Do You Second Guess Yourself?

[KSanford33]

I live in northeastern NY, so the water is still in the low to mid-40's. I went out the other day and fished a t-rig worm and a ned rig along some of the steeper drop-offs in the pond and came up empty. Once I got off the water, I immediately started thinking maybe I should've thrown a crankbait or a Zako or something else. 

 

Does anyone else second guess themselves on what (or where) they fished if they get skunked? I'd like to think I gave myself the best chance to catch something, but maybe I didn't.

[NavyVet1204]

I feel that quite often. Especially if my confidence lures/techniques that always produce….stop or won’t produce. I don’t even realize it in the moment, but subconsciously I will think that a shakey head will catch a fish anywhere and anytime regardless of any other circumstances so naturally I start and end with that tied on my main rig. 

 

This exact circumstance you are speaking of is why I ALMOST want to start buying crank baits in the event that I may use one and start catching fish with them when getting skunked is afoot. 
 

edit: Generally a chatterbait or a T-Rig of some sort will produce if my shakey heads don’t. If I still get skunked, the lord had a plan that day.

[king fisher]

The only time I second guess myself, is every time I go fishing and most of the time betting on sports.

[Bankbeater]

All the time.

[MickD]

Of course.  Which is why I am going to force myself this year, in the middle of a tough day, to stop fishing and think.  Think about what I have not tried, what could be effective, where I have not tried, etc etc etc.  

 

We have to slow down and do some thinking to be most effective. 

[Junk Fisherman]

I don't spend much time second-guessing my decisions but I definitely spend time beating myself up for mistakes I made.  I broke my line on a big fish last week and I don't know what happened.  I had just retied and it was a knot I have been tying for 20 years that I have an extreme amount of confidence in.  I'll also spend time reliving unfortunate events.  I lost a big fish in a tournament a few weeks back just a couple feet from the net.  I don't think I did anything wrong but it still bugs me.  I also lost several fish the first day out this year but I was still recovering from a broken wrist so I knew I wasn't setting the hook that hard.  Overall, I have had a very good start to my year but I tend to spend too much time reliving the negatives rather than focusing on the positives.  

[geo g]

All the time, just go to plan B!

 

There is one guarantee for sure, if your lure is not wet, you can't CATCH anything! Keep something in the strike zone!

[OkobojiEagle]

I reflect upon my day on every ride home...

 

oe

[Darth-Baiter]

1 hour ago, Bankbeater said:

All the time.

Says it all! Yup.  

[Smokinal]

While driving home from the lake....

[Tucson]

Having hundreds of lure options makes it worse.  

 

 

[GreenPig]

I set my phone alarm to 10 or 10:30 am and when goes off I'll have a quick bite and a bottle of water(3 - 5 minutes). At that point if I'm catching I'll keep on, if not I'll make a course correction. Sometimes it's a major change but no second guessing myself. I finally figured out some years ago that they don't always want eat what I want to catch them on.

[A-Jay]

3 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

I live in northeastern NY, so the water is still in the low to mid-40's. I went out the other day and fished a t-rig worm and a ned rig along some of the steeper drop-offs in the pond and came up empty. Once I got off the water, I immediately started thinking maybe I should've thrown a crankbait or a Zako or something else. 

 

Does anyone else second guess themselves on what (or where) they fished if they get skunked? I'd like to think I gave myself the best chance to catch something, but maybe I didn't.

 

I think every semi-serious basshead 'evaluates & re-evaluates' his or her decisions

both on & off the water. 

I'm no different.

 'Evaluating' what, where, when & how I fish happens just about constantly;

during open AND hard water seasons. 

It's how I learn.

Which Lake, What Section, How Deep/Shallow, What technique, Vertical or Horizontal Presentation,

and at What Time ?  The list can be as short or long as we want to make it. 

In fact, I do it before, no doubt during and of course, after just about every trip;

regardless of my level or lack of success. 

A long ride in the GMC to & from Lake Menderchuck offers plenty of opportunity. 

The satisfaction from 'coming up with' an effective game plan,

especially after the first few crash & burn,

is what feeds the process for me. 

So, I don't like to call it 'second guessing'. 

Sounds negative.

