Tried and true, or something new(?)

[DaubsNU1]

What percentage of your fishing day is spent with tried and true locations / lures / colors vs. trying something new? And why?

 

Tried and true = 70%

Something new = 30%

 

Why: I like consistency, patterns, traditions, being systematic. And I think that limits me as an outdoors-man. Catch a nice bass off that point, with a green pumpkin drop shot, in 7 feet of water...and I'm back on that same point the next time out. Decoy a nice group of green-heads and I am mentally mapping every minute detail. Tag out on a nice buck and I'm hitting that same spot next year.

 

What's your percentage, and why...

[Pat Brown]

Tried and True baits?  1000%

 

Tried and true locations? 1000%

 

Presentation is where I get them to slip up and I pride myself on trying to fully appreciate and exploit the nuance of making my baits dance in funny ways they ain't seen 😉 

 

Why?  Because I am of the mind that certain baits always work with certain conditions and I got that dialed in pretty good depending on how the fish are setting up on my lakes.  No point in messing with it when it works.

[OmegaDPW]

I have a favorite pond that's right down the road from my house, so it's where I go 99% of the time. 

 

 I've fished it for over 20 years. The bass like weightless worms/lizards and the bluegill and crappie like tiny baits- similar to the black grub with no tail Beetle Spin. They rarely bite with the spinner, so I have given up using it with one. So, 99% of the time I stick with what I know they like, too. 

[gim]

I am generally more on the side of tried and true but I sometimes get stuck doing it too long and fail to adjust.  I tend to "fish what has worked" in the past but I need to alter my presentation sooner if its not working.

[king fisher]

I fish my tried and true baits, but I buy everything the Monkey tells me to.

[Catt]

Tried & True 100% 😉

 

Yeah some days I'll throw something new or graph new locations but when I wanna jack some jaws it's old school.

[Zcoker]

For a given area what works just works. Can try many things and they may all work in some form or another but it always goes back to what they like and want the most. I've tried many variations of many lures out in the glades but always shake my head, saying to myself that I'm just wasting my time, should've just used what worked before, tried and true.

[Mobasser]

Tried and True always. I try to put the odds in my favor.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Based on the replies, I'm the oddball at 50/50   

 

I'm always trying new baits, altering the times I go fishing, fishing "dead water", changing angles of approach on known spots.

 

I don't feel like I'm growing as an angler if I stick to things I already know and am comfortable with.     Not to mention most things just stop working as well, or all together with some baits.    You'd catch every fish in the lake with an A-Rig in 2014, flash forward to 2024 and every fish under the sun has seen an A-Rig.   If you kept fishing your tried and trued A-Rig since 2014 you'd have seen a massive drop off of your success over the decade.   

 

Lastly, I think geography plays a big role in this question.   Up north fish receive significantly less pressure especially in areas where the season shuts completely down in the winter.    It gives those fish time to reset and forget about anglers and baits.     However down here in the South, fish have seen everything and continue to see it all year round.   In a similar manner as Japan, and Japanese Bass anglers to a lesser degree, folks in the South need to be always switching things up and trying new things or you just won't have the success many do.   Japan is easily my biggest influence in Bass fishing, every time I learn a new Japanese technique, the fish act like they've never seen a lure before.     

 

I feel like the phrase pressure creates diamonds really applies to Bass fishing.   

[Bankbeater]

Tried and true      90%

Something new   10%

I get out on the water once a week, two or three times if I have some time off from work.  With limited time I don't like to experiment.

[GRiver]

I like to start out with something new and when it doesn’t work I revert back to “tried and true”. 
All so if I take someone that doesn’t fish much, I go places and use what I know what works, I want them to catch fish.

[Swamp Girl]

I'm with Bankbeater, casting the tried and true 90% of the time, but when something new cracks my rotation, like spinnerbaits, I'm casting that new lure so often that it's soon part of the tried and true.

 

I agree with Alex that Southern bass see the tried and true ad nauseum and so you have to innovate more than northern bassheads. 

 

I have yet to cast an A-Rig and when I do, I expect the bass in the ponds and bogs I fish will be seeing it for the first time. I do own a couple. I just fear that they'll be hard to cast and retrieve, a little like musky lures.

[papajoe222]

12 hours ago, king fisher said:

I fish my tried and true baits, but I buy everything the Monkey tells me to.

We have a WINNER!!!

[ironbjorn]

Location always changes with the season and the wind. But lures pretty much always stay the same these days. I know what will work, and I'm there to catch fish, so I use what works to catch fish. Don't care to experiment anymore.

[rgasr63]

I try to fish something new almost every time I go. Most of the time that something new is my first pick. But it is only a part of my pack. If it zeros I have tied on something else. Once I find a bite we are off to the races. 

[GreenPig]

Tried & true man here. I've been taking pics of all my fish with the lure hanging out of their mouth for years. I review those pics before every trip and give those same lures and locations a chance. But if it's not working I'm quick to change my tactics.

[Susky River Rat]

Sometimes I just explore. But I’d say 70% of the time tried and true. 
 

for baits and technique it’s95% tried and true. I would like to think I am fairly well rounded in that respect that I do not have many untouched ways.

