Done fishing for bass this year

[DitchPanda]

7 hours ago, OldManLure said:

I’ve been duped.  I’ve fished for nearly 60 years and no one bothered to tell me we’re supposed to keep score.  

Well that's what happens when both guys are super competitive

 

[Bankc]

22 hours ago, Luke Barnes said:

I guess I should add the caveat that I am a veteran and struggle with depression and PTSD so I take things way too personally. I know its supposed to be relaxing so when it stopped being that I decided to slow down and bring a chair and some rod holders and fish for cats and carp. Its better than not fishing and this way I get to enjoy the outdoors more and focus less on the fishing and more on relaxing. I know I sound like a whiny brat but everyone is different. 

 

I guess im asking has anyone else been through this? What reignited your interest to fish for bass? 

Learn to enjoy the process, not the results.  Fishing, like so many things in life, is a lot like surfing.  You just sit there, bobbing up and down in the water, waiting for a wave.  Some days, the wave never comes.  All you can do is wait and be ready, so when a wave does come, and it will eventually if you're out there long enough, you'll be ready.  Then, when you've caught that wave, ride it out.  And when it's over, reset and wait again.  It's not about mastering your environment.  It's about being patient and readying yourself to take advantage of any opportunity that passes by you.  

 

From October of 2019 to the middle of May of 2020 I didn't get one bite.  And I fished just about every opportunity I had.  The weather played a big role in that dry spell.  And even when I finally caught a fish, it would be another month before I finally caught a largemouth.  And that's far from the only tough stretch.  

 

What makes fishing fun, for me, isn't catching fish.  It's returning to a state of peace and becoming a part of my surroundings.  It's learning how to be vulnerable and comfortable in that vulnerability.  You gain nothing in life from success.  Only in failure do we grow.  No one learns how to walk.  You learn how to fall.  Then you learn how to get up.  Then you learn how not to fall, and the walking comes from that.  You can't control the weather, the water, nor the fish.  All you can do is ride the waves and be ready when your wave comes in.  

 

 

[FishinBuck07]

First of all thanks for your service!  Second you have to look at it a little differently I believe.  Instead of how many fish you catch, maybe turn it into about the chase and figuring them out.  That is my stress relief from regular life, when I am out there that is all I think about, how to find them and get them to bite.  Also as the others have said, enjoy that time with your father, today marks 21 years since my dad died, and wish I could have another fishing trip with him all the time.  Don't give up though, this sport as trying as it is sometimes has a way of making life better for most of us in one way or another!!!  

[Luke Barnes]

It was good to be with my dad. It was the first time I have seen him in a year. We had a falling out and this was our way of getting together finally. So when he outfished me and caught a 3lber I was thinking maybe I'll go another year before I talk to him again haha. But after talking with scaleface I'm pretty excited to try carp fishing. I'll break out the bass gear in the winter maybe. I really enjoy getting them to bite a ned rig in the cold. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

My old man always told me the most important thing (other then safety) to fishing/hunting is to enjoy the day.  

It seems like that mid summer- early fall pattern lasts forever and things get monotonous.  Once the transition really gets going the fish start to school again its such a welcome change of pace.  Not to mention the fact that you don't have to deal with heat and humidity.   

 

[thediscochef]

Sometimes what gets me excited about fishing again is taking a break from my usual species or bait to learn something new. I also get a kick out of combining gear that wouldn't normally be paired together. Eventually you stumble onto something that works, and then you get to figure out why. Sometimes experimentation or fishing for a totally different thing is just what the doctor ordered. Carp fight HARD and are a lot of fun. But with all things that you have a choice in doing, fun should be the main objective. 

What I would give to have the old man to fish with again. Always a good time, always a goofball. I always outfished him, except our last trip. He smoked me, which makes me smile.

[a1712]

We were fishing the Suskie one day and my Bud was hammering them on Senkos, I was throwing everything but a Senko. He finally turned and ask me "why aren't you throwing a Senko?", I replied "I know they're hitting that". Get it? Brian.

[islandbass]

On 10/14/2021 at 8:08 AM, Luke Barnes said:

I guess I should add the caveat that I am a veteran and struggle with depression and PTSD so I take things way too personally. I know its supposed to be relaxing so when it stopped being that I decided to slow down and bring a chair and some rod holders and fish for cats and carp. Its better than not fishing and this way I get to enjoy the outdoors more and focus less on the fishing and more on relaxing. I know I sound like a whiny brat but everyone is different. 

 

I guess im asking has anyone else been through this? What reignited your interest to fish for bass? 

My friend, that’s why we call it fishing and not catching. I believe it’s safe to say we all go through such times. As in baseball, slumps in fishing are fairly common. 

 

A couple of things — First, thank you for your service. Second, this is to give you hope. For years I tried to teach my brother how to fish. While he didn’t fish on his own much, meaning he usually fished when I visited him or vice versa, it took him 14 seasons to finally catch a fish. No joke.

