What have been some "Game-Changers" for your fishing(?)

[DaubsNU1]

I fished a little growing up in Nebraska -- trout pond at 2 Rivers, few trips to Valentine Refuge lakes, sandpit at family cabin. Mainly ultra-light tackle, Mepps, beetle-spins, cast-n-reel stuff.

 

Got in to bass fishing while living in Missouri...co-worker and good friend was from Texas and LOVED to fish. Taught me a bunch.

 

There have been a few "Game-Changers" for me through the years:

 

• Not fishing from the bank: Started with buddies canoe, and man did that change the game! So many different places we could hit. When that buddy and his canoe left town, I scored a belly-boat from the Cabela's Bargain Basement. Not great, but still on the water.
• Braid on my bait-casters: spooled up braid on my bait-casters in the 1990's. Sensitivity was amazing! Far fewer birds-nests...and much easier to resolve.
• Getting my own boat: Now I could fish when I wanted, where I wanted...with friends/family, or by myself. Not surprising how much I fish alone...as the day job involves supervising people in a customer service-type world. Give me some quiet time : )
• Braid to leader on spinning gear: I resisted initially...how is that knot going to go through the guides...another knot means another failure point...boy, was I WRONG on this one...I'm just a few months in to this move...and it's changing the way I fish!

 

What are your "Game-Changers"???

 

 

 

 

[DitchPanda]

Game changers? Huh lets see

 

* learning about bite windows: there are fish always biting all day somewhere in your lake..but learning that just before sunrise until 8/9am and an hour or 2 before dark until sunset cranks up fish activity really increased my productivity and frankly the amount of fun I had fishing

*Learning how to fish a jig: not only did my average size of fish and numbers of big fish increase but it taught me a lot about how fish use and position or even relate to cover which made me better at fishing other baits namely spinnerbaits and crank baits thru cover 

*learning how to fish cold water: I was always taught to believe that bass don't bite until the water warms...never really had a temp but lets say 55-60 degrees. Then I started learning about jerkbaits, jigs and Ned rigs for cold water bass. What a world this opened up to me. Last year I caught 4 big bass...around me that's 6lbs and up...none of them came from water above 60...in fact a couple came from sub 50 degree water.

*learning how to target big fish: this is an ongoing case study for me as I'm sure it is for most of you. But when I learned what water temp and areas big females stage in pres pawn and also when they move back up in fall to target shad my numbers of big fish increased dramatically. Baits aren't as important in my opinion...but a few stand out for me namely jigs and chatterbaits prespawn, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits fall.

[TnRiver46]

Experience 

 

more specifically the moment I caught my first bass in the dead of winter, it’s been game on ever since. Growing up we always thought you had to fish stocked trout in winter. We had read and heard about winter smallies with bobber and fly but that never worked and still doesn’t 

[813basstard]

When I realized tournament bass fishing and fishing with beer and friends can barely be recognized as the same sport. 

[Mobasser]

The plastic worm, and learning how to T rig was the biggest game changer for me 40 yrs ago. I've never found a better way to get consistent action than with a light T rig.

[NHBull]

......it's not always about fishing.....

 

 

.....having a positive mental attitude helps me make better decisions on the water....

[Tennessee Boy]

* Tournament fishing.  Keeping score showed me I wasn't as good as I thought I was.

 

* Lakemaster maps.  Doubled the number of places to fish on a lake I had fished for 30 years.

 

* Spot lock trolling motor.  Boat positioning used to be an art form in and of itself.  Not anymore. 

 

* 360 Imaging.  Casting is no longer random.

[InfantryMP]

Game Changers for me have been:

 

1. Reliable Boat

2. Spot Lock- Arguably the best

3. Good Mapping

4. Tournaments- The competition allows you to pick up on things you may not have just fun fishing

5. Trying new techniques- This has changed the game for a lot of people I imagine

[soflabasser]

For me the biggest game changer in bass fishing is me doing my best to learn from each fishing trip. By doing this I learned what the bass want much quicker than just going fishing. Just like in Sports you need a game plan if you want to do well.

[TnRiver46]

22 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

 

 

* Spot lock trolling motor.  Boat positioning used to be an art form in and of itself.  Not anymore. 

 

 

Aw heck. You still gotta know where to stop! I can hold my boat still with an anchor on a rope but you still got to know where the sweet spot is and how to fish it 

[the reel ess]

Buying a kayak and selling my bass boat. It got me access to unpressured and bigger fish. My wife commented how many more fish I started catching after I stopped the big hydro lake rat race.

 

As already mentioned, braid. I immediately started landing a bigger percentage of my bites. And it all but eliminates the line twist problem with spinning gear.

 

Dedication to bigger bass baits. You catch fewer but they're generally larger fish. I'm also not afraid to try a new-to-me technique.

[Tennessee Boy]

14 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Aw heck. You still gotta know where to stop! I can hold my boat still with an anchor on a rope but you still got to know where the sweet spot is and how to fish it 

You have to earn it with an anchor and rope.   I look down at the 360 imaging and see a tree I didn't know was there.  I decide where would be the best spot to fish the tree from.  I touch the screen at that spot and the trolling motor takes me there and stops.   It's cheating and that's a game changer.

