Your worst fishing habit

[gim]

Time to confess.  Time to admit guilt.  What is your absolute worst habit when when it comes to fishing?

 

Mine is being stuck in my old ways.  Fishing on a lake or river I have many times before and having caught sizable fish in a specific location with a specific presentation sucks me in like a magnet almost every time.  And then it doesn't keep producing, yet I continue to do it for too long.  I need to adjust better on the fly and get out of that habit sometimes.

[Cbump]

That’s exactly what I was going to say. First time I went to a local lake here with my boat I wore them out in a certain cove. Literally every time I go to the lake now I start there and never catch anything. Waste an hour or more every time. I don’t know why I do that. 
 

Second would be just sticking to a presentation for too long that’s clearly not working. 

[Darth-Baiter]

my zipper is always down.  

 

  i always cast out a worm when i have to take a leak.  its a passive way to get a fish.  i do my thing, and i am always anxious to grab that fishing rod.  (i almost just said, "rod" which would have opened the door....)  i dont bury that zipper to the top.  so inadventently while moving around it works it way to "ahem, your barn door is open".    the drive home at the soda shop can be awkward.  

 

:D.  sorry i dont have a serious answer, but this is at least kinda truthful.  

[padlin]

My worst is getting up 2 hours before daybreak so I can be on the water 30 min before the sun comes up, just light enough to see where I'm going. I rarely catch anything that early but I keep doing it. I'll be up at 03:45 again Friday.

[Spankey]

Over the years I have to believe that my bass fishing has been very productive and I’ve caught some nice bass, respectable bass and fish bigger than a lot of locals believe even existed here. I am NOT in an area that could be even close to a bass meca, but this is home for me.  
 

I really believe my worse habit has to be fishing a certain bait too long. Not letting the fish tell me what they want. I’m in the dog days right now. Hitting it in the AM. Will try to pick up what the fish might tell me. 

[A-Jay]

I can admit to all of the above ~

Well, except for @Darth-Baiter's deal.

Which I'm very happy for.

I can add that I probably don't go fishing nearly enough.

So often I'm waiting for 'the perfect type weather'.

(wind direction, & speed)

A-Jay

[scaleface]

I keep catching bass  the old ways and places , so thats not a bad habit . I guess getting flustered when  the  spots I want to fish are already occupied   because I often then change plans and have good luck . Sometimes its a blessing .

[Hook2Jaw]

I don't reach for the power baits that should be working often enough.  Typically, I'll power fish the first hour or two of the day.  Around that time I pull the finesse tactics out and typically catch them, and sometimes I get a good one.  I feel like I could be creating reaction strikes but I'm always dragging a slow bait.

[Jar11591]

I will sometimes seek out conditions and locations that are more comfortable for me to fish in, instead of finding the fish and adjusting to the conditions afterwards. I’ve gotten better at that this year, and I’m getting results to show for it. 

[Mobasser]

My worst habit is throwing the same old stuff at the same old places. I really need to branch out more. But, I want to catch fish when I go fishing, so I use what works.

[Tennessee Boy]

Staying home thinking it’s going to rain because the weather man said it would.

[GaryH]

Trying to force feed bass what I think they should want instead of letting them tell me what they want.

[Deephaven]

Fishing a frog when it isn't working and then changing it up for another frog and continuing.  

[FryDog62]

Good topic Gim, we all have bad habits that evolve over time.. 

 

My old habit also was to get stuck in my ways - from being fixated on one body of water, to just a couple lures/patterns and even one rod brand (I was too brand loyal). About 7-8 years ago I sold all those rods and found better ones for me, study as much new water, data as possible and force myself to try new lures each year. Some are duds, some are winners, but overall I think it’s really helped to become more versatile. Yes, the bait monkey likes me -

 

My current problem is whenever I’m finesse fishing with a slow retrieve, I unknowingly hold the reel handle too lightly - and then of course get a sudden strike and whiff many times missing the fish. Thinking of getting reel handle grips or duct taping my fingers to the handle lol. 

