Fishing the same lures

[VTFan]

Just something that makes one wonder about the finickyness of bass. Lets say two anglers in the same boat, both fishing...lets say a drop shot, same set up, same lure...everything. Or lets say they are both throwing the same color crankbait, same setup...line, reel speed...everything but only one of them is getting bit. They are fishing the same depth water, same everything but one is getting bit and the other isn't. Got to be something there the bass don't like.

[Scott F]

Usually when that happens, the guy getting bit is getting his lure closer to the structure where the fish are holding. Like the fish are relating to downed logs on the bottom, because of the light and boat positions, one guy can see the logs and the other guy can’t. I’ve seen it in my own boat.

[softwateronly]

Where it is, including angle/direction, and speed are my usual assumptions.  I fish alone most of the time, so I don't have much experience with your scenario, but I know I can't rule out a spot without mixing up speed and the angle I'm approaching from.

 

scott

[gim]

Maybe the first angler got his lure there first and is picking off the active fish?

 

About half the time when I fish, someone is with me.  When I start catching fish, that person usually switches to what I'm using.  But it doesn't necessarily increase their catch rate because they are fishing "used waters" right behind me.

 

I've had individuals complain about this in the past and my response is "you can come up here and run the bow mount, watch the graph, and stay where we need to if you want?"  Then their demeanor all of the sudden changes and they realize there's more to it than just standing there like a stiff in the front and casting.

[king fisher]

Some people are just plain lucky, the rest of us have to work for our bass.

[Bankbeater]

Been there, done that.  I'll start pitching at targets or cast out different crankbaits to see how they run.

[Mike L]

There’s lot of reasons why 1 will get hit and another won’t assuming there were 2 fish within striking distance. 

The entry angle, initial start up speed, retrieval angle, retrieval speed, retrieval depth, each individual fish’s strike zone area….
All can’t help to be different. 
 

Did the first guy get a purely reaction hit?

If so maybe the other fish didn’t care. 
 

Point is there are differences between the 2 anglers that will trigger a strike over the other that are more obvious to them than it is to us. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

[Craig P]

I fish with a good friend often and make him switch to up front all the time.  When we first started, he was not that good with the trolling motor but he got better. Being the first cast into fresh spots matters significantly. 

[JHoss]

Angler 1 is doing something angler 2 isn't. Like others said, maybe he's presenting the bait in better spots than angler 2. After location I'd assume angler 1 is doing something to his retrieve that angler 2 isn't. Could be speed, could be be pauses, could be rod movement, etc. 

[N Florida Mike]

I’ve seen it happen but usually there’s a good reason. 
One exception was a friend that loved fishing. He could do everything I could, but he didn’t catch nearly any fish. It was downright spooky.

It held true even with speckled perch. We found a bed and caught 77 that day( 3 of us fishing in the same spot the same way).  One friend caught 40 something, I caught 30 something, and he caught a few. 
My daughter was like that. I caught 10 whiting on 10 casts once while surf fishing. My daughter said she’d like to catch one. I baited the hook, threw it out in the same spot….and nothing happened. After a few minutes she got bored and wandered off. I immediately got a bite and reeled in another one.

[scaleface]

Angler number two is my uncle Steve. 

[Tennessee Boy]

If one guy doesn't catch any fish and the other guy catches 8 or less then it's probably due to chance alone.   This is almost always the case.

 

Now if the two guy go fishing regularly and one guy always out fishes the other then it's due to angler skill.

[Mobasser]

I think it might be very hard to exactly duplicate the retrieve of another angler. One guy is doing something slightly different, and getting more strikes. It might be a small thing, but it's what the bass like at that time.

[WRB]

When that happens the unsuccessful angler should try a different or lure.

Tom

[Swamp Girl]

4 hours ago, Craig P said:

Being the first cast into fresh spots matters significantly. 

 

It helps, but I always fish from the back of my canoe and it's rare when someone can outfish me from the bow, even when I'm positioning the canoe to give them the first cast at the best spot. 

 

If someone were outfishing me, I'd pepper them with questions and study their casts and retrieve. 

[Craig P]

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

It helps, but I always fish from the back of my canoe and it's rare when someone can outfish me from the bow, even when I'm positioning the canoe to give them the first cast at the best spot. 

This is pretty common for me as well when fishing with others, I just spend more time fishing than them so I see things they don’t and can hit spots where they struggle.

 

In the case of my one friend, the one mentioned about making him switch with me, we are closely matched and our eyes and casts often see the same thing.  Makes for some funny moments and good ribbing as well as doubling up at times.

[papajoe222]

Sometimes, it's the guy in the back seat that outfishes the guy up front.  As a non-boater I would drive my partner for the day crazy some times, throwing the same lure as him and out catching him two or three to one.

Many times it was his fault as he would cast to the sunny side of some form of cover and I'd follow casting to the shady side. Sometimes his cast would result in a splash down where mine was a soft entry. And sometimes and I really believe this happens more often that many anglers think; His cast would land behind the fish and by the time it turned to investigate, he was already into his retrieve. I'd follow and the fish would then actually be looking in that direction. Fish on.

[Jigfishn10]

Ehh…it’s fishing. Some days my son is on them and I’m not, other days it’s the other way around. The best days are when we’re both on them. Either way it’s a good day for us and we’re making memories.  

[F14A-B]

14 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Ehh…it’s fishing. Some days my son is on them and I’m not, other days it’s the other way around. The best days are when we’re both on them. Either way it’s a good day for us and we’re making memories.  

Exactly right, somehow,  some people have forgotten this.. 

[Catt]

On 11/27/2024 at 8:51 AM, Mike L said:

Point is there are differences between the 2 anglers that will trigger a strike over the other that are more obvious to them than it is to us

 

No one has considered the bass!

 

Even if both anglers are standing shoulder to shoulder it virtually impossible for both to make it exact same cast.

 

There will be times when being a foot off target will result in being skunked.

[LrgmouthShad]

A couple years ago, I was outfished by someone fishing a near identical shaky head 3:1 on a boat! I could not figure it out! Looking back, I believe the difference maker was casting accuracy and noise. He would make a soft flip cast with his spinning rod tight to docks and water willow.  There would barely be a sound when his worm hit the water. I know better than to fish a shaky head behind that man! 

[Mike L]

50 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

No one has considered the bass!

 

Even if both anglers are standing shoulder to shoulder it virtually impossible for both to make it exact same cast.

 

There will be times when being a foot off target will result in being skunked.

Yep 

 

That was my point 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Mike L said:

Yep 

That was my point 

Mike

 

Which is why I quoted you

 

This is one those subjects that ain't got no answer. 

[Tackleholic]

For you old guys who may remember Homer Circle  :  I remember him writing about how everyone leaves a different "acid" on their baits just from touching and handling them;  the fish would prefer one over another.

[Reel]

I don't think Homer was right.  I fished almost 15 years with the same tournament partner and sometimes I would catch almost all the fish  in one spot, and sometimes it was the other way around, even if we  were using the same equipment and the same lure and color.  There is always one little difference that makes a lot of difference.