Returning to bass fishing after ten years: what's changed?

[SmallieScholar]

Hi everyone, 

 

I'm new here (sort of: I was a pretty active member of the forum under a different name a long time ago). To give you a bit of background before I get to my question, I used to be an obsessive bass fisherman when I was young and got really into tournament fishing in my teenage years. I wasn't a wunderkind of any kind, but I was good enough to give the adults in my club a run for their money, win some cash in local tournaments, and do respectably in a few bigger ones. I intended to go to a university with a bass fishing team and to try to make a go of competing at a higher level, but through a series of events I ended up going down a different path: namely, to a college outside of a major city (with not much water nearby!) and then to grad school in another major city. Long story short, I went from eating, breathing, and sleeping bass fishing to not touching a rod for a little over a decade. Last summer, I finished grad school and moved to Maine to start a new job and suddenly I've founded myself surrounded by beautiful water. The other day on a whim, I dusted off an old green Curado and a box of jerkbaits and walked down to the local river and managed to tie into a few chunky smallmouth. Needless to stay, I've quickly become bass obsessed once again and have started getting the rest of my gear out of storage. (As an aside: I don't think my wife realized quite how much fishing stuff I've been hoarding in storage all this time...)

 

This brings me to my question. I've been completely out of the bass loop since 2010 and I'm wondering: what's changed in the last decade that I might not be aware of? What new technique or gear trends do I need to know about that might not have been around when I was last chasing bass? Walking through the fishing section of a sporting goods store the other day I felt a bit like Rip Van Winkle just waking up from a long nap: everything looks mostly the same but also a little bit different. Mainly, I'm just curious to know what I've missed out on and what you all think have been the most "important" changes in the world of bass fishing in recent memory? 

[lynxcat]

Prevalence of the Chatterbait / Vibrating Jig and Ned Rig are probably the biggest evolutions that come to mind. 
 

Tungsten weights are popular with some anglers / state law requirements. 

Also, welcome back to the sport! 
 

I fish exclusively for LMB in my area so the smallmouth specialists can share tactics that have evolved on that front. 
 

I think Zman has become a much bigger company this last decade. I am a big fan of Elaztec but you’ll find mixed opinions. The durability is second to none so it’s especially nice for Chatterbait trailers (albeit I love a Rage Menace). 

[MIbassyaker]

Ned rig, especially with the Z-Man Finesse TRD, and bladed jigs for sure. Add the whopper plopper to that list as well -- the new smaller sized ones are dynamite on summer smallies.  I get the feeling 3-5" paddle-tail swimbaits are more popular than they used to be too, even just 10 years ago.  Go to Tackle Warehouse and browse the list of best-sellers.

 

Also, I believe Maine has banned lead weights under a certain size. So tungsten will be the way to go.

 

 

[J Francho]

Prices have gone up is the main thing.  With the ease of setting up eCommerce sites, you can find plenty of hand crafted baits for relatively little money.  Any issue you encounter can be found on the internet (especially here) with at least a few people willing to help you.  

[DanielG]

The fish grew.... ?

[Captain Phil]

As far as the fish go, I don't believe you will find many significant changes.  New lures come and they go.  Chatterbaits are a combination of two old standbys, the jig and the spinnerbait.   If you caught fish ten years ago, you will catch fish now.  I've got lures that I fished with 50 years ago and they still catch fish.  Online shopping and access to information is the main difference.  Boats and tackle are more expensive.  10% of the fisherman still catch 90% of the fish.

[WRB]

Electronics have improved with state of the art and more suppliers like Garmin. Trolling motors now have spot lock, game changer.

Rods are about 20% lighter weight and longer with a wider variety of specific application use. Spinning reels are just as popular as bait casting today with the acceptance of finesse bass fishing coast to coast.

Braid w/ leaders has become standard practice.

My suggestion is revisit Glenn’s videos and articles between 2011 to current.

Congratulations on earning your career degrees, welcome back!

Tom

 

[jbsoonerfan]

The word finesse is used at least 100x more than it was 10 years ago.

[Bird]

Yes, finesse fishing or at least the term has been quite popular. 

I don't see you having any problem opening your current tackle box and catching fish.....old proven baits still work. 

[Columbia Craw]

Way more congestion on the water.  Licenses have gone up. Ike doesn’t scream as much now.  Smallmouth have taken a more prominent place in the sport.  Johnny Morris bought the state of Missouri to enlarge his empire.  Roland put on a few pounds.  New technology developed a system where you put on a pair of goggles that are connected to 3D  imaging to you can see the fish, program your cast and watch the fish eat the bait. In between casts you can watch reruns of Jaws and Jurassic Park.  Other than that it’s been pretty static.

