Do You Second Guess Yourself?

[fin]

Sometimes I fish based purely on past results. I have tabulated results from my records of all my years of fishing and use only the lures that have produced the most fish, and fish only the spots that have produced, in that particular month. At least then I feel like I have made the most informed choice.

[MickD]

11 hours ago, Bird said:

and after I've blamed it on water temps. Lol

Me too.  Never my fault.  Always the fault of the fishes.  Or the water temp.  Or the atmospheric pressure.  Or the cloudy water.  Or the clear water.  

[BassNJake]

15 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 this reflective period is one of my most productive.

I am doing it regardless if I skunk or not. 

As a tournament guy, you'll have days where you catch them good off of points in the pockets.

Then hear the winners were fishing wind blown points on the main channel.

Sometimes I'm able to put the pieces together on the water

Sometimes running it thru my head, I determine I would have done things differently

The hard part comes putting that into play the next time that situation comes up

 

In low to mid 40's, my expectation mirrors the temperature.

I give myself a pat on the back and an attaboy. Then find the fireplace

 

[BassNJake]

12 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

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. 

The bait monkey has put you on the naughty list!!

It's almost always the location

[the reel ess]

10 hours ago, PhishLI said:

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.

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.

 

 

I've only come to realize you should start throwing topwaters early in the last two years. I've caught probably 50% of my fish on one since late Feb.

 

@KSanford33 I'm always second guessing myself. Sometimes, especially when the bite is slow, I'll just throw the heck out of a topwater, usually a Whopper Plopper. It covers a a lot of water quickly. But I'm sure I'm missing some bites I could get by slowing down or downsizing. In the end, it's only fish, right? 

[WVU-SCPA]

Even if it was a very successful outing I usually think back through on what I could have done different.

 

The most common regret is usually "I wish would have fished a drop shot back through areas I pulled out fish. "  Even this week after pulling 5 fish off a very specific piece of structure I continued to beat it with the same swimbait and crawl for the next 50 cast.  Thought driving home was I should of slowed down and held a bait on it as I would bet a substantial amount of money there were more then 5 fish holding on it.

[LrgmouthShad]

6 minutes ago, BassNJake said:

The bait monkey has put you on the naughty list!!

He is not happy with me right now. I appeased him by getting some cranks but he really wants me to get chatterbaits and it just ain't happening. 

[gim]

I always wonder if I should leave fish to find fish.  I run into this issue regularly when I'm catching smaller to medium-sized bass or crappies.  Quite often, I'll leave, spend a period of time at a couple other locations looking for bigger fish, fail, and then go right back to where I was and start catching fish again.  Which make me wonder why I even left that spot in the first place.

[Bankc]

Nope.  Life is full of regrets.  I made my decisions the best I could with what I had.  Were they the right decisions?  Probably not.  If I could do it over, knowing what I know now, would I change them?  Sure.  But I didn't know then what I know now.  And I'll learn from my mistakes and grow from them.  So I'm not going to second guess myself, especially since it was just a guess to begin with.  I'll take the day's experience and learn from it.  My goal isn't to be a good angler.  It's to be a better angler.  And failure, as they say, is the best teacher.  

[DaubsNU1]

Second guess myself...

 

All

The

Darn

Time!

 

Nature of the beast. Perfectionist. Want to do it right. But as I'm getting older, I'm more forgiving, laugh at myself more, and relax more. 

 

I'd been out of fishing for about 10 years (kiddos in sports takes a lot of time, energy, and $$). Now that my kiddos are all college age, I got back in to fishing. 

 

Last summer I was fishing a local lake known for big bass...pitched the senko under a dock perfectly hitting the back sea-wall...the lure fell, then twitched every so slightly...

 

I set the hook and knew it was a big one. 

 

Managed to maneuver the trolling motor and take the boat away from docks...and managed to keep the big bass from wrapping around anything. 

 

Now that the bass was clear of tangles, it was a short fight to reel up the line and get him to the boat. Here is where I made my mistake / second guess.

 

Normally I'm a "get fish to boat...keep rod tip high...lip fish...bring in to boat" kind of guy. I don't use a net. Recently I watched a video from Glen about grabbing the line and pulling fish in to the boat. Works well for smaller fish...but this particular big-un...

