Laziness

[pdxfisher]

I realize something terrible about myself. I have let myself become a lazy fisherman. Laziness is the number one killer of fishing success. It is the silent killer. It starts small, not re-tying when I should, spending too much time on a spot rather than move, not paying attention to exactly how I am lined up with respect to the structure I am fishing, etc

 

In thinking back on my last trip I realize that laziness and carelessness (and often accompanying affliction) have settled deep into my bones. I did not have a horrible day of fishing on the 2nd - I did catch 47 smallmouth - but the "big" fish of the day was only 1lb 11oz. Probably a dozen of so were in the pound and a quarter to pound a half range, but no big fish, and the rest were dinks. 

 

I thought back on the day and I am a bit embarrassed with the effort I put in. I would pull into a spot but not fish it carefully. If you want to catch big fish you need to be willing to put in that concentration to details and mental effort to carefully dissect each structure you fish. I did not.

 

I realize now how careless I was with the positioning of my kayak, covering all the depths, straining the water with my lures. The only reason I caught any fish at all is because the Willamette is chock full of hungry smallmouth. There was very little skill involved on my behalf. 

 

Easy fishing is definitely a major contributor to the issue. You don't realize how poor of an effort you are putting forth because, hey, you are catching fish. With the conditions in the morning of the 2nd I should have easily caught multiple 2-3lb smallmouth. I am sure of that. I realize how random my casting was, how haphazardly I covered the big flat that is usually holding plenty of big fish.

 

Later in the day I found some deep rock with current on it but decided after a couple of casts that it was too hard to fish that spot. It would have taken effort. Instead I went to a different, easy to fish spot and caught more dinks. I have to believe that if I had spent the time to carefully (and tediously) fished that deeper rock that I would have caught some quality fish. 

 

Hopefully the first step in healing is admitting that I have the problem. 

 

Here are a couple of pics from the day and some video:

 

"Big" fish for the day:

 

 

Action shot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[N Florida Mike]

Man, I wouldn’t beat myself up for catching 47 in one day. …

[A-Jay]

I can not relate to this as it is not my style.

In my world that trip is a skunking.  My days of sore lipping 40 something juvenile bass are well behind me.

After a handful, I'm changing something. 

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

A-Jay 

 

 

[pdxfisher]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I can not relate to this as it is not my style.

In my world that trip is a skunking.  My days of sore lipping 40 something juvenile bass are well behind me.

After a handful, I'm changing something. 

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

A-Jay 

 

 

 

Exactly! I did not put in the effort to find better fish. Laziness leads to mediocrity. I was wishing to find a better fish amongst the dinks instead of changing things up to really trying to catch one.

 

As my dad would say, "Wish in one hand and tick in the other and see which one fills up first"

 

 

 

 

[Bankbeater]

I'm lazy about a lot of things, but fishing ain't one of them.

[DitchPanda]

Well success in fishing is really in the eye of the beholder. Today for example I went out for an hour and fished 3 brush piles...caught a 3.5lb largemouth and missed one other good bite. That to me is a success because I caught a quality fish and had a shot at another one in a very short period of time. However that is not much action. Lots of days I'd take 47 dinks just for fun.

[TnRiver46]

You never know, I just fish. Today I’ve caught 2 smallies, one about 5” and the other 21” +

[BigAngus752]

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You never know, I just fish. Today I’ve caught 2 smallies, one about 5” and the other 21” +

And did you use one to catch the other?

[TnRiver46]

23 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

And did you use one to catch the other?

I think that’s only legal if the live bait one is over 18” haha

[Ratherbfishing]

But did you ENJOY it?  Unless you fish for a living (guiding or tourney's), what does it matter?  There are (or can be) other days for "sweating the small stuff."  Seems to me that sometimes our culture puts too much emphasis on performance-at the expense of just living in the here and now.

[pdxfisher]

I agree that you don't have to catch big fish to have a fun day on the water. In the title I say laziness but it was more of a feeling of being disconnected. I enjoy thinking and problem solving on the water, being fully engaged.

