Calling your shots

[Shad_Master]

I stopped by the lake on the way to work this morning - the wind was already up to about 18-20 mph so I pretty much had it all to myself.  I was working the shoreline where I have been catching a lot of bass lately, but also I have to contend with the BlueGills pestering my worm.  I kept moving down trying to get away from the BG's and still have a decent shot at a bass.  As I made my cast, I had a sense that this was the one and sure enough I got my bite and landed a keeper sized bass.

This got me to thinking, I know that some fisherfolk have the attitude that each cast is going to be the one, but in reality most are not productive (check out the cast count on the Day On The Lake TV shows).  There was nothing spectacular about that particular cast, but the feeling was just right and it paid off.  How often are you relatively certain that this cast is going to pay off?

[Bass_Newbie]

I did last weekend Me and my buddy were trolling the banks and I seen a little notch cut into the bank. It was only about 3 foot wide and 2 ft in depth it had a branch hanging across it. Up until this point I had been skunked all afternoon. So I kind of jokingly said I was going to get a grown fish out of there. By buddy told me all I was going to get was hung up

So I made a nice cast and it went right under the branch. As soon as the worm hit the water I though I felt a bite so I set the hook and started reeling. My buddy started laughing at me because it appeared I was hung up. I started swearing to the fishing gods.

So he started trolling over to get me unhung and sure enough I was wrapped around a floating limb. As I reached down to untwist the line the bass rolled over! I had hooked a 3 to 4 pound bass and a tree limb! We quickly got the limb free and the fish on the boat. I looked over at my buddy and said "Who laughing now!'

Also this was a PB for me.

Charles

[jake]

I would say less than 10% maybe even 5% of the casts I make do I feel relativley certain its going to pay off. You think of all the casts you make in 1 outing. WOW. :-/ Its probably fewer than 5%.

Mentally I try(and I emphasize TRY) to fish every cast as if its the one. I guess thats one of the things that seperates a Pro Angler and a fisherman like me.

[Valascus]

It's all about confidence. I believe that every cast I make will produce a strike. There are days when I get skunked and have still fished for 8 hrs straight believing that the next cast will get a strike. Maybe i am just stubborn... ...But that's what it is all about...believing and anticipating the strike your next cast will produce.  

[earthworm77]

I did a tv show a couple of years ago and on camera I called two fish. I think logically you can make a cast to a spot and feel that it should hold a fish. Whether that fish will react or not is beyond my control.

[Hookemdown.]

Well, like everybody else said, it's all about confidence.  However when I make that perfect cast, I seem to work the bait better, Unlike when you make a sorry cast and you just want to hurry up, reel it in and make a better one.  When I make that perfect cast, which is right in the middle of those weeds, ect. you just gotta feelin that that's the one.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Happens quite a bit. It's not somthing I could ever put a number on but it's when you say it out loud to the person you are fishing with that really makes it a trip.

A couple weeks ago I was fishing with Dirk Jig_Lure and he was busting me up saying I was doing better because he was driving and I had the front of the boat so I got all the good spots first, lol  we aren't competitive but...

So when we came to a prime, skinny point, I said "ok there's a fish on each side of that tongue, I'll take the left, you take the right. " I casted to the left, he casted somewhere in the opposite direction out in deeper water.  I got the fish with an immediate hit and yanked the dink back in , unhooked it and casted to the right of the same point before Dirk could get his jig in and wham! #2,...3 lbs.  

We both laughed pretty hard at that one.  I still bust him up about it.

[splat_baseball51]

almost never in my lake , i get scared if something hits it because i get no action here, lol

[Panamoka_Bassin]

I did that just last week with a buddy.  We were out in the canoe not getting any action when we moved into a little cove with some nice brush along the edge.  I saw the right bush and said, "If there's a fish in there, I'm gonna get him with this cast."  Sure enough before the worm was in the water 2 seconds, a nice bass inhaled the thing for my first fish of the day.  I ended up pulling 3 more fish from that bush.  Was it luck?  Skill?  Who knows, but he was amazed that I did what I said...and he quickly changed his rig right after...

[senile1]

I sometimes get that feeling too, but it is rare.  Usually I do catch a bass when it happens.  It's kind of like listening to the radio and you suddenly think of a song and that is what is played next.  This happens too, but rarely.  Maybe we all have a little bit of a sixth sense.  

[NiTrO 90210]

Yesterday I was throwin a frog in some lilly pads and the pads ended with a stretch of mabye 10-15 ft. between them and land. So I made a cast over the pads and right next to shore and said to myself man thios is so perfect a fish has got to strike it and sure enough he did.

[jasone]

I often hear about guys using searching baits and just fan casting.  The way I look at it is, if you don't think or really believe that the cast is putting the lure in front of a fish, why make it?  

I do see the advantage in having the lure out there and covering as much water as possible.  That is fine.  But I think that you really have to believe every cast is the cast that catches the fish.

J

[galv]

i was fishing yesterday and was having a great day.  i caught 7 bass and 2 pickerel and was looking for the double digits.  and surprise surprise i probably made 40 casts after that and on 38 of them i was fishing like money was on the line, but the 2 casts i wasn't paying much attention and i look down and line is ripping off my free spool   :-[ >  gotta keep at it.

[5bass]

When you nail down "the pattern of the day",it's not uncommon to be able to call your shots.It gets easier once you have caught 9 or 10 fairly quick,then you can call them regularly the rest of the day.

I fished Lake Moomaw in April and was having a BAD day up until 1pm.......that was when I made a move to a totally different area and picked the right bait.I had a sense of when the fish would pick it up and on which casts.My partner that day couldnt believe it.And to tell you the truth,I was having a hard time believing it myself,after the first 6 hours of the tournament yielded one keeper bite.We estimated that I boated 20+ keepers (14"+) between 1pm and 3pm,then caught the kicker and all was well.After bumming some of the worms I was using,I let him have the front and he proceeded to fill out his limit and culled a few in the process.

You can definitely feel when you are in the zone.....I bet if most of you guys would pay more attention to yourselves while fishing,you'll find that you're in the zone too on certain days.......everything just goes right and the fish cooperate well.It happens to everybody but most just think it's all luck.