History Lesson

[A-Jay]

26 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

 Catt, when my historical tried and true spots don't produce, I don't hang around all day. I'll move on.

I get that ~

If they are not shallow, look deep.

Not deep, look shallower.

Not on rocks, perhaps check some soft cover.

But the question remains -

Do you generally catch bass fishing new water,

when there seems to be no bite in areas that bass routinely use to feed ?

 

We always talk about location, location & location.

So it stands to 'reason', (not sure if the bass use this or not)

that if I'm not getting bites the bass are not there.

And if they are, they are not feeding, despite my best efforts to 'trigger a strike, or 'fire up the school'. 

 

Also there's the idea that not every bass in the habitat is doing the same thing at the same time.

So relocating has got to be better than staying put and waiting out the bass,

which may or may not even be there or coming there that day. 

 

Something else I've had to add to all of this started playing out during the MLF derbies a few years ago and seems to be repeating itself over and over.

Shown in Real time, Pro anglers who are spread out all over a really large fishery, literally tens of miles apart, name any lake you please, LIVE footage shows the bite seems to start and end at the same time for them ALL.  It's Scary at times.

So perhaps the previously noted premise is not as accurate as we first thought. 

 

In the end, I suppose it's all about being committed to whatever decision we make.

https://youtu.be/BN1WwnEDWAM?t=58

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[T-Billy]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Something else I've had to add to all of this started playing out during the MLF derbies a few years ago and seems to be repeating itself over and over.

Shown in Real time, Pro anglers who are spread out all over a really large fishery, literally tens of miles apart, name any lake you please, LIVE footage shows the bite seems to start and end at the same time for them ALL.  It's Scary at times.

So perhaps the previously noted premise is not as accurate as we first thought. 

This seems especially true with the brown bass. Notoriously migratory, following the forage, suspending, holding on large areas of structure without much/any cover. It's often feast or famine for me when chasing smallies. 

Largemouth on the other hand are often easier to catch consistently for me. They're more predictable, and their fondness for cover makes them easier to locate much of the year. Bite windows also seem less important with them. You can often generate bites even when they're neutural or negative because of the way cover allows you to present your bait. You can generate reaction bites with fall rate, and aggrevate them into biting by keeping that bait in their face. I'll often pitch into a bush with my line draped over a limb and get bit say the 4th or 5th time I drop it in their face. Not so easy to do with brownies in open water.

[Spankey]

Great post ?

[fin]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

LIVE footage shows the bite seems to start and end at the same time for them ALL.  It's Scary at times.

 

Yeah, there's something to this. Sometimes you can see what is triggering it, like the sun, but it seems like there's also some mysterious invisible force. I've noticed this with carp jumping too - several carp will sometimes suddenly jump simultaneously across the lake. I've seen it many many times.

[Team9nine]

5 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Something else I've had to add to all of this started playing out during the MLF derbies a few years ago and seems to be repeating itself over and over.

 

Shown in Real time, Pro anglers who are spread out all over a really large fishery, literally tens of miles apart, name any lake you please, LIVE footage shows the bite seems to start and end at the same time for them ALL.  It's Scary at times.

 

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

12 minutes ago, fin said:

Yeah, there's something to this. Sometimes you can see what is triggering it, like the sun, but it seems like there's also some mysterious invisible force. I've noticed this with carp jumping too - several carp will sometimes suddenly jump simultaneously across the lake. I've seen it many many times.

 

I would be remiss as a Spoonplugger if I didn't throw out the mention that this was another Buck Perry "guideline" that you can find in his 1973 book, "Spoonplugging," as well as many of his articles;

 

"Each situation and each structure will determine the amount of time to be spent. The main thing is to spend enough time to be confident you know it thoroughly and that no movement has occurred.

 

The things I have just said, concerning the time spent on a particular structure, and especially the part about which structure to concentrate upon; reads fairly easy. BUT, when you get on the water, you may find you don't have a ready answer. I have solved any doubt that might occur, by going back to the 'basic movement', and recall — "when the movement period occurs, ALL the fish move. Some may move to a greater degree than others, but they all move."