 

On this trip it just seemed like I was more going through the motions of fishing rather than being completely immersed in the experience. I think that is what I am really unhappy about. No, it was not a joyous day on the water - it was just a day on the water.

 

Spoiler alert. I went back and fished the same area again this weekend. I had a similar result, but on this trip I was fully engaged. Constantly trying and testing, feeling connected to the water and the environment around me. Even though my success was not greater I felt like that was a satisfying and enjoyable trip.

 

I now realize that when I originally wrote this post I was really complaining about a symptom and not the root cause. It took me a while to even figure out what that root cause was. 

 

I am not 100% sure why I was so disconnected on this trip, but it feels good to have realized what was actually bothering me and to be back to my old self!

[David 7]

I like to fish slow and relaxed so I guess in a way that is lazy, but to each their own. Fishing for me is both relaxing and exciting, but then again what do I know.. I have a lot of room to grow and improve on!
 

Tell you one thing though, I’m like obsessed with this forum now. Picking everyone’s brains and reading the treasure trove of information in here is invaluable. 

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, David 7 said:

 

Tell you one thing though, I’m like obsessed with this forum now. Picking everyone’s brains and reading the treasure trove of information in here is invaluable. 

Welcome to the club! My name is Russell and I’m a bassresource-a-holic 

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Welcome to the club! My name is Russell and I’m a bassresource-a-holic 

Welcome, Russell - you'll find lots of people here in the same situation...make yourself at home.

 

@Glenn supplies the drinks.

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Welcome, Russell - you'll find lots of people here in the same situation...make yourself at home.

 

@Glenn supplies the drinks.

He’s such an enabler 

[Sphynx]

34 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

He’s such an enabler 

If your not cheating, your not trying...

 

I don't necessarily measure success in size of fish, or in quantity, I think for me finding opportunities to explore when and where a given lure will or won't work (especially one I'm unfamiliar with or not confident in) is an enormous part of my enjoyment for fishing, this is terrible for my wallet of course, but it doesn't even have to be new gear, finding new scenarios that stuff I already have will work great in is just as exciting to me, the reward for finally putting it together often is a larger fish, or a pile of fish period, but often I am looking for the less obvious patterns, and it feels really great to find a technique or a bait that is absolutely on fire which is by no means obvious to the masses in my area.

[GreenPig]

On 7/14/2021 at 1:18 PM, TnRiver46 said:

He’s such an enabler 

Glenn gets a percentage from the?.

[ATA]

For me is not being lazy which I am not, It is my tennis elbows killing me, I cant cast all day, depending on the rig and set up I need to stop every 15min to 1hr to seat and rest till the numbness of my hands clear out and I start again. so you healthy guys, I hope you understand the value of gift you have and enjoy your fishing full time.

[islandbass]

I see your point, but I can’t relate on some of those points being a bank angler but definitely see your POV. The other things about being lazy on knots and such? Very rare, but I’ve been guilty too. 

 

I have to take a different approach because I cannot always go to the fish. I can only catch the fish that are close to me and within my reach. Bank anglers don’t have that luxury because sometimes spots we’d love to get where we suspect the bigger bass might be to we simply can’t access. But I have noticed that fish caught in the same area tend to be similar in size. 
 

And if that is what I can catch from the shore at that time, then I roll with it. From the bank, sometimes quantity is an easier goal to attain than quality.

 

I have learned through the years that Certain times and windows in the season/year have increased chances to catch bigger bass and I try to fish those times when I can. 
 

Anyway, great topic. I don’t want the hassle of a boat but hope to try this kayak thing maybe next year. Other types of laziness? Writing my reports. I’ve totally lazier out on those. I finally cracked the infamous Fenwick lake and on that day, she spilled it. 15 years of skunk gave way to catching 7 bass in one  3 hour stint —  and what made it sweeter was having witnesses who surprisingly could identify and relate to how tough it is to catch bass at Fenwick. Wow! I was nearly tempted to go to a casino ? afterward, lol. 
 

 

 

[Darth-Baiter]

I try not to overthink anything fishing. It will ruin it for me.