Finally while I can and have certainly learned from one trip on the water,

compared to an entire season, it's a pretty small sample size.

Start stringing some together and then perhaps add a few decades to that,

the big picture starts to get a bit clearer.

Doesn't always mean more or bigger bass,

but it can certainly display how important it all is to me. 

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

28 minutes ago, Tucson said:

Having hundreds of lure options makes it worse.  

 

 

The less I retie, the better I do. I feel like I know most of the time what the fish will bite before leaving. So, I try as hard as I can to convince myself that if I am not catching, it is not the bait. It is probably location or depth or both. Then, when my mind can't take it any longer and I'm convinced it's the bait, it might be time to change after all. 

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

All the time.

Yep 

[Big Hands]

I don't think all of the fish stop feeding for too long. It's on me to figure out how to trigger strikes. Most of the time I do. Sometimes I don't. I know sometimes I just totally miss the mark. It's just part of fishing. 

 

Unless there's something dire happening, it's not them, it's me.

[Bird]

My problem is stubbornness.

If it's a body of water I've fished before and caught fish under a certain condition, I'll pre-tie the night before and Pound those same baits for hours thinking that I'll duplicate the same success........ does that make sense ?

 

But as far as second guessing myself ?

Only when I get skunked and after I've blamed it on water temps. Lol

[Jmilburn76]

I second guess myself with pretty much everything down to even going fishing. 

[DitchPanda]

Absolutely... If you don't analyze where you can improve how will you become more well rounded?

[padon]

3 hours ago, MickD said:

Of course.  Which is why I am going to force myself this year, in the middle of a tough day, to stop fishing and think.  Think about what I have not tried, what could be effective, where I have not tried, etc etc etc.  

 

We have to slow down and do some thinking to be most effective. 

yes thats a plan for me this year too. instead of running aroumd trying all kinds of spots, sit down, think about the places i have tried. what type of other cover or structure could be productive this time of year? maybe go try to find some new stuff on the finder. try some areas i havent tried before.

[NavyVet1204]

2 hours ago, Tucson said:

Having hundreds of lure options makes it worse.  

 

 

I keep telling myself that less is more. Then I realize that I basically am offering a treasure trove of a buffet of lures I just need to find the right one that works lol

[Catt]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Evaluating' what, where, when & how I fish happens just about constantly;

 

Ain't got no on/off button!

 

Some of y'all talk about fun fishing vs tournament fishing.

 

Ain't no difference for me, the level of comment to details is the same 24/7/365!

 

Conditions are constantly changing we have change with em.

[PhishLI]

5 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

Does anyone else second guess themselves on what (or where) they fished if they get skunked?

If I've covered the zone from the bottom to top, then no. Sometimes they're just not there, or have just eaten, or are keyed in on something very specific, or just not interested. Sweep through the same zone an hour later and it might be a jackpot.

5 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

I'd like to think I gave myself the best chance to catch something, but maybe I didn't.

While I had wake baits with me yesterday I really didn't expect much throwing them in 43 degree water, but I had them. In this weather a Hail Mary pass often produces results, even when it doesn't seem like the correct move. I learned this a few years ago throwing a Whopper Plopper as a last resort in mid 40 degree water. I wrecked em for weeks after that in colder water. Go figure. After everything sensible failed yesterday a Spro Rat 40 and a Yo-zuri 3DR 75mm wake saved my trip. Next week, or next trip, they might not be willing to come up to eat, so it might be a small slow sinking glide that gets it done. Gotta mix things up.

 

 

[SWVABass]

I would say I kind of run through this process after a day of fishing…

 

what went right, as in my plan for the day. May be I only got on and off the water safely but I did that right.

 

what didn’t go to plan, maybe I planned on  fishing chunk rock transitions with a crank but failed to catch them

 

what can I do better next time, could be how I broke down the water that day to something as simple as not trying to fish a major holiday weekend.

 

going through this time and time again allows me to review my day in a methodical process, analyze what I did, build on my strengths and recognize my weaknesses. Hopefully to improve my fishing but to never second guess why I did what I did.

[TcRoc]

Constantly.. Than stare at all my set ups . Sit at my work bench watching YouTube and start changing lures . 
Who  I am I kidding this my normal routine lol