What have you learned this fishing season?

[Smalls]

I learned how to grind out those really slow days better. I took a job that puts me on shift every other weekend, and it obviously cut down on my time on the water. I didn't get to pick my days to get out as I used to, I had to take whatever time was available for me.

 

I used to get frustrated and spin out in this situation.  I really learned to slow down, start focusing on whatever knowledge I've learned about those particular conditions, and apply that. 

 

I'm still not catching huge bags on those days, but I'm finding more fish.

 

 

[islandbass]

I learned a lot this season

 

I cracked two lakes including the Fenwick lake  for which the company with its namesake is named. 
 

I finally learned that bass bedding in my area is typically in June. I have never done so well and caught larger than the typical 1.5 pounders. 
 

This was the season I decided to give a weighted T-rig a try with creatures, craws and  similar baits. This is my attempt to ween myself off of finesse (mainly DS) and explore “heavier” techniques. The results were unreal. I was blown away. A new weapon added to my arsenal.

 

I also honed my newly acquired skills with spinnerbaits and 5” senkos for bass fishing and experimenting with homemade inline spinners and panther martins (the latter just last week) for trout and salmon. 
 

I just realized that all of this was done with my two piece rods and none of my true bass rods. ? Oh well.

Spinning 
7’ okuma celilo UL

6’6” Shimano MH compre

Casting

7’ Cabelas mag touch M sensitive and surprisingly powerful enough to set the hook on my t-rigs and spinnerbaits. It acts more like an MH
6’6” Daiwa Aird-X M - New rod! Acquired late in the season. Has already hooked bass … and salmon!!!

 

I have never been able to catch a bass in October until this season. 
 

This has be a decent season. @PressuredFishing - Great topic!??

 

[A-Jay]

After a couple of years of 'looking',

I learned that there is a rather significant population of pre spawn Brown Bass

that stage considerable deeper and much further away from both the food source & the spawning areas than I ever imagined; mostly because I never checked. 

Only scratched the surface of the possibilities of this in 2021,

but it's opened up another very viable option when the shallower fish

bail after the many cold fronts April & May routinely see.

Just one more nugget to make the hard water season seem even longer.

https://youtu.be/8p_YjczqvhE?t=454

A-Jay

 

[TnRiver46]

I learned how to reel line onto a baitcaster without a worm gear/level wind. So now I have two reels that I took them out of and I can cast lighter lures much further. 

[ABrugs]

I’ve learned that investing in technique specific setups as a novice bass angler wasn’t the best move for me. I’ll be consolidating and upgrading my 4 setups to 1 versatile setup going into my 3rd year bass fishing in 2022.

[TcRoc]

I learned I spent a boat load of money last off season and didn’t get to use any of it anywhere near as much this season as I wanted. ?. I’d did crank a lot more this season and love it. 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

I learned I'd rather spend all my time fishing rivers instead of lakes and ponds

[LrgmouthShad]

1 hour ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

I learned I'd rather spend all my time fishing rivers instead of lakes and ponds

why?

[scaleface]

23 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I learned how to reel line onto a baitcaster without a worm gear/level wind. So now I have two reels that I took them out of and I can cast lighter lures much further. 

I have never heard of this  . 

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I have never heard of this  . 

I’ve only dipped my toes in, and I didn’t necessarily do it on purpose at first but it’s nice to have at least one reel without it . @bulldog1935knows a lot about casting distances and I have seen pics of his distance reels without level winds . I also watch a cat fisherman on YouTube that uses reels without levels winds. I thought why not try it because I have a few reels with worn out worm gears . The cast is much smoother without the friction but only if you remember to spool all the line evenly haha. After an outing or two its second nature 

[bulldog1935]

@TnRiver46

I'm taking this to Arroyo in 10 days to throw at snook from the dock and possibly at rolling tarpon from kayak. 

 

[A-Jay]

23 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I learned how to reel line onto a baitcaster without a worm gear/level wind. So now I have two reels that I took them out of and I can cast lighter lures much further. 

 

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve only dipped my toes in, and I didn’t necessarily do it on purpose at first but it’s nice to have at least one reel without it . @bulldog1935knows a lot about casting distances and I have seen pics of his distance reels without level winds . I also watch a cat fisherman on YouTube that uses reels without levels winds. I thought why not try it because I have a few reels with worn out worm gears . The cast is much smoother without the friction but only if you remember to spool all the line evenly haha. After an outing or two its second nature 

The 'extra casting distance' one gets from this, at least for me,

could never out weigh the problems associated with it;

especially in most bass fishing scenario's.

My spools are always kept loaded pretty close to capacity,

so my reel does a much better job of laying all that in a uniform & neat fashion than I ever could. 

Except for flipping / pitching, with a less than loaded spool,

I can see me cursing at my gear more than I'd like.

