One Thing That Makes You Better

[roadwarrior]

I hope everone has a suggestion. Here's mine:

I constantly check my line and retie frequently, nearly every time I catch a decent fish. That sounds simple, and it is! I rarely (never) get broken off by a fish and have a much better chance of recovering from a hang-up. I always cut off some line and retie after being hung, too.  

[Matt Fly]

Understanding the biology side of the food chain.  Starting with micro-organisms first.

[Guest avid]

Experiment.  

We have become, IMO overly aware of what the pros are using and the techniques they employ.  I know a couple of guys who will not throw anything unless "the pros" use it.  That's too bad. If you think a yellow skirted jig with a 10" purple trailer might work in a given situation, then tie it on and give it fair shot.  You just might be surprised with the result.

[DDbasser]

Understanding the habitat preferences of the species you are targeting.

[paiged79]

Practice, Practice, Practice.

Especially when it comes to baitcasters.  Time spent learning to cast your baitcasters in your back yard, is much better then trying to learn and cast your baitcaster while you are out on the lake fishing.

[Chris]

Understanding the limitations of each bait.

[kbj3579]

I know this is simple and general, but I am a true believer.

Time on the water!!!

No better way to get better.  You need to be there during different weather conditions, different times of the day and different seasons.  

[fishinfool]

Besides practice and time on the water, I need to be able target the fish better and adapt to changing patterns. I'm real stubborn and it's hard for me to change and go fish deeper water because all I want to do is keep pounding at the banks and shallow cover. Maybe i'll work on that this winter since I know they're going to be deeper.

[Gatorbassman]

[glb]CONCENTRATE!!![/glb]

Pretend you are the bait. Concentrate on everything the lure does. Concentrate on every cast and every strike or missed strike. You will feel more and catch more fish.

[Will]

I have a local lake where I fish every new technique and trick until I have confidence in them all, still working on jigging a spoon. With lots of practice I am also a great caster with baitcasters and spinning gear.

[Grey Wolf]

Reading this forum and keeping an open mind .

[Matt Fly]

RW,

Great question and great start to a new thread.

With that being said, I should be able to identify my weak spots from the responses.

Make a list and start working on becoming a consistent fisherman.  

Nice thing about this forum is all the knowledge has pretty much been covered in previous threads.

I hope everone has a suggestion. Here's mine:

I constantly check my line and retie frequently, nearly every time I catch a decent fish. That sounds simple, and it is! I rarely (never) get broken off by a fish and have a much better chance of recovering from a hang-up. I always cut off some line and retie after being hung, too.

[CBedo]

Pay Attention. When you hook a fish, remember where you got that bite. How deep was it? Where was the cover? How fast was I retrieving?

One more, along the lines of RW's retieing. Change your hooks on your old cranks & topwaters! At least once a season. If you are banging a crankbait off the rocks, you'll need to change more often. There have been times, when I've had to change hooks after one day. Or at least carry a sharpening stone.

P.S. Pay attention to you knot tying!

[Bass Hammer]

I have a local lake where I fish every new technique and trick until I have confidence in them all.

What he said. ;D

I really do spend alot of time working on different baits and presentations.

Hammer

[flyphisher #]

1. Time on the water, I get to spend at least 15-20 hours a week on the water.

2.Practice and more practice.....

At least 3 or 4 times a week after dark, I will sit in my living room and flip a jig into a coffee can placed at different distances and under/around certain obstacles.

3. Flyfishing for trout really opened my eyes to alot of factors that transfer over to bass fishing one way or another(especially figuring out .....Presentations, fish postition, reading the water,using current/wind to an advantage etc.).....In my mind all these things and more are relevent to bass fishing as well as trout fishing.

4. Keep a detailed journal or log of dates, weather conditions, water conditions, what I caught and what i caught them on.

[Pond-Pro]

    [glb] Great topic!    [/glb]

      I also have to say that the thing that makes me better is time fishing.  The more I go fishing , the more expirence I get, the better I become.

[.ghoti.]

SLOW DOWN!!

I can't tell you how many times seen somebody motor up to a spot, make three casts and move on.

I've fished with guys like this, and it's frustrating.

Not all the fish in the lake at doing the same thing at the same time, so, scout your spots and then work them over with different baits from different angles.

Good luck,

GK

[Smalliehunter48]

Diversity!!!  Even when I find a bait or method that works well,  I am always trying out new stuff.  The times I have the best luck are pooling all the good stuff in a group and alternating.  Topwater first,  shallow crank,  Spinnerbait, buzzbait,  swimbait,..etc.  You get the point.  When they slow down or quit biting, I change my strategy, and usually....BAM!  NEXT!  Ha ha.  By the way RW,  Hit three different honey hole this AM and got skunked for first time in river.  :-[  Baitfish everywhere though...go figure.  All a predator has to do right now is yawn and he is stuffed to the gills.

[Rattlinrogue]

Time on water;recognizing weaknesses and turning them into strengths;understanding seasonal patterns as a starting point to your fishing schemes.

[George Welcome]

A few already said it: pay attention to what is going on. So few do! It is easy to say, but much more difficult to do. What are the birds doing? Where did you catch that fish? How did you catch that fish? Perhaps there are more waiting right there. Concentrate, and pay attention to surroundings and events!

[Yankee_Bassman]

Three things:  (hard to decide which is tops, so here are all three)

One:  Learned from listening to Rick Clunn on TV, and realizing how often he was right....STAY IN THE MOMENT...I have to constantly remind myself to do this....how many times have you missed a hookset, because when nothing happened right away, you were looking around, plotting your next cast, when WHAM, WHAT? Missed!!!

Two:  (Said above, slightly different)  Work various lure types in what should be a productive area before moving on....my boat looks like a porcupine from all the rods rigged various ways....

Three:  Understand that while bass exhibit many of the same characteristics everywhere, what works on Lake Fork or Rayburn won't necessarily translate to your average depth 20 foot dirt bottomed weed choked New England lake....just because Iaconelli was killing them down south on an April post spawn pattern don't mean you can go out this afternoon in Maine or Minnesota and use the same technique with the same success; they're still wearing fur coats and mittens up there then, if the water isn't still hard...

[Raul]

I 'm a lot smarter than the fish.

[Madhouse27]

I try to prepare myself for optimum fishing efficiency. My boat, rods and tackle are all prepped and organized which allows me to fully concentrate on executing my game plan. I also try to dial in what I'm wearing so that I'm completely comfortable regardless of conditions. By eliminating distrations, discomfort and delays I find that I get into the "zone" quicker when I am out on the water.

[justtrying]

i'm a very concientious pattern fisherman. i may spend half of my allotted time "searching" - but once i've found fish in certain locations for certain reasons - then i target only those types of locations.

[Sealand]

The one thing that has made me better recently is focusing on my technique rather than thinking about if I am using the right color, shape, brand, weight, pro endorsed, scented, trophy winning, bleeding neon rattlin' glowstick etc....  

For the past few months I put the bait monkey in serious restraints.  I decided to just use my several standard go to baits and really try to refine each technique.  

I have spent hours in shallow clear water watching actions and re-actions of baits.  How they bounce off structure or are dragged, twitched and stopped on a rock pile.  Actually paying attention to retrieve speed, line tension, the flex of the rod tip, vibration through the blank......

Ultimately I learned how my baits feel and what they look like in action.  I've built more confidence in each because I can envision what a lure is doing even though I can't see it.  I am actually "feeling it".  

For me, changing my attitude and approach, then getting back to the basics has been the one thing that made me better this year.