Should I stay or should I go?

[Swamp Girl]

@Glenn's latest video, "Eight Ways to Become a Better Bass Angler," ends with the question of whether you should stay in an area, trying a different approach, lure, or depth (Glenn won a tournament this way.), or mosey because your memory of once catching bass there isn't applicable to the current reality. So, I'm wondering if you're a twitchy angler, always looking to mosey, or a patient angler, generally looking to continue plumbing an area until you find the fish. 

 

I'm as twitchy as a horse with a swarm of horseflies on its back because I'm looking to catch the most active bass with big, fast-moving lures. One the scale of 1-10, with 1 being as serene and patient as Buddha and 10 being Joe Cocker, I'm full Joe, a 10.

 

[TnRiver46]

I’m 0.5. I can fish a spot several hours without a bite, and often it pays off. If they haven’t been there to eat anything in a few hours, they will be by soon. The question depends on where you fish, because I can pull a whopper plopper and spinnerbait all over a 30,000 acre lake and never get a single bite for 5-7 consecutive years 

[Jar11591]

I lean more towards the patient side. If it’s a spot I’m confident in, I’ll spend a lot of time there. If I’m on a new lake or trying to locate new spots, that’s when I will keep it moving. But if I’m on a familiar lake, in a spot im confident in, I’ll spend probably more time than I should until it produces. 

[Tennessee Boy]

I varies a lot from day to day and season to season but in general I'm not as slow as @TnRiver46 but I'm close at  0.53.   If you prefer a music analogy I'm the Cowboy Junkies.  😊

 

 

[gim]

5

 

I prefer to power fish with a more aggressive approach, but I'm not stupid or stubborn enough to keep trying to beat a dead horse.  If they aren't biting it, my presentation changes relatively soon.

 

I also don't leave fish to find fish.  That one has backfired way too many times.

[A-Jay]

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO ?

 

The age old question.  The one so many bassheads, including myself, ask themselves at least once a trip and often times it’s quite a bit more than that.

I’m referring to when we are on a spot, whether it was producing or not, we’ve given it what in our own minds is ample opportunity to produce and it hasn’t.  So, do we stay or do we go ?

 Let me back the truck up a little here and say, since this is

The “Brown Bass Tools” thread, the following thoughts will relate most in that direction. Also, I do not fish competitively so “Time” has a different meaning to me.

 

   Clearly no hard and fast ‘rules’ can be drawn upon during these deals but here’s my version of it.

I am going to start off with a couple of ‘deciding factors’ that often cause me to lean one way or the other.  Seasonal pattern and what I’m fishing, so boat position.

 

Early season before and of course during the spawn, fish are looking & wanting to come shallow.  Not exactly a new flash and something we don’t even need FFS to figure out. This can be one scenario where I am often willing wait it out on a known or recently producing spot or area.  And if I do chose to relocate, I’m generally not going very far, like maybe just 2 or 3 cast lengths one way or the other; depending on what type of structure/cover I working with. If I’m feel particularly confident that the fish are ‘coming to me’ (eventually), I may Talon down, shut everything off (electronics wise) and have a sandwich while the area ‘settles down a little.’  Might be just enough to have a few more fatties roll right into casting distance.  Sometimes it happens by itself if I need to retie or perhaps change baits or hardware. 

 On scene weather conditions can & do play a role here as well. Especially is skinny water;10 ft or less.  Increase or decrease in cloud cover and or wind speed can effect my decision making matrix.  Forecast or not, if it’s been a sun’s out bite and clouds move in, I may wait them out if I can see an end in sight.  Reverse can be said if it’s been a cloudy skies deal.  Bites in the wind rarely get better if it flattens out, so I’ll usually not put too much extra time into an area if it and when it goes flat calm. But going from calm to windy is a whole different ballgame and one I like to play.

Chuck & wind baby.

 

 As the season progresses and the spawn is done & over with, the local brown bass population on the bigger inland lakes, makes themselves very scares by spreading out all over the place.  This goes straight into summer and is the time of year where I do The Most moving around and will only stay on spots very briefly. Except for some early morning or late afternoon topwater off the end of long deep main lake points, I’m almost always fishing deep(er).  Trying to focus on targets of deep bottom cover (rocks/wood) that could hold bait/bass.  If I can get a bait in front of them, they’ll usually eat.  Maxscent flat worm is a confidence bait here for me. Need decent conditions, some sun helps, boating traffic does not.

