Am I a bad Angler?

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I have been reading about y'alls awsome days on the lake... I have heard stories of folks catching 50+ bass in one day....

now I want to know WHAT IS NORMAL????? on a NORMAL outting for me I catch only 2-4 Bass... that is it... if I catch 6-8 I consider it an AWSOME day... We aren't EVEN going to talk about tournament fishing.. this has been a VERY VERY VERY tough year  :'(

so do I suck or is this normal?

AL

[huskertko]

I don't know what is NORMAL, but most of my days are a lot like yours, 6-8 fish and I am pretty happy with that.  If 30,40,50+ days are the NORM, then I guess I suck too.  

I really think it has a lot to do with time of year, weather, and the body of water itself.  Some conditions and water are very condusive to huge numbers of fish, while others may only produce 5-10 fish a day on a good day.  The other thing to consider is, what is more fun to you, catching 6-8 real quality fish or 30 dinks?

[Bassassasin12]

I agree it might just be the water your fishing doesnt contain as many fish as the others lakes have. I know if you caught 3o or 40 fish in one day at my home lake then you would be having the best day of your life on that lake. I'd take quality over quantity anyday, if I could choose

[x-trued]

Man, I can't even imagine catching 20 bass in a day. I have been fishing off and on most of my life, but have just gotten really serious about it in the last two years. If you enjoy fishing, then that is all you need to worry about. It sounds like you average more than I do. I think you can always learn and improve your skills and results. A lot of it has to do with where you are fishing. NOBODY in my area is hauling those numbers this time of year.

[Top]

now don't get me wrong... I fish because for the most part its VERY relaxing to me... when I am fishing it gives me time to think and put things into perspective and keep the demons at bay... I just want to know what is your Normal

huskertko if I pulled 6-8 fish about every time I was out I would be quite happy too

yesterday I spent 7-8 hours on the lake and pulled 4 out... granted it was HOT HOT HOT... 95 air and 84 water...  I landed 3.. not one was legal.. but then 14 inch is legal here... I tried deep, shallow and in between... most of my fish came from 6ft or so water an it was VERY weedy.

[x-trued]

Okay, that sounds much better.  I think I misinterpreted what you were saying.  If I get 3 or 4 bass this time of year I have had a great day.  I think I have a lot to learn, but I am getting better.  I also don't think the reservoir I fish is know for high production days.  But it is close, and I know it fairly well and is not usually overcrowded.  Focus on the fact that you are doing something relaxing.  And remember that when you are having a bad day, some one some where is having it worse.

[Guest avid]

Keep in mind, that alot of people will only post their results when they have a great day.  This makes it seem like all these members are KVD clones.   If they posted their results every time they went out, you would see that they are merely human.   there is no doubt that some days, some lakes, and some anglers are better than others.  You can fix all three.  Fish new lakes.  Go during those times of barometric activity, and improve your skills.

You will do better.  Than you can post your great day and we'll all give you a hearty "atta boy" or maybe in your case "hoooya"   LOL

Your a good guy and I like your posts because thier so honest.  Read between the lines on some of the other posts and see the BS.

I live in Florida and the water temp right now in my local lake is in the 90's.  I'm also currently limited to bank fishing.  Anyway, havent' caught a single bass in last two outings.

It's just the way it is,  hang in their sarge.  You'll do it.

[Top]

And remember that when you are having a bad day, some one some where is having it worse.

I am a soldier... that is too easy... every morning I wake up I thank my lucky stars I am home and FISHING and not back over "there"

Avid I hear you my friend... but I really am not complaining.. hahahaha if I suck at fishing I CAN get better.. hahahahaha

my biggest hinderance with going to other lakes right now is I don't have a boat... and the wife won't let me get one either... she is making me wait till I retire... or sell my Camaro... which AIN'T happening!!! hahahahah  so its either go to this one lake where I can rent a row boat for $5 for 4 hours... or go fish off a pier...

I get to fish out the back of boats during my tournaments but that isn't conducive to actually catching LOTS of fish because I am adapting to the owners style of fishing...  

its ALL GOOD... I just wanted to make sure I was your average Joe and all

AL

[Chug Bug]

I don't think you suck.  If there are guys here posting 30,40,50 fish days that is definately the exception.  1 an hour for me is a GREAT day.

[rocknfish9001]

In these conditions, 2-3 fish is doing great for me. I dont have any electronics, so if they arent in the docks, shallow weeds, wood, etc. Im screwd deep fishing doesnt work for me. In the spring, i caught 20 fish in a day once. Just the other week, i caught 13 in one day, but that only included 9 bass, 2 pike, 1 bluegill, and 1 perch. And i love fishing that lake because of the lilly pads. They really boost the number of fish somebody can put in the boat, because they help to give away depth, contour, and bottom type.

[Gorgebassman]

I dont see where 1 fish a day or 30 fish a day makes any diffrence any bad day fishing is better than any other day doing anything else ( Personal opinion). I never had a 30 fish day unless you count something other than bass. I am happy with 4 or 5 in a day.

[wacky rig]

In most bodies of water, if you can average a fish per hour then your well ahead of the game. Try getting out more around dawn and dusk when the fish are more likely at the edges of cover instead of inside or underneath the cover.