[WVU-SCPA]

The first time I got on a solid spinnerbait bite.

 

Transitioning from solely fly fishing for trout to bass fishing with a buddy that would only beat the bank with t-rigged power worms.  My whole fishing life to that point was making things appear natural as possible, I couldn't compute why a bass would bite something that looked so stupid. 

 

Looking at all my stuff now maybe a T-rigged power worm was the way to go. 

[Happybeerbuzz]

1)  Getting a boat. 

2)  YouTube/Internet.  

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

You have to earn it with an anchor and rope.   I look down at the 360 imaging and see a tree I didn't know was there.  I decide where would be the best spot to fish the tree from.  I touch the screen at that spot and the trolling motor takes me there and stops.   It's cheating and that's a game changer.

I got plenty of buddies that could have spot lock, 360, live scope, and a bunch of fish in a barrel and still couldn’t get them 

8 minutes ago, WVU-SCPA said:

The first time I got on a solid spinnerbait bite.

 

Transitioning from solely fly fishing for trout to bass fishing with a buddy that would only beat the bank with t-rigged power worms.  My whole fishing life to that point was making things appear natural as possible, I couldn't compute why a bass would bite something that looked so stupid. 

 

Looking at all my stuff now maybe a T-rigged power worm was the way to go. 

I’m still waiting on that solid spinnerbait bite

I’ve caught trout with texas rig power worms 

[Tennessee Boy]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

I got plenty of buddies that could have spot lock, 360, live scope, and a bunch of fish in a barrel and still couldn’t get them 

I'm not saying the fish just started jumping in the boat when you get spot lock.  Did you watched the last BPT tournament?  Everyone was saying they shouldn't be using floggers.  Spotlock caught more fish in that tournament than floggers.  I can't imaging Wheeler trying to do what he did without spotlock.  He would have still caught fish but probably a third less,  maybe half.

[TnRiver46]

21 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I'm not saying the fish just started jumping in the boat when you get spot lock.  Did you watched the last BPT tournament?  Everyone was saying they shouldn't be using floggers.  Spotlock caught more fish in that tournament than floggers.  I can't imaging Wheeler trying to do what he did without spotlock.  He would have still caught fish but probably a third less,  maybe half.

No I didn’t watch but I read enough to get the gist. Catching them super fast only helps on that single tournament trail. I’m sure it’s awesome and helps a ton but from my perspective it makes a simple task slightly easier , yet potentially more complicated when you involve computers, batteries, etc. 

 

if I know wheeler like I think I do, he could have done pretty  well with an anchor/rope or his foot on the pedal. His main skill was probably selling trolling motors . Remember wheeler was winning tournaments before spotlock. There’s a lot of people With the same technology that zero. It kind of reminds me of when power poles first came out. Everyone around here had to have them on their boat but they never put them down because number one the water is deep and number two they never slow down

[scaleface]

  When my cousin invited me to join his bass club . I didnt know there was such a thing . Heck yes I joined .

 

  When I discovered baitcasting reels and graphite rods at first bass club tournament . I was  outgunned . Second tourney I had a Garcia 5000 equipped with high speed gears , I think they were 4 to 1   a Hawg handle and mounted on a 5.6" glass Lews Speed Stick . I somehow won that  tourney .

 

 When I learned how to fish a Texas rig .

[Captain Phil]

Joining a good bass club was a huge game changer for me.  This was in the early seventies when tournaments were just starting.  My fishing buddy and I thought we were good fisherman, but we wanted more.  We applied to join the best bass club in Florida.  Before they let us be members, they took us both to Okeechobee to see if we were good enough. We were both so nervous we could hardly fish.   They let us in anyway. The first tournament we fished, we caught a few fish.  One angler caught 23 pounds and we thought he would win.  The winner weighed 32 pounds.  We couldn't believe our eyes.   Fishing bass tournaments is the best way to take your fishing skills to a higher level.  It's also a very humbling experience.  You will learn things you will never learn by reading about it or watching a video.  If you want to get better, fish against the best.

[A-Jay]

Super easy one for me - 

While there have been a few deals along the way that made a difference here & there,

NOTHING

can come close to comparing to 12 April 2008

That was the Day I joined

Bass Resource ~

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[mhone]

YouTube has helped me more than anything getting started. I needed help with everything and Flukemaster and Glenn May’s videos got me started on the right foot. The BR forum has helped move me from novice to an average weekend warrior and taught me that I still have lot to learn! 

[Darth-Baiter]

Mine.  COVID-19.  Seriously. Boredom from the lockdown.  The pandemic motivated me to go and buy a kayak. Then the kayak motivated me to watch some YouTube videos and join a forum.  From there the addiction took hold.  My fist kayak bass about sealed the deal. 
 

covid. Who would have thunk it? 

[CountryboyinDC]

Not drinking beer before I start fishing would be the first thing that comes to mind.  Casting accuracy (still not the best) is far better, and spend a lot less time looking for an empty Gatorade bottle.

[galyonj]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I got plenty of buddies that could have spot lock, 360, live scope, and a bunch of fish in a barrel and still couldn’t get them

 

Hey!

 

[Smells like fish]

It was definitely access to the internet via forums and videos