[E-rude dude]

Just start fishing with your old lures. Probably out fish everyone. 
 

The biggest change is Bass boats are now a mortgage payment. I’ll be fishing my aluminum boat forever.

 

people say game changer about everything now. I never looked at fishing as a game so I don’t really get that. But hey it sells stuff.

[newriverfisherman1953]

Nothing has changed really. They are still hard to find and catch at times. Good luck to you!!

[OCdockskipper]

As was stated, lure wise the Chatterbait and the Ned rig are a couple of items to check out. 

 

Considering you are in smallmouth country, the Ned rig may end up being a pleasant surprise.  One suggestion, follow the advice of guys like Bluebasser86 and Team9nine regarding the technique and for a moment, pretend you are a beginner.  This is one of those techniques where seemingly simple things do make a world of difference if you choose to instead do it "your way".

 

I was like you, I had taken time a decade plus away from intensely fishing.  Learning to fish a Ned rig properly changed and improved my skillset, not just for finesse fishing but for other techniques as well.

[JWall14]

You need to grab some Ned rig stuff. It’s not hard to fish and will demolish smallmouth. While I’m here one thing that has changed is that Tactical Bassin make the best informational videos on everything IMO. I know I’m not the only one who thinks that here so you should check them out.

[Goldstar225]

Others have covered the baits and techniques that have become more prominent.  Electronics have advanced as have trolling motors with spot lock and navigation features.  

[li_bass_hunter]

More people fishing and less fish. Enjoy Maine some great fishing there

[TnRiver46]

Might I also offer you don’t have to use ned rigs to catch smallmouth. 

[Deleted account]

From the angler's perspective, most everything, from the fish's perspective not a darn thing.

 

 

[SmallieScholar]

Thanks for all of this advice, everyone! All of these developments are really interesting. Sounds like I definitely will need to pick up some ned rig stuff. The prominence of chatterbaits is an interesting development. I found a few chatterbaits tucked along with my old stuff but when I was fishing last they didn't seem essential, and even a little gimmicky. How times change! 

[MGF]

If you were catching fish before you can catch them the same way now...and for "spot lock" I use the same anchor I used as a kid. I announce to my wife, who is in the bow, that I'd like her to apply "spot lock" and she throws the anchor out of the boat. When advanced technology is called for I have another anchor that I toss in at the stern.

[the reel ess]

High end bass boats cost about $20K more than a decade ago. Kayak fishing has grown exponentially in that time. I think there has been some good innovation in topwater lures. I'm thinking specifically about lures like the Whopper Plopper and hollow body frog. Braided line has become more popular for more techniques with many more varieties available. The standard BC reel gear ratio has pretty much become 7 to 7.5:1. I rarely use a reel under 7:1 anymore. When I do it's just because I want to catch a bass on my dad's old stuff.

20 minutes ago, MGF said:

If you were catching fish before you can catch them the same way now...and for "spot lock" I use the same anchor I used as a kid. I announce to my wife, who is in the bow, that I'd like her to apply "spot lock" and she throws the anchor out of the boat. When advanced technology is called for I have another anchor that I toss in at the stern.

I remember when I was a kid there was a local who won or placed well in most tournaments on our lake. He anchored almost everywhere he fished. He would anchor shallow and fish deeper. Mostly, he used T rigged worms and crankbaits. And he had a 16' aluminum V bottom Bass Tracker. He also made his own fish attractors. He was rumored to have thrown out old, gutted appliances. Artificial reefs, in a sense. Indeed, you could see something on the bottom with your graph most places he fished. Actually, most of the good fishing spots I knew, I knew because I saw him on them.

[WRB]

Nobody mentioned Whopper Ploppers and Keitech swimmers  or A-rigs. Big swimbaits have also found the way east.

Tom

 

[the reel ess]

2 minutes ago, WRB said:

Nobody mentioned Whopper Ploppers and Keitech swimmers  or A-rigs. Big swimbaits have also found the way east.

Tom

 

I got the Whopper Plopper in a post about a minute before yours. 

[paulmandude]

Where in Maine are you located?  I’m in southern Maine and there are great places to fish in the Sanford area 

Belgrade lakes area is prob the bass fishing capital of Maine. 

[gim]

Electronics and associated accessories have really advanced in he past 10-15 years. High definition mapping, side scan, spot lock, and now live sonar is the new thing. I just updated my electronics 2 years ago and I feel it’s already outdated. I don’t think the common angler can afford to upgrade this equipment on a regular basis.