 

It’s easy to admit that this IS the toughest fishing of the year for me.  Accordingly I don’t spend a whole lot of time on these bigger lakes late June thru most all of July.  But sometime in the first week or two of August, things get much, much better.

  Bigger bass start showing up shallow again.  It’s almost always on flats.  They seem to be a bit more scattered/spread out but there’s some real brutes up there.  And they are looking to EAT.  As the shallow weeds die back and the bait fish become more and more exposed, the fishing just keeps getting better.

 

 Almost becomes the same type of deal for me as in the spring.  Fish are coming to me so I don’t move much.  But that’s sort of a relative thing, I still need to cover water, but it's just over one or two special flats.  So I’m not running all over the lakes, just doing a lot of casting.  From August to say mid September, it’s all about horizontal moving baits. Could be topwater early and just about whatever you want to throw after that,  Vibrating jigs, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, swim jigs, A-Rigs, Squarebills & rattlebaits.   Some of the best flats are also the biggest.  A basshead could spend an entire day just crisscrossing one flat with different baits at various depths.  And this one does exactly that. So in this case – I stay.

 Come October, the weeds have died back completely, the waters cooled off considerably, the bass start looking deeper for their winter time haunts.

 If the the weather cooperates, and I can fish the deepest flats that have hard cover effectively, this can be the best time of the year for me for sheer numbers of 3-5 lb smallies.  Blade baits & swimbaits on a jighead are Big time players for me now.

I’ll stay on a spot long enough to get a couple of biters and then hop over to the next spot and do the same deal.  It’s usually late enough in the season where boating traffic is not an issue (everyone’s deer hunting) and the few boats on the water are targeting walleye and rarely on anything I’m looking to get on.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[Swamp Girl]

15 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

But going from calm to windy is a whole different ballgame and one I like to play.

 

I wish I could play that game too, but when the wind rises, I go home, but I know how wind can rouse fish. I once hooked lake trout on nearly every cast in a howler and caught five muskies (and lost a sixth) in a different howling hour. 

 

@Tennessee Boy: Cool song!

[Functional]

Idk what I am....maybe a 6 give or take?

 

I start the day targeting what I think they will do but have an assortment of baits to try the whole water column. I'll start with my most productive spots from past history to find where they are and what part of the column they are feeding. However long it takes me to rotate all my baits at one spot is how long I give it. Usually no more than 30-45 minutes and then its onto honey hole #2 then 3. If I'm not producing by #3 I start looking for topography thats not in my first 3 spots. Unless I'm slamming them I'll still visit my best spots before I call it quits at least 1 more time in case I just hit the wrong time. 

 

If the spots produced for me before it mostly becomes a question of when, not if. 

[Swamp Girl]

7 minutes ago, Functional said:

If I'm not producing by #3 I start looking for topography thats not in my first 3 spots.

 

Yeah, that's the ticket. Thinking in terms of underwater terrain makes a lot of sense. Lacking electronics, this is harder for me to do, but not impossible as there are days when the light and water are just right and I can see the bottom. It's not impossible for me to remember what I've seen. 

[DogBone_384]

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

One the scale of 1-10, with 1 being as serene and patient as Buddha and 10 being Joe Cocker, I'm full Joe, a 10.

 

You’ll have to explain to the younger members exactly who Joe Cocker is….

 

To answer your question, I’m a mover, a 7 or 8. Patience is not my strong point.

[Cuivre]

It depends on if I'm in my kayak or bass boat- and the degree of moving I do, of course.  That being said, in comparison with others in the same category, I think I am a 5 if I have confidence in the area due to pre-fishing.  If I'm in "search mode", I can go up to 8, but since I'm somewhat of a junk fisherman, I go through a lot of rods and lures to totally make sure the bass aren't there and I'm just not on the right pattern for them.   

[T-Billy]

Depends on the day. I just roll with whatever that little voice in my head tells me to do. 

[DogBone_384]

Just now, T-Billy said:

that little voice in my head

Which one? I have different ones depending on which bass I’m after.

