The never ending quest to improve

[GoneFishingLTN]

Curious for the fisherman that have fish for a long time and have done a lot of research. What do you do to

keep  improving? I ask this because it seems like some anglers on here are pretty set in there ways (baits and style etc) and was curious what keeps fishing interesting enough until they get on the water next.

 

Or do they just not try to improve when they are not on the water?

[Mobasser]

 I'm always reading, practicing casting, and fishing as much as I can. People tend to excell at things they love. And I love fishing.

[DitchPanda]

I'm the same way...a real student of the game. Open water season I fish...alot. Winter I'm reading articles, watching YouTube videos and picking brains on here. Learning about it and prepping \tweaking tackle is all part of the fun.

[Bluebasser86]

Get out of my comfort zone. It's so easy to just put it on cruise control and go catch those fish doing what I know will work. Sometimes I have to get away from that and try to put fish in the boat doing something I'm not as adept at doing or catch them somewhere I don't usually to get that real feeling of accomplishment. 

[Catt]

Eat, sleep, fish, repeat ?

[Columbia Craw]

I caught my first bass 58 years ago.  I live in slime country and bass we’re a joke decades ago and to many, still are.  I did the salmon, trout, steelhead deal but 40 years ago made bass the priority.  I don’t see myself as improving as much as expanding. I want to expand my skills and knowledge as an angler.  The most impacting way is to fish different bodies of water.  I mean diverse locations from ponds to big reservoirs and anything in between.   If you have a comfort zone, get out of it once and awhile.  

[PhishLI]

On 12/23/2021 at 8:27 PM, GoneFishingLTN said:

What do you do to keep improving?

I don't fish tournaments or for food. Just the challenge. This might sound odd, but if I'm whacking them on a specific bait over a period of time I get bored with it. I've been fortunate to have bagged some pretty good sluggers for my area, and I'm positive I'll get more over time, so I'm not desperate about that.

 

I'm far less bored when I try a new-to-me bait, and especially when I really put the time in to fishing one that I've blanked on repeatedly. Once I figure out several ways present it and get bites it becomes a viable option in addition to the baits I'm already very confident throwing. I probably won't live long enough to master all the baits that have whipped me hard so far, but I'll get mucho satisfaction trying to find out what's viable and what isn't. I suppose this is one version of improving.

[Hammer 4]

After 35 yrs+, the lakes, and city park ponds, ect where I fish, I know the waters pretty well. For me, it's not so much trying to improve, it's more like thinking outside the box. What I mean by that is, I try things/baits that no one I know of is throwing, sometimes it works, sometimes not so much, but I'm always learning from doing so.

An example is we were fishing a highland impoundment, water was gin clear, outside air temp was 110+ degrees. Everyone that I saw and or talked to was BFS fishing, mostly dropshot, in deeper water. 

I decide to go shallow, and fish the riprap, tossing a 3oz jointed swimbait, after a few casts, I get bit by a nice healthy 6 1/2 lb bass. After the day was done, I talked to the folks that work there, and they said only a couple reports of "smaller" bass were caught, you guessed it, on a dropshot.

So, don't be afraid to try something totally different. 

[scaleface]

I've been at it since the 70's and continue to evolve as a bass angler without  trying . It just happens  .   

[T-Billy]

Along the lines of the thread about getting infatuated with new baits, over the years I've tried all sorts of baits and techniques, and through the course of trial and error found what works for me. Those techniques that work get refined through more and more time on the water.

 Mostly these days I'm either in the jungle with a flippin stick, or on the first break with a fairy wand. If the wind really gets blowing, or I'm seeing a bunch of suspended fish, I'll switch to moving baits. 

 I also night fish alot. Chatterbait and a T rig pretty well handle that.

 Try different stuff. Figure out what your strengths are, and roll with it. When you're having a tough day, put that confidence bait in your hand and keep it there. That normally works out better for me than throwing the kitchen sink at em.

[GRiver]

I try to keep what physical skills I do have, ( casting, pitching ,etc) honed. By fishing more or just casting from the dock. 
     As far as new stuff, I pick it up here on Bass Resource. Some of it works for me, some don’t. This site and the internet have helped a lot of people keep learning and improving their fishing skills. 

[A-Jay]

14 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

Curious for the fisherman that have fish for a long time and have done a lot of research.

What do you do to keep  improving?

I ask this because it seems like some anglers on here are pretty set in there ways (baits and style etc) and was curious what keeps fishing interesting enough until they get on the water next.

 

Or do they just not try to improve when they are not on the water?

Interesting premise, made me sit back and ponder.

Initially it had me remembering just how long I've been 'fishing'.

As well as all the different 'types' of fishing I've done.

That happened in a wide variety of areas, in both fresh & saltwater,

in a rather fantastic assortment of locations.

And as I thought about all the places, the trips, and the fish catches, one thing sort of stood out.

While clearly not every place has big fish, most all of the times I've had the good fortune & opportunity to fish places that did, eventually I caught a few; regardless on the species or types of fishing.  Locations that lacked plus sized fish, I did not. 

 So there was and had to be quite a bit of learning & improving at each of these deals to be successful, especially when considering just how Vastly different many of them are.

Certainly don't know it all, not even close, but I feel I'm fairly well rounded.

Sufficiently enough that if I can get around them, history has shown, I'll poke a few. 

Sometimes it happens right away, other times, not so much.

But I'm good with that.

