Anyone a fast fisherman?

[billmac]

When I was young my fishing buddies called me the "InPatient Fisherman" (a play on In-Fisherman).  We fished mostly by wading and I would invariably far outdistance them.  I wasn't deliberately trying to front-end them as much as just hitting a spot with a few casts and moving on.  It was the same when I started fishing from watercraft.  I would often get very frustrated if I was in someone else's boat and we would stay and thrash a piece of water for what seemed like an eternity.  I was about the only one using a baitcaster and I liked short, pinpoint casts and they would usually be using a spincast outfit, so they would park far from whatever we were casting to and then just cast a country mile.  Even now, I'll stay in a spot if they are biting, but if not, I like to keep moving.

[Scott F]

I’m definitely not a very slow, deliberate fisherman, but I’m also not very fast either. It usually depends on what I’m throwing. I used to fish with a guy who was a speedy, power fisherman. He hated stuff like Senkos that required you to slow down and be patient. Since we were often in his boat, I had to go at his speed. If I tried to throw a plastic worm of any kind, I’d be watching it water ski back to the boat as he’d have the trolling motor on high most of the time. I didn’t often fish with him using my boat because of how he hated slowing down while I was operating the TM. It was much better for my enjoyment when I just quit fishing with him.

[jimmyjoe]

   I have a friend who has to keep moving all the time. Some people are just like that.          jj

[scaleface]

I'm a fast fisherman . Even when I'm fishing slow baits , I fish them fast .There are times when I pick apart the cover but I do it quickly compared to a lot of other anglers .  I fished a lot with my uncle and he was "slow" . I'd be finished fishing a spot before he even gets situated . Then have to wait so he could get a cast or two in before moving on. LOL

[Mike L]

Since I don’t have a boat I’m always adjusting and changing what I’m doin and what I’m using, to what the boater decides to do, It’s just the way it is. 

But one thing it does do is force me to adjust on the fly which in some ways have made me better at making quicker and better adjustments. 

Problem is sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[Captain Phil]

When I'm searching for fish, I use lures and techniques to cover a lot of water.  My go to search baits are rattle traps and spinnerbaits.  Depending on conditions, I may use a top water lure like a frog or Devil's Horse as a search bait.  Once I know there are fish in an area, I cover that area slowly and thoroughly.  Sometimes an area gets hot at a specific time and I wait them out.  This is where local knowledge has an advantage.  I once had a small area of pads where big fish would bite only around high noon.  I tried fishing them at all other times without success. Like clock work, they would bite in the middle of the day with the sun directly overhead.  Tournament and after tournament those pads gave up a 5-6 pound bass each day.  

[the reel ess]

My dad used to compare bass fishermen to "gnats on a turd" for the way they run and gun. I like to fish sort of fast when I can. But I'll do what I have to.

[MassYak85]

If the bite is right I won't turn down the opportunity to run and gun down the bank fishing a spinnerbait around cover at light speed. 

[redux]

I am definitely slooooooowwwww. There is no way I will put the trolling motor on high and run down the bank like KVD. My experience tells me that the fish move a good amount of the time and if you're timing is off you may be ahead of the fish as you keep running down the bank or you run over them. Move slow and they will run into you. Also, If there is one bass in an area there are a bunch of them so come in slow, stay put, and catch the ones that are biting. 

[Bird]

When I'm doing a float down the river, mainly fishing for smallmouth, then I consider myself a fast fisherman. 

 

The boat is moving as I'm targeting active fish by fan casting spinnerbaits and flukes mainly. 

 

In clear water lakes around here, often has me finesse fishing where I slow way down which may coax a bite from less active fish or simply sitting dormant concentrating on a particular section of heavy cover....enjoy both. 

[Johnbt]

The two guys I've largemouth fished with the most over the past 40 years are fast. But deliberate, too. I would prefer to fish a little slower, and do when we're in my boat.

 

The one who taught me to bass fish convinced me early on that when spinnerbait fishing the guy in the back of the boat will frequently hook the big fish after the guy in front has thrown 2, 3 or 4 times to the same spot. We fish a lot heavily stained water fwiw. We don't know whether the noise calls them in or you have to hit them in head a few times to wake them up. Probably some of each.

 

Maybe the best story was from 15 years ago. My buddy took a neighbor fishing on a private 100 acre lake. There's one small patch of pads, maybe 10' x 15', that sits about 4' off a tiny point that protects a tiny cove that would barely hold a large bass boat. Barely.

