone and spent a lot of time fishing less used baits.

Partially because of the extra pressure this year, but I also wanted gain confidence in new techniques.

I now have more confidence baits at my disposal.

next year could be a great year.

[Michigander]

8 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hindsight: I should have trained to be a boat motor mechanic after high school 

That was my take away last year, lol. Thankfully, we won a decent tournament which covered the repairs.

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

...next year I'm going to do more bottom contact, especially T-Rigs (I WILL catch a bass on a T-Rig...I will, I will).

Green pumpkin Rage Structure Bug, 1/8 oz tungsten weight, and a 4/0 Twistlock hook. It'll get bit eventually.

[Happybeerbuzz]

Hindsight being 20/20, I would have taken all the time I spent on top water which was not very productive this year, and dedicated it on jig fishing.  I wanted to make 2020 the year I became confident with a jig which did not happen. 

 

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hindsight: I should have trained to be a boat motor mechanic after high school 

 

3 minutes ago, Spankey said:

If I had to do it all over again I’d been a Veterinarian. Been told my whole life I have a better way with animals than I do with people. 

I should have called up my grand-uncle and had him get me into the USCG Academy instead of going enlisted in the USAF

[TnRiver46]

42 minutes ago, Spankey said:

If I had to do it all over again I’d been a Veterinarian. Been told my whole life I have a better way with animals than I do with people. 

Well that’s not going to fix my boat now is it??????

[BrianMDTX]

Yes

 

1- started earlier than April

2- kept at certain lures longer to see if they produce (I tend to fall back on known producers vs sticking with new baits that may catch bass)

3- started earlier than April lol

[Michigander]

58 minutes ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

Hindsight being 20/20, I would have taken all the time I spent on top water which was not very productive this year, and dedicated it on jig fishing.  I wanted to make 2020 the year I became confident with a jig which did not happen. 

 

Took me a couple years before it clicked. Now I wouldn't be without one.

[Junk Fisherman]

Nothing major comes to mind. 

 

I drove all the way to northern Wisconsin for a fishing trip only to find out it had just been put on my county's quarantine list.  So I drove back home so I was there less than 24 hours and wouldn't have needed a 14 day quarantine.  A)  Wish I had read all my work emails before I left.  b)  Wish I hadn't woken up so early that I was reading my work emails at 4:00 AM before leaving for the lake C)  Wish I had gone to Michigan instead which wasn't on the list.  D)  Wish I had just stayed there because it was ridiculous that Wisconsin was on the list since my county had 10,000 cases at the time while the county I was visiting had 80 cases.   

 

Overall, I had a very good season.  

[A-Jay]

I should have bailed on areas where & when the bait left or never showed up in the first place.

Really crashed & burned on that one. 

I should have giving up trying to fish in ridiculously windy conditions much earlier.

Beat myself half to death trying.  

Finally, wish I had spent more quality time with this little lady while I had it. 

Hopefully I've learned.

A-Jay

 

[DitchPanda]

Only regret was what I called a guy when he and his wife walked up right next to me during the first big wave of covid. I've been working on myself and trying to be more patient, calm and understanding with people doing dumb things. Its a struggle that I've always had and tho I have made progress it still gets away from me from time to time.

Fishing wise I have no regrets...caught alot of fish and alot of big fish. Only things I will do different next year are: throw bladed jigs more and try to figure out the small mouth in my local lake.

[gim]

I had the best season I've ever had in 22 years of fishing so my answer is no, I would not do anything differently in 2020 than what I did.

 

Foresight: try to duplicate it in 2021!

[12poundbass]

Here I am with two weeks on paid time off I need to burn up before the end of the year so I wish I would have burned more up fishing. 
 

My big thing I’ve mentioned in past threads, I wish I would have gotten off the bank, and I wish I would have spent more time graphing. 

[roadwarrior]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

I had the best season I've ever had in 22 years of fishing so my answer is no, I would not do anything differently in 2020 than what I did.

 

Foresight: try to duplicate it in 2021!

[Bankbeater]

In hindsight, I should have stopped fishing ponds in the spring and started on the bigger, deeper bodies of water. 

[r3825]

This has been my worst year ever in 35 years or so,  not sure why but man it's been rough,  looking forward to a fresh start in spring.

[Big Rick]

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Finally, wish I had spent more quality time with this little lady while I had it. 

Focus on the good memories. Let go of the bad memories. Get another pup and start over all the wiser. Life goes on whether we do or not. So don't spend too much time on regret or you'll miss the opportunities afforded you in the here and now. And while a new pup won't replace her, your heart will grow to love the new pup over time. Speaking from experience. 

 

23 minutes ago, r3825 said:

This has been my worst year ever in 35 years or so,  not sure why but man it's been rough,  looking forward to a fresh start in spring.

While this year wasn't my complete worst, it was nowhere near normal and very subpar. My favorite lakes just didn't act normal. Lakes I've fished for over 30 years just completely changed this year. I tried everything. And it wasn't just me. Buddies I've known for years had the same issues. I'll be glad to see a new season for sure. 

[A-Jay]

15 minutes ago, Big Rick said:

Focus on the good memories. Let go of the bad memories. Get another pup and start over all the wiser. Life goes on whether we do or not. So don't spend too much time on regret or you'll miss the opportunities afforded you in the here and now. And while a new pup won't replace her, your heart will grow to love the new pup over time. Speaking from experience. 

 

Thank you,

We did ~ 

we always do.

And I have some myself 

 

A-Jay

 

[Log Catcher]

I had my worst year ever. I think super heavy pressure on the lakes kept things messed up. I fished a lake I had never fished before four times and never caught a fish out of it. My wife caught one. The places I usually fish weren't much better. As far as changes I don't know what it would be. Even finesse baits on a spinning rod didn't work. I just hope for a better year next year.