And so to answer the OP's question; my personal journey to 'improve' centers around two basic concepts.

I am always looking to improve my fish locating skills.

Map study and time on the water spearheads that deal.

Then, maintaining my physical & mental abilities which will hopefully allow me to do all of this for as long as possible.  This one does seem like a battle at times and will only end,

when I do.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[MickD]

I am forcing myself to stop in the middle of the day and go over what worked, didn't work, where I've been, and "ask myself "what am I missing?"  And "What have I not tried that might work?"

[OldManLure]

If serious about the sport of fishing, I believe improvement is the natural payoff for experience.  With each outing, with each success and with each failure, we can learn.  But we must pay attention and be willing to acknowledge what each experience tells us even if it contradicts the article we just read, or the video we just watched, or the sure fire advice someone tells us.  Trust yourself.  Don’t minimize successes, and don’t exaggerate failures.  Embrace your experience and the improvement that comes along with it.

 

[12poundbass]

I’m always reading, listening, and watching to learn more and more. My biggest problem, and I’ve struggled with it since I decided to become a better angler a few years back is, I study a map or say I’m trying this or that. This or that isn’t producing so I revert back to my old ways and start beating the bank! 
 

Not all is lost though. The Senko was my crack and that’s all I used (except a frog). I tried other lures forever but always went back to the Senko after failed attempts using other lures. I’m proud to say I’m around 4 years Senko free! ?

 

I’ve learned new techniques since them and have really come to enjoy them. I threw a lipless last year in a long long time with a decent amount of success, and I’ve stocked up on more this off season. 
 

If I can give up the very addictive Senko and not have the urge to go back to it I know I can give up beating the bank. It’s been a struggle and I know to become a more well rounded angler I need to give it up. 

[Bankc]

The better you get at something, the more you realize you don't know about it.  There's always room for improvement.  It's the Dunning-Kruger effect.  You have to be pretty good to realize just how bad you are at something.  And the better you get, the better you can see how much further you have left to go.  

 

Every day, every bait, every body of water, and every fish is unique.  Until you've lived every day, fished every bait on every body of water and caught every fish, you'll have stuff you can learn.  Until then, you're just trying to find patterns in the noise.  And sometimes you learn new patterns or recognize old ones.  But there are a nearly infinite amount of patterns that you miss, and nearly an infinite amount of ones that no one has even seen yet.   

[the reel ess]

I am subscribed to about 20 YouTube channels related to bass fishing. I watch videos as often as I can when I can't actually be fishing. When I see a technique that looks useful to me I'm likely to give it a try. If it's successful, it gets added to the arsenal. 

[king fisher]

     I'm always trying to improve.  I read everything I can, watch a lot of videos, and the Bait Monkey makes sure I have the latest and greatest gear.

     My problem is the best way to improve is not with upgrading rods and reals, or buying the newest hot lure.  Even reading and watching videos can only help so much.  Nothing beats time on the water.  The best way to improve my bass fishing, would be to bass fish.  Unfortunately right now time on the water is hard to come by.  I was able to fish a couple times this week, didn't catch much, but at least it will be easy to make an improvement next time out. 

 

[scaleface]

 I like catching bass more than going fishing .  Its no fun getting skunked . If I can catch them on an old technique great , if I have to do something different , that is great too . 

[T-Billy]

Learning to embrace the tough days instead of getting frustrated is a great thing.  If I can scratch out a limit on those days when bites are few and far between, I'm happy. If I get skunked, I may not be thrilled about it,  but rather than get frustrated, I try to analyze the day and form a plan for the next day, or next time I face similar conditions. There's always something to be learned from failure.

 It's not always easy to keep a positive attitude, but it is a choice and within our control.

[Bankbeater]

I like to try new baits and new techniques.  I don't like to be restricted to one or two presentations when I'm out on the water.

[Catt]

I spend as much time as possible on the water studing the bank, graphing shallow & deep. When I catch a bass & before I leave the area I scan it. 

 

With today's mapping like Google Earth & Navionics I've found things I didn't know existed.

 

I am constantly outside paying attention to wildlife, trees, bushes, & grass. This clues me in on actual seasonal changes, not some calendar. 

 

 

 

[WRB]

When I started bass fishing in 1955 my goals were simple learn to cast, retrieve lures and catch a few bass. My mentor was reading Jason Lucas and he influenced me greatly. Jay wrote to me when I was a 12 year old kid in SoCal suggesting what rod and reel to buy; Langley 330 lure cast reel and Conolin Feather Lite tubular glass casting rod. 

My casting and bass fishing skills improved the point as a high schooler I was catching some big bass and that became my life long goal to catch a world record bass.

The evolution of tournament bass fishing was driving bass tackle, boats, trolling motors, sonar units with ever changing technology. Just trying to keep up with new tackle, lures, electronics, map reading, bass behavior and ever changing ecosystems and increasing fishing pressure from knowledgeable anglers has kept me challenged for over 65 years.

Never achieved my goal, came close, maybe the trip.

Tom

[crypt]

try to learn something every trip that I go on. years ago I was not that good at flipping.so I took nothing but my flipping rigs with me for months on end to get better at it. now whenever I want to try an new way I learn as much about it so I can decide whether I will add it to my arsenal. just keep learning that's all.

[volzfan59]

While I am one of those that are somewhat set in my ways, I do try to improve. I'll pick up the new, latest and greatest lure and give them a go. However, while I'm pretty good with my mechanics, I'm always trying to improve them.