 

I made the mistake of grabbing the line...and with one tail flip, the line snapped. UGH!

 

Next time, I fight the fish for a little...get his head/mouth up (rod tip around 45 degrees...if he runs...rod tip down...give him room. If he humps...rod tip high, keep tension on...then lip and get in the boat. 

 

 

 

[KSanford33]

3 hours ago, Bankc said:

Nope.  Life is full of regrets.  I made my decisions the best I could with what I had.  Were they the right decisions?  Probably not.  If I could do it over, knowing what I know now, would I change them?  Sure.  But I didn't know then what I know now.  And I'll learn from my mistakes and grow from them.  So I'm not going to second guess myself, especially since it was just a guess to begin with.  I'll take the day's experience and learn from it.  My goal isn't to be a good angler.  It's to be a better angler.  And failure, as they say, is the best teacher.  

This was a much deeper answer than I expected to get. Got me thinking.

[throttleplate]

i dont second guess because i am always trying a different approach.

If i am not catching and if the wife is not catching we pack up and we jump in the car, turn on the gps and head for another lake or river a few minutes away.

[flyfisher]

if you aren't catching then you absolutely should be second guessing yourself.  Even if you are catching you should be as well to think about if you are maximizing your catching and minimizing your fishing.  

[Team9nine]

Used to in the past when I was tourney fishing, but not anymore. Now I strive for minimal tackle and simplicity in approach. I either go with what I think will be the best options for the water and conditions, or simply with what I want to catch them on that day. Most days it works out, but some days it doesn’t. So what? I’ll just get ‘em next trip 

[OkobojiEagle]

8 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

I either go with what I think will be the best options for the water and conditions, or simply with what I want to catch them on that day. Most days it works out, but some days it doesn’t. So what? I’ll just get ‘em next trip 

And the congregation replied, "Amen"!

 

oe

[Fishlegs]

Never!  ?

 

Maybe sometimes.  ?

 

Every single time. ?

[crypt]

from the minute I wake up till my head hits the pillow..........

[Choporoz]

I'm still second guessing decisions I made in a tournament four years ago.  I can spend days after a tournament reconsidering every big and small decision....whether I did well or poorly.  I do it after fun or pre-fishing, too, but there's more reason and less emotion involved. 

[Catt]

Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little further down the road.

Jack Hyles

[MassYak85]

Almost every time lol. Even a good day I question if I should have tried to upsize my bite. I'll usually have a couple days a year where it feels like I truly threw the kitchen sink and came up empty. In your situation I would have tried some sort of reaction bait. Doesn't matter how cold or warm the water is sometimes you can't entice them to eat...you have to trigger them to bite. Just last weekend I spent most of the day fishing jigs and slow presentations around deeper drop offa near spawning flats. Wasted like 8 hours doing that only to finally pick up a jerkbait and a lipless at the end of the day and start to load the boat. 

[WRB]

The 1st decision you make bass fishing is where to start.

For the tournament who is time constrained where they start can be critical. If where you started works out and is successful no second guessing. However when the 1st stop doesn’t work out good then the guessing game starts. Should I holdem or foldem, change lures or change location?

The tournament angler hears the clock ticking, the recreational doesn’t.

Tom 

[schplurg]

No, I'm never wrong about anything!

[Mobasser]

This season I've second guessed myself quite a bit. I'm trying for big fish, so I'm always wondering if I'm fishing the right spot, right time, and right bait and retrieve.

[WRB]

10 hours ago, schplurg said:

No, I'm never wrong about anything!

That’s what my wife says.

Tom

[Deleted account]

On 4/7/2022 at 9:48 AM, Bankc said:

Nope.  Life is full of regrets.  I made my decisions the best I could with what I had.  Were they the right decisions?  Probably not.  If I could do it over, knowing what I know now, would I change them?  Sure.  But I didn't know then what I know now.  And I'll learn from my mistakes and grow from them.  So I'm not going to second guess myself, especially since it was just a guess to begin with.  I'll take the day's experience and learn from it.  My goal isn't to be a good angler.  It's to be a better angler.  And failure, as they say, is the best teacher.  

Deterministic universe meets opportunity costs, very good grasshopper...