Experience? - A Trip To Badin

[LrgmouthShad]

Hey ya’ll,

 

Little story to share. Yesterday I went fishing on Badin with a guy that’s been bass fishing for a whole lot longer than I have, maybe 30+ years. This was our second trip together. The lure of choice on Badin, without question, recently, has been a shaky head. There is an awful lot of cover and shade to keep lots of fish, and nice ones, shallow where I am fishing, and a shaky head has seemed to be the best choice. So I’ve been trying to learn how to fish the shaky head through this guy’s method. Maybe my best trip so far using a shaky head, I caught six and lost a nice one. This guy, yesterday, caught maybe 20 and caught a 5.29lber,  two others around 17”, and another 15.5”. At times yesterday we were both fishing a shaky head around the same areas, and he’d be crushing em, and I’d be struggling to get a bite. I caught two, all said. Same shaky head, same worm, slightly different colors (but I’m not attributing this guys greater success to that). I think it was just that this guy has been fishing a shaky head a whole lot longer than I have. I did try some other baits but I fished the shaky the majority of the time. It just bewildered me when he’d make a little cast to the end of a dock and immediately hook up with one, and Id do the same thing and wasn’t getting the bites. 
 

Anyways, just a little story. To me, at least, it seems like this guy was picking out better targets perhaps and knew how to fish it better than I did. What do you think? 
 

Was a really good day though. We had a great time. I hold no ill will towards someone who outfishes me and will encourage anyone who catches fish. I just try and learn. 

[Dwight Hottle]

You can always learn from experience. Fishing with someone that has perfected a technique can be a real eye opener for the inexperienced. I have had a few guys school me & it was a lot of fun for both of us after I got over the butt whupping. LOL.

[LrgmouthShad]

8 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

You can always learn from experience. Fishing with someone that has perfected a technique can be a real eye opener for the inexperienced

It sure was an eye opener for me, lol. I caught myself thinking at times “this guy is like a magician.” I tried to copy his technique, paying close attention to what he was doing, but couldn’t achieve the same success. Just amazing. 
 

I’ll figure the shaky head out better eventually. At least I have some experience to draw and remember from. 

 

[scaleface]

It has happenned to everyone I suppose . I imagine he knew exactly what he was doing and you were trying to figure it out .   Inconspicuous details can make a difference . 

[TnRiver46]

Now you know how I’ve felt for 25 years with a spinnerbait 

[LrgmouthShad]

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Now you know how I’ve felt for 25 years with a spinnerbait 

I knew you were gonna say that ?. I can understand! I had no idea what was happening! ?
 

This guy’s favorite lure is also a spinnerbait, and he does not like it when I catch them on a spinner. One of my fish yesterday was on one, and our first trip together, he caught more fish than I did on a shaky, but I caught three of better size with a spinner. I have just tossed and tossed and tossed a spinnerbait from my time up in NY. It’s hard to stop throwing it, but I’ve gone whole trips now only throwing a shaky

[PhishLI]

If experience gives you anything it's intuition, and having a feel for where to put a bait. That's the biggest thing there is when hunting these fish. I've explained it like this. All things being equal, like intelligence and creativity, if you put 2 detectives into the same crime scene, one with 20 years on the job, and one with 2, which one will see more clues, or if you like, have a more magnified view? Which will have a better sense of where to look and what to look for? If you have the head for this game that'll happen over time. It just takes some time.

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

If experience gives you anything it's intuition, and having a feel of where to put a bait. That's the biggest thing there is when hunting these fish. I've explained it like this. All things being equal, like intelligence and creativity, if you put 2 detectives into the same crime scene, one with 20 years on the job, and one with 2, which one will see more clues, or if you like, have a more magnified view? Which will have a better sense of where to look and what to look for? If you have the head for this game that'll happen over time. It just takes some time.

I think you have a great view of this. Yeah, I definitely think he could’ve been picking out better spots to cast to. Another possible explanation is casting accuracy. There is no comparison there. I am getting better with a spinning rod but still really not all that good with it. He could actually make very precise flips with his spinning tackle and he showed me how he does it. 

Ill get better

[skekoam]

Do you think it was more presentation or the areas the guy was casting?  if it was presentation, I would of watched him like a hawk to see what he was doing that you weren't.  If it was placement, after he caught 20, I'd ask him to take a break and tell you where he would cast next. 

[LrgmouthShad]

24 minutes ago, skekoam said:

Do you think it was more presentation or the areas the guy was casting?  if it was presentation, I would of watched him like a hawk to see what he was doing that you weren't.  If it was placement, after he caught 20, I'd ask him to take a break and tell you where he would cast next. 

Instinct tells me areas he was casting. But there’s always the question of did he simply present it better. I’ve continued to watch him fish a shaky head and he does not always fish it the same way. It is obvious watching him that he has fished this bait for a long time and knows different ways to fish it. 
 

We went again to Badin today but the bite was exceedingly slow for both of us. I actually beat him this time fishing a jig, but nothing to brag about for either of us. The bite was way off. Nonetheless, he is a wonderful guy to learn from and fish with