[Swamp Girl]

6 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Depends on the day. I just roll with whatever that little voice in my head tells me to do. 

 

I hear a voice too. It's quite helpful, except when it keeps repeating, "REDRUM, REDRUM."*

 

 

 

 

 

*@DogBone_384: Now do I have to explain what "The Shining" is too? 

[Functional]

27 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Yeah, that's the ticket. Thinking in terms of underwater terrain makes a lot of sense. Lacking electronics, this is harder for me to do, but not impossible as there are days when the light and water are just right and I can see the bottom. It's not impossible for me to remember what I've seen. 

I'm sure you know but there are other ways. Electronics for me are relatively new as I've only started using them the past 4 or 5 years. Before that it was either nothing or a super basic depth finder.

 

Reading the above ground land and how it meets the water. More often than not if its relatively flat land its going to be shallow water and on the other side if its a steep hill or cliff it will likely be deep. Paying attention to water currents and inside/outside bends. Then the ole web navionics, google earth during a drought year, etc. before hand. All stuff I used to do before I got fancy. Now I can just do it much faster. 

[Cuivre]

10 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

Which one? I have different ones depending on which bass I’m after.

The voice in my head tells me "are you out here to just "cast", or do you want to find the fish and start to "catch!?".   

[GaryH]

I’m a patient one. I’ll stick to an area if all conditions point to it’s a good spot. I’ll even circle back to it if I don’t succeed the first time. 

[Junk Fisherman]

A lot of variables play into this question.  What is my confidence in the spot?  What does Livescope show me?  How many other places do I have confidence in?  What is the fishing pressure?  If I leave will someone immediately move in?  (This happens A LOT locally.)

 

I tend to stay too long in an area but I feel I'm getting better at moving more often.  

[AlabamaSpothunter]

I constantly move until I find fish.

 

I don't want to educate negative or neutral fish more than I already am on high percentage or confidence spots.   I make a few casts and move along.   

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I constantly move until I find fish.

 

I don't want to educate negative or neutral fish more than I already am on high percentage or confidence spots.   I make a few casts and move along.   

 

A Rolling Stone!

 

 

 

[Glaucus]

My top 10 or so biggest bass have been caught the same way: Hitting the same area or even spot again and again and again, sometimes with changes to lure and depth, until I get bit because I know they're there. Sometimes for hours. I learned to stay put on tough days because running and searching isn't leading to any better results, so I pound where I know they are or where they should be until I make them mad enough or get lucky and I'm still around for when they actually get hungry.

[osummerer23]

Start at a 8 and slowly work my way down. 

Id rather hit a few spots chucking and winding a spinner bait, crankbait, jerkbait or topwater. Then work my way slower to a finesse jig to tube and ned. 

[Team9nine]

Back in my tourney days, no doubt I was at least a 9. With older age, a smaller boat, and just trying to figure out the best bite for better quality fish on any given day, I’d say I’m now a 5 - that is, I’m just as likely on any given day to fish either style depending on the weather, water, lake, and how the fish are biting. Some days I sit and soak; others I’m constantly searching. It’s a coin toss, anymore.

[Pat Brown]

This may sound crazy to some people here, but I find that if the fish isn't biting on the first cast - it's probably not going to bite - and that could just be my waters - but it's just something I've observed over the years. 

 

I definitely pick an area apart with many first casts but I rarely do well soaking a bait or hammering a spot.

 

I usually catch my biggest bass on the first cast to a spot and they usually bite within the first couple seconds or feet of the bait landing in the water if not instantly. 

 

I tend to not catch very many fish soaking baits or dragging them around in areas. Not to say that it's impossible.

 

I have had luck with very slow presentations - especially night fishing - but pound for pound - when I find the right bait and it's the right day - I'm gonna be getting bit a lot and it won't be a lot of waiting.

 

I'm usually bouncing around trying to get every fish that will hit what I'm doing off similar spots while the bite is hot!

[C.Tucks]

I’m definitely a tale of two people depending if I’m in my kayak or the boat. 
 

I tend to be much more patient when kayak fishing and will pick areas apart quite thoroughly. 
When I’m in the boat I much more impatient, probably because it’s so easy to move along. 
 

That said, I think I need to take my kayak approach to my boat outings as I’ve historically been much more successful, at least numbers wise from the kayak