[gulfcaptain]

So I'm more 60% tried and true, 40% new

 

Why, well I'm a great junk fisherman, if I have something tied on I have confidence it will work. Location and learning new areas on lakes, finding a new bait, thinking outside the box and being a little different then everyone else sometimes pays off big especially in highly pressured lakes of S. CAL. 

[Fishing_Rod]

Good Day All,

What I use typically doesn't change too much as a theme. I usually use smaller, less than 4 inch in overall size, weedless soft plastics baits. Color and shape are varied along with lightly weighted or weightless. That theme has demonstrated to be productive in the region where I go for angling adventure. Hard to argue with a body of evidence through history to support the rationale.

 

Now the places I present the bait varies greatly. I go to different types of waters (lakes, ponds, canals). I generally try to focus about areas with some structure (usually where there is a significant change from the immediate area).

 

Overall, I'm about 80% consistent with the type of baits used. If the conditions present a compelling reason then I'll adapt about 20% of the time and go for another option. Example: seeing fish active near the surface. Many times I throw at that even using that typical weedless soft plastic I'm usually using, hey you never know if you don't try, right? Most of the time it is just a timely response needed for a fleeting condition.

 

However, if there is protracted surface activity I'm more compelled to switch to a more appropriate bait to maximize success. We don't often see that level of surface activity but it has happened on occasions. Again adapting when compelled to.

 

Just $0.02 worth of experience and opinion tossed in for review. Be well and Cheers!

[T-Billy]

When it comes to bass, I could get by just fine with a beaver, a worm, and a chatterbait.

[Swamp Girl]

14 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

When it comes to bass, I could get by just fine with a beaver, a worm, and a chatterbait.

 

Tim, I've been tipping my spinnerbaits with a beavery bait, a Netbait B Bug and the bass sure love it. What beaver baits do you use? T-Rigged?

 

I modify my original response: I do play with color every time I go fishing.

[T-Billy]

13 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

What beaver baits do you use? T-Rigged?

 

Mostly the baits I make with a "Sweet Craw" 3.5" mold from Ultra Molds. I also use the 3.5" Yo Momma from Big Bite Baits.

Edit to add: @ol'crickety Unless I'm using them as a jig trailer, I fish them on a snelled straight shank flipping rig.

[Spankey]

I’m pretty much a creature of habit. Where I fish, time of day I do it, lures I use and equipment I use. I have a nice selection of tackle (years of doing this stuff). I don’t think I’m buying lures on impulse. Don’t think I ever had a bait monkey problem. But I am one to try a different pattern when the current pattern is working fine. In season I’m not out buying much, might order something I really need or something for the grandsons. I use the winter to get things I need and items I want to try for the upcoming season. Some Z Man was a new kick for me this season. Doing well with it. Can’t say it has produced a real nice fish yet. I’m still trying. One grandson is using it hard when we are out also. Maybe I’m 75/25 or 80/20, As old school as I am, I’m receptive to newer baits. 

[Bankc]

I'm probably about 80% something new.  Or newish anyway.  Something I'm not completely familiar with yet. 

I like trying new things and learning new things.  I'd rather catch one bass and learn something new than catch 10 doing the same old thing.  I'm just out there by myself, not fishing in a tournament, so I'm just going to release anything I catch anyway.  If I land zero or a hundred bass that day, I still go home the same. 

 

But I usually fall back into tried and true near the end of the day if I'm getting skunked.  If nothing else, that kind of helps let me know if the problem was what I was doing, or if it was just one of those days.  And it gives me something to blame other than myself for the poor fishing that day!  Though some days, I just wanna get on fish and quick, so I'll jump immediately to tried and true.  It also helps to keep your skills from getting rusty.  Though, the gamble there is, if that doesn't work, then I'm out of ideas. 

[A-Jay]

On 8/26/2024 at 9:14 AM, DaubsNU1 said:

What percentage of your fishing day is spent with tried and true locations / lures / colors vs. trying something new? And why?

 

Tried and true =90 %

Something new = 10%

 

Why: Considering the seasonal pattern, I am forever trying to reproduce situations

that have seen me connect with plus sized brown bass in the past.  These special fish were and are there for reason.  I do not believe there is ANY randomness to it what so ever. 

 So being in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing, seems to be an effective approach for me.

A good way for me to know what the right thing is, is to use what has worked in the past.

One of my favorite aspects of this approach, is that when I get it right,

the bass usually let me know right away.

https://youtu.be/k3Z48BqFWuw?feature=shared&t=586

 

While I will vary my approach depending on conditions, it's not by very much.

Perhaps using a slightly different shade or profile of a bait, perhaps making a cast from a slightly different angle, even varying the speed or cadence of a retrieve.  But that's about as far as I'll go.

Because if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Plus size smallies are sort of rare and not the easiest fish to stay with for days & weeks at a time.

At least IME. So when the deal 'seems right', I'm not experimenting to see what else they might eat.

I'm going with what I have confidence in because they have eaten it before. 

That said, I do 'try stuff'.  But I do most of it when there's no bite to speak of and

just to see how a bait might fish, so that when the bite is wide open, I'll be ready for it. 

A-Jay