Good Luck though

A-Jay

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

 

The 'extra casting distance' one gets from this, at least for me,

could never out weigh the problems associated with it;

especially in most bass fishing scenario's.

My spools are always kept loaded pretty close to capacity,

so my reel does a much better job of laying all that in a uniform & neat fashion than I ever could. 

Except for flipping / pitching, with a less than loaded spool,

I can see me cursing at my gear more than I'd like.

Good Luck though

A-Jay

I certainly wouldn’t recommend it , but it’s been good so far for bombing 1/4 oz bitsy flip and a few nice smallies. It makes short Casts smoother as well. I only experimented because of worn out gears 

[MickD]

I learned where early season smallies are likely to be in one of my favorite fishing sites.  I also learned many many summer places where they are not located.

[bulldog1935]

@A-Jay

What I discovered on my NLW CTs and shallow braid spools,

while you have to lay a proper hand LW to load the spool, you rarely have to think about it with your working line.  Winding the braid, the thin line naturally hunts the deep spot on the spool, and tends to LW itself while you're fishing. 

Before you take it out next time, it's a good idea to restore hand LW in your working line. 

The narrow 4600 spools @TnRiver46 is throwing don't need LW even with mono. 

 

Adding a PS here - ZZeta of Italy offers a 4500 CT frame, but they are proud of it. 

https://surfcastproshop.com/shop/ols/products/zzetatuning-twin-mag-pro-side-plates

The beauty of these NLW barstock frames is they don't have or need crossbars. 

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by bulldog1935
4500 ZZeta frame

[NittyGrittyBoy]

47 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

why?

Because I simply enjoy fishing rivers more than lakes and ponds.

[PressuredFishing]

On 11/21/2021 at 5:38 AM, ABrugs said:

I’ve learned that investing in technique specific setups as a novice bass angler wasn’t the best move for me. I’ll be consolidating and upgrading my 4 setups to 1 versatile setup going into my 3rd year bass fishing in 2022.

I have found this is the best option for me. I keep it really simple, I got a heavy rod for summertime frogging and flipping. A medium heavy for almost everything else, and a medium spinning rod for finesse

[ryanerb]

On 11/19/2021 at 9:05 AM, DitchPanda said:

This year I learned alot about the Ned rig..I'm now about 400% more effective with it than I was in years prior. I also learned how productive big worms are in brush.

What exactly did you change to be 400% more effective? 

On 11/19/2021 at 9:05 AM, DitchPanda said:

This year I learned alot about the Ned rig..I'm now about 400% more effective with it than I was in years prior. I also learned how productive big worms are in brush.

What exactly did you change to be 400% more effective? I'd love to learn more. 

[DitchPanda]

29 minutes ago, ryanerb said:

What exactly did you change to be 400% more effective? 

What exactly did you change to be 400% more effective? I'd love to learn more. 

Learned where to throw it..more importantly how to work it. I swam it much more often than dragging it like a bottom.bait.

[papajoe222]

 I can no longer spend eight straight hours chuckin' and windin' standing on the bow of my boat. I learned how to sit and work a few lures with my rod tip up rather than down like I did when standing. 

[Bluebasser86]

I learned I can hold my own fishing kayak tournaments. My first year doing it so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I made plenty of mistakes and learned a lot from them, but it still went pretty well. 

[jbsoonerfan]

I learned having 3 daughters that play softball and watching and or coaching some 206 games over the Spring/Summer means you have little to no time to fish. LOL!!!!

[NickBender]

There is no substitute for experience. Make sure you try to spend more time fishing and enjoying the process, than researching rods, reels, tackle, etc...

[Junk Fisherman]

Probably the biggest thing I learned was how to fish up North in the middle of the summer once the spawn is completely over.  I have been taking long June trips to Northern Michigan for the last 10 years and have done great fishing prespawn and spawning fish.  This year I took a mid-July trip and while I didn't catch the same number of big fish, I had a very successful trip catching lots of fish overall.  Searching 20'+ water is something I started becoming comfortable with.  Next year I plan on taking a June trip by myself and then take a long family vacation in July.

 

The biggest other development in my fishing this year has been fishing jerkbaits.  I have caught more jerkbait fish this fall than the rest of my fishing career combined.  It was/is the biggest hole in my fishing arsenal that many times I said I needed to work on.  Luckily, I have a new colleague who's excellent with jerkbaits and he has been coaching me and it has really paid off.  So many times I'd have a jerkbait tied on and cast it a dozen times but then put it down and use something I am more comfortable with.    But this fall I stuck with it and it has paid off.   Last Sunday I threw a jerkbait probably 90% of the time and caught every fish on one.  

 

 

[PaulVE64]

I learned that pike have very tough mouths.  If i wanted to land them I needed to sharpen hooks and cross their eyes on the hook set (even with trebles)

 

I also broke down and started throwing a drop shot on tough days and ive used those same lures for "float and fly"