 

Just don’t be hard on yourself. keep in mind that every outing is an opportunity to gain experience to add to your personal knowledge bank. Catching fish is a bonus. And this is every experience. Think of it as putting in your time and paying your dues. During and after your trip take notes — literal if you need to and mental at the very least. 
 

What worked (lure wise)? In what conditions did it work?  Sunny, overcast? Temperature? Time of year? Size and color(s) of the lures? Where did I catch them?

 

You can gather that I’m a nerd, but all of us have to put in the time and effort and things will eventually yield positive dividends fishing wise. As I mentioned earlier, we call it fishing and not catching and sometimes, no matter how good we are, it is a fact that there will be times we will come up short and go home skunked. And as a shore angler, perhaps even more so. Hang in there and you’re already into something. Making the decision to target other species is a great idea. When the bass don’t want to play ball, I take my bat and glove and play ball with other species. Them blue gill, pumpkinseed, trout or perch better watch out, lol. 

[Luke Barnes]

I wish I had access to trout and perch. Like real perch, not what these native Okies call anything smaller than a bass!! 

 

Today I have a chance to bank fish a lake and it looks to be a rocky shoreline but I am going to let the wife and kids fish and I'll just hang out. Enjoying the water and nature and maybe they will catch a few. My 4 year old son has crazy luck like my dad with fishing haha.

[LrgmouthShad]

On 10/14/2021 at 11:31 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Spent 2 days that were too windy to be in the boat fishing for blue cats

That's a great idea to make use of a really windy day! I've only so far resorted to smaller ponds and lakes that are more protected when the wind gets rough.

 

Great idea

On 10/13/2021 at 10:41 PM, Koz said:

How many times do you need to be told to listen to your dad? ?

I have no doubt that if my Dad went on a dedicated fishing trip with me where he had time to learn to cast better, he'd stand a chance at outfishing me simply because..... he's been on this earth longer! He's got such a strong sense of the outdoors (hunter)

On 10/16/2021 at 11:43 AM, Luke Barnes said:

Today I have a chance to bank fish a lake and it looks to be a rocky shoreline but I am going to let the wife and kids fish and I'll just hang out. Enjoying the water and nature and maybe they will catch a few. My 4 year old son has crazy luck like my dad with fishing haha.

Sounds like a wonderful time

[Luke Barnes]

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

That's a great idea to make use of a really windy day! I've only so far resorted to smaller ponds and lakes that are more protected when the wind gets rough.

 

Great idea

I have no doubt that if my Dad went on a dedicated fishing trip with me where he had time to learn to cast better, he'd stand a chance at outfishing me simply because..... he's been on this earth longer! He's got such a strong sense of the outdoors (hunter)

Sounds like a wonderful time

It was! I made a few casts with the wife's rods and had a green sunfish take a swipe at a Dark Sleeper but other than that I just enjoyed the family, scenery, and weather. I'm going to hit a pond later this week and will fly fish for little blue gills and free line them and see if I get lucky. Wont be disappointed at all if all I catch is the blue gill. 

[The Baron]

I spent several hours on a new lake this year, trying to find a bass over about 1#.  It got to be a joke with the cottage host, my non-fishing buddy.  He taunted me with pics of kids with big bass apparently caught off docks in the lake. I fished more…. more dinks.  Then his nieces adult boyfriend (late 20’s- maybe early 30’s) comes for a visit.  He brings a kids fishing kit from Walmart, that he barely knows how to use, and goes out and catches a 3# smallmouth the second day he’s up.  My friend of course sends me a pic, laughing at me.

 

I’ve been back 3x since and can’t catch a smallie over about 1# in that lake.  I’ve looked at contour maps, fished deep, fished shallow. Tubes, jigs, cranks, jerkbaits, spinner baits, topwater of all kinds, plenty of dropshotting…. caught just a smattering of dinks.

 

All you can do is laugh about it and keep swinging.

On 10/13/2021 at 10:41 PM, Koz said:

How many times do you need to be told to listen to your dad? ?

My Dad knew nothing when I was in my teens.

 

30+ years later, I realize he’s a very smart guy. ?

[newbiedmv]

I was skunked on all bass in 2020. Not even one bite.

 

Just a few bluegill and perch.

2021 been a little better, I hope 2022 will be even more

[ATA]

oh no, I never give up catch or no catch, Prep and rigging and travel and using my tackle is half of the fun that I would have anyway, so if I dont catch bass I dont mind.

[MGF]

On 10/14/2021 at 11:23 AM, scaleface said:

I love fishing like that .When my dad was alive , I had a camper on  Mississippi river back-water protected by a levee . We sat there all the time  listening to the ball game and catching catfish and carp . I became quite the carp master. Made  dough balls  , invented a rig inspired by European carp anglers . It was a blast . I dont  look down on carp .

My dad and I used to have a little creek that we would wade. We caught large numbers of giant carp throwing a piece of a night crawler on a little hook with just enough of a split shot to be able to make a short cast on light spinning tackle. It was a wild time.