[Mike L]

It’s always a struggle for me to give any specific lure enough time to really prove itself.
I get antsy and try to fight the urge to pick something else up, knowing full well I need to try different speeds, presentations angles etc. before I do. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Choporoz]

20 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I can admit to all of the above ~

Well, except for @Darth-Baiter's deal.

Which I'm very happy for.

A-Jay

I got you covered.  Must be a yakker thing.  I mean, I'm old so the frequency is great....the seated position and being fat means it is too much better to just leave it down

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Staying home thinking it’s going to rain because the weather man said it would.

You’re old enough to know better than that………..

 

but I’m old enough to know better than to fish a hook I’ve bent back out several times. Yet I still do it, assuming I will just get stuck and lose it anyway. Inevitably a nice fish grabs it and snaps the hook in half 

[Choporoz]

I can lose focus.  Not unusual to whiff on first bite in a couple hours.  I can find myself going through the motions of casting and retrieving without enough attention to placement, presentation and detection...especially if it has been slow.  

[LrgmouthShad]

27 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I can add that I probably don't go fishing nearly enough.

So often I'm waiting for 'the perfect type weather'.

(wind direction, & speed)

Yup, I thought that about you. It’s okay. You catch better brown bass than most (all?) us anyways.

[gim]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

but I’m old enough to know better than to fish a hook I’ve bent back out several times. Yet I still do it, assuming I will just get stuck and lose it anyway. Inevitably a nice fish grabs it and snaps the hook in half 

Oh come on man.  Bending hooks back and losing fish?  I would have thought your worst habit was always fishing with purple plastic worms.

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, Choporoz said:

I can find myself going through the motions of casting and retrieving without enough attention to placement, presentation and detection...especially if it has been slow.  

Randy  Blauket posted a video of just that . When fishing is slow and one is just going through the motions  , change something , anything , to get your head back in the game . 

[TnRiver46]

Just now, gimruis said:

Oh come on man.  Bending hooks back and losing fish?  I would have thought your worst habit was always fishing with purple plastic worms.

I used to pick up the bent tubes my buddy had thrown onto the floor and re use them for years. Caught plenty of fish but ya never know 

[gim]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

I used to pick up the bent tubes my buddy had thrown onto the floor and re use them for years. Caught plenty of fish but ya never know 

My old man saves bent nails.  He'll try to straighten them and re-use them.  I think you and him would get along well lol.

[FryDog62]

53 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

my zipper is always down.  

 

  i always cast out a worm when i have to take a leak.  its a passive way to get a fish.  i do my thing, and i am always anxious to grab that fishing rod.  (i almost just said, "rod" which would have opened the door....)  i dont bury that zipper to the top.  so inadventently while moving around it works it way to "ahem, your barn door is open".    the drive home at the soda shop can be awkward.  

 

:D.  sorry i dont have a serious answer, but this is at least kinda truthful.  

Well, along those lines (sort of) I have a tradition now of never having a net out and ready in the event someone in my boat hooks a big fish.

My dad used to forget and then of course one of us would get a big fish on the line and we’d struggle to locate and unfold the net in time. It would happen all the time to the point it became a running joke. “Where’s the net?” “I don’t know” followed by a smile... 

 

So now, in his honor, whenever I go fishing I make sure the net is buried somewhere. Ha, and if I think about the majority of the better fish caught in my boat since his passing it’s usually the first one or two of the day - -

[Bankc]

3 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I can lose focus.  Not unusual to whiff on first bite in a couple hours.  I can find myself going through the motions of casting and retrieving without enough attention to placement, presentation and detection...especially if it has been slow.  

I'm with ya!  I almost never get a good hookset on the first bite of the day.  And if it's been a few hours since the last bite, I usually miss that one as well.  I tend to get focused too deeply on the retrieve and where I'm going to place my next cast, that I go blank when I finally feel a bite and it disrupts my trance.