 

What this means to you, if the fish are not moving on the structure you're working, they are not likely to be moving on another. So — you pick out the best one, and stick with it."

 

- Buck Perry, "Spoonplugging" - 1973

[A-Jay]

8 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

 

I would be remiss as a Spoonplugger if I didn't throw out the mention that this was another Buck Perry "guideline" that you can find in his 1973 book, "Spoonplugging," as well as many of his articles;

 

"Each situation and each structure will determine the amount of time to be spent. The main thing is to spend enough time to be confident you know it thoroughly and that no movement has occurred.

The things I have just said, concerning the time spent on a particular structure, and especially the part about which structure to concentrate upon; reads fairly easy. BUT, when you get on the water, you may find you don't have a ready answer. I have solved any doubt that might occur, by going back to the 'basic movement', and recall — "when the movement period occurs, ALL the fish move. Some may move to a greater degree than others, but they all move."

 

What this means to you, if the fish are not moving on the structure you're working, they are not likely to be moving on another. So — you pick out the best one, and stick with it."

 

- Buck Perry, "Spoonplugging" - 1973

Sweet ~ Justification at last. 

And here I was thinking I must have a major personality flaw.

(besides the constantly working out thing) 

A-Jay

[The Bassman]

2 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

 

I would be remiss as a Spoonplugger if I didn't throw out the mention that this was another Buck Perry "guideline" that you can find in his 1973 book, "Spoonplugging," as well as many of his articles;

 

"Each situation and each structure will determine the amount of time to be spent. The main thing is to spend enough time to be confident you know it thoroughly and that no movement has occurred.

 

The things I have just said, concerning the time spent on a particular structure, and especially the part about which structure to concentrate upon; reads fairly easy. BUT, when you get on the water, you may find you don't have a ready answer. I have solved any doubt that might occur, by going back to the 'basic movement', and recall — "when the movement period occurs, ALL the fish move. Some may move to a greater degree than others, but they all move."

 

What this means to you, if the fish are not moving on the structure you're working, they are not likely to be moving on another. So — you pick out the best one, and stick with it."

 

- Buck Perry, "Spoonplugging" - 1973

Saw that happen this afternoon. A dozen bass in about an hour then that was it. Got home and checked the solunar tables. I was squarely on a major period right against a full moon. And this was under less than ideal conditions. Possibly just coincidental.

[cyclops2]

I have has bites last for hours with MEAT on a hook. Or just minutes with Rapala lures

[thediscochef]

7 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Now that you mention it, both of the big flatheads that kicked my butt last July did so mid day. Both ate my T-Rig and ran back under laydown piles and wrapped me up, and there was nothing I could do about it. I don't know what it takes to pull those bruisers out of there, but an 8' flippin stick, Lew's Super Duty, and 40# braid ain't up to that task. Not even close. First one left me with a braid burnt thumb, a bent reel handle, and had some terrible sounds coming from my rod before I surrendered.

? that's intense

The spot I caught all my big fish in is a river below a dam so there's relatively little to get hung on that you won't see. There's small snags on the bottom but for the most part my main losses have come from hitting the opposite bank in the trees or rocks. I fish the bottom there with a lot of confidence that I won't get stuck.

None of my fish over 5lbs were landed before 10am this year. Only one was a bass, though. The stuff over 3lbs mostly took place in the same manner but there were a handful of 3lb bass that came ashore between 9 and 10.

[Columbia Craw]

This information is all good.  I’m not inclined to fish history but location is location.  Bass fishing seems to be very timing/ conditions related in addition to location.  
 

My experience is Smallmouth are transient by nature.  So an area or spot might  be an empty parking lot at the Golden Corral at any given time but timing and conditions may change or stabilize as look who shows up.

 

On the other side of the coin, largemouth seem less transient and timing or feeding windows open and close.  I don’t know that many of us fish huge expanses where travel time and checking an area could eat up your entire day.  Fishing smaller waters allow me to visit an area multiple times in a day.  History is still experience and experience is too valuable to discount when making adjustments on the go.  Just my two cents.