 

My buddy wanted to retie his spinnerbait, so he stopped the trolling motor and his friend put 3 casts into that little gap. Meanwhile, my buddy didn't like his new knot so he cut it off and tied it once more. His friend made casts #4 and #5 into the same spot. Still nothing. Just a hot summer afternoon.

 

So my buddy of course made a cast into the gap and caught a 12-pounder. One cast. They were using the same kind of spinnerbait, too.

 

That little patch of pads is still named for his friend.  

 

[Boomstick]

I'm usually slow. If I find a spot that should hold fish, I'm going to work it good.

The only situations where I'm fast is when I know the fish are holding largely in one area, but they just aren't biting anything, but I've got a few in nearby shallower water, so I will work that area usually fairly quickly.

[WRB]

Fast bass anglers KVD and Ike comes to mind, slower everyone else!

I am in the everyone else category. I fish at a pace that is working for me. I don’t search for bass using lures, I use experience, sonar and use lures to catch bass.

If I know bass are at a specific location and not biting at that time the spot is noted and revisited. 

It’s my experience most run and gun anglers pass up a lot of bass by fishing with a presentation that isn’t working at the wrong depth and pace. Patients is waiting for the fast angler to move off a good spot.

Tom

 

 

 

[billmac]

When I was a kid, you didn't find fish by looking (sonar), you found fish by fishing, and I think that's the difference, at least in the way I fished.  Although I'm trying to become more versatile, I still find myself hitting shoreline structure rather than going deeper.  Who knows what fishing will become when not a single fish can escape electronics?   I'm not anti-fish finder.  I wish I were better at using mine.  But I'm not enthusiastic about where it's going.

[WRB]

When wading a stream fishing you are looking visually for current breaks and spots to cast if successful. Knowing how to read water takes some study and time on the water to recognize spots fish prefer to be.

unfortunately we can’t read water we can’t see into without the aid of sonar. It’s a choice how modern everyone wants to be. Some prefer a canoe and paddle, kayak loaded with all the bass boat equipment and other the fastest longest bass boat on the market loaded with everything.  

My 1st sonar unit was a Lowrance portable flasher in 1960 over 60 years now. Sonar is part of my bass fishing. Can I fish and catch bass without it, sure but would be handicapped without it.

The guy anchored down on a good spot using live crawdads will outfish everyone else regardless of the equipment.

Tom 

 

[GreenPig]

I'm pretty slow but I'll change locations if they don't tell me something pretty quick. Over the I've learned the slower(not longer) I fish an area the bigger the fish I tend to catch.

[billmac]

5 hours ago, WRB said:

we can read water we can see into without the aid of sonar

That's certainly true. I think perhaps the certainty of fish will keep someone tied to a spot longer than they should.  I have friends who, if they get a bite, will pound the water until we drag them away.  I know the times I've actually seen fish will keep me on the spot even when they are clearly not in the mood.  Sometimes you can entice, but I've found it (usually) best to move on and mark the spot for a future visit.

[Happybeerbuzz]

I believe in the idea that there is an optimal pace, but it is affected by conditions, time of year, tides, baits, etc. With that said, I think I would rate myself as too slow and am focusing to be better at using my time with the trolling motor deployed vs traveling with the main motor.  On drives home, I find myself thinking in reflection that I spent too much time inactive spots a lot more often than I find myself thinking that I should have given specific areas more time.  

[Bankbeater]

My old fishing partner would run and gun big time.  He fished crankbaits a majority of the time and would make 5 or 6 casts into a spot in the time it took me to cast out a t-rig and work it back.  

These days I go as fast or slow as I need to when working an area.

[Jaderose]

Depends on conditions but to most I suppose I would be agonizingly slow

[keagbassr]

Fish,fast? Yes I do. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

I fish medium fast. 

[scaleface]

Sometimes bass are not biting in one part of the fishery but they are biting well in another part  . So slowing down can be spending more time in  unproductive water . Thats not unusual . 

[Denny]

No, but I should be.  I’m guilty of spending an hour making cast after cast in the area where someone has told me “the big ones are hanging out in” just to come up empty handed.  I’ll work the area with a certain lure, then grab another setup and do it all over again.  Sounds like a waste of time as I type it out, but on the water I can’t seem to break the habit 

[CrankFate]

I don’t know. I do all kinds of things. It seems like whatever I’m doing works best when people say it’s too hot for the fish. I would say I fish between fast and medium.