[seargant]

If anybody can consistently pull 30 -40 Bass a day they should be on tour. But as was written earlier that is just somebodys best outing ever. An aveage of 3-6 in a day is a darn good day. I THINK ALL OF US WOULD AGREE EVEN IF YOU GET SKUNKED, AT LEAST YOU WENT FISHING.

[5bass]

Just watch the "Day on the Lake" show that airs on ESPN......that will make you feel a little better.The show takes a pro angler to an unknown lake and turns them loose to see what they can do.While the angler fishes,there is a cast count along with a fish count displayed on the screen.The last show I saw,the guy fished for 7-8 hours with almost 800 casts and had 5 fish total and 4 of those 5 came in the last 45 minutes from what I can remember.

Another one that I saw had Tim Horton fishing and he had a real high cast count and a minimal fish count also.

I wouldnt feel too bad about it.....if you caught 20-30 everytime you went,you probably wouldnt go so much.Half the fun is figuring the fish out in my opinion.When you do,you feel like you actually "did something".

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Nah you aint a bad angler. Ive never caught 30 to 50 bass in my life If I evfer did that would require me to catch every bass is most bodies of water that i fish ANGERING ALL THE OTHER ANGLERS :

 The lake I fish most the time and with greatest sucsess has given me quite a few double digit days but not great totals of really big or big fish at all for that matter  BUT THATS NOT WHY I FISH

I FISH b/c no offfice,noi phones, no old lady sayig CAN U DO THIS? ,noboss,no customes no phones. Just usually my best friend, eagles overhead,ducks,geese and blue herons on the water. The occasional deer and bear on the shores a day in Gods grace and splendor so who carees about fish count??????? Chill and relax man  

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

I think in an effort to be nice (a BR trait) many folks aren't giving you the whole story.

There are times of year when 30-100 fish is quite normal. They are usually a mix of sizes but primarily smaller fish

Did Y'all forget this years post spawn? Or ANY postspwn? lol

The fact of the matter is that there are seasonal high points that can produce 1-3 weeks of this kind of fishing and then it changes again. Yesterday I caught 6. Not 30. But 2 1/2 months ago was a different story.

There are also those banner days that can pop up anytime,...usually when the conditions say you shouldn't be catching squat, you'll go bang 25 or 30. Watch Kelly Jordans Classic patterns video.  He hits like 20 fish in the 4-8 lb range.  Cast after cast after cast.  Who knows how many fish he could have pulled off that bridge, depends on how much time you have to spend there I guess.

Also keep in mind that many folks here fish an excess of 100+ days/yr. For the person that goes 1 day/weekend, 3 months a yr,..the odds are alot lower that you'll walk into one of these melee's.

The real deal is to watch the guy catching only a few on these days. He's usually recognized that for whatever reason, the bite is on and on hard,so this is a great time to key in on BIG fish.

RW and FishChris come to mind. The fact that others are catching cast after cast is only 1 more "sign" for them to read, no big deal.

To the guy on the bank who has never caught more than 6-8 per outting, it's like getting an extra birthday that year.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

I am a soldier... that is too easy... every morning I wake up I thank my lucky stars I am home and FISHING and not back over "there"

Yea,...and THANKS one more time for that.  I can't say it enough.

[Bud]

   Like Avid said read between the lines.  A lot of BS.  Also their are a lot more of 1.5 pounders and down caught than 2 pounders up.   I always wonder how some of the people that post could not get the  fish into the boat but know what it weight.

[Top]

There are times of year when 30-100 fish is quite normal. They are usually a mix of sizes but primarily smaller fish

I need to be on the lake on one of those quite normal days ahahahhaa the most fish I EVER caught in one day was like 12-14

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Now THIS is why I love video. This gives me a great idea, perhaps when they school up again in the fall, I can do a short video on power fishing-numbers. If it's so so,.I can add to it in the spring or do a seprate one then. I've been getting lots of video ideas lately,...

[senile1]

I don't know what is NORMAL, but most of my days are a lot like yours, 6-8 fish and I am pretty happy with that.  If 30,40,50+ days are the NORM, then I guess I suck too.  

I really think it has a lot to do with time of year, weather, and the body of water itself.  Some conditions and water are very condusive to huge numbers of fish, while others may only produce 5-10 fish a day on a good day.  The other thing to consider is, what is more fun to you, catching 6-8 real quality fish or 30 dinks?

I would agree with this.  My biggest day this year has been 18 bass.  On average, on a half to all day outing I average probably 5 - 8 fish.  I've had alot of two to three hour fishing trips this summer due to lots of hours at work and on these I probably average 2 or 3 fish.  I have had monster days in the past but these are rare.  There is a lake near my Father's house that is remote and gets very little pressure.   Quite often, when I visit my Dad, we still catch good numbers of quality bass from this lake, but the lakes near me are nothing like this.  I do get skunked every now and then.  Don't feel bad SFC_AL.  Some lakes will make you suck.  That's just the way it is.  Your time will come.  

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man I tell you what... if I ever got into a situation like that I would be giggling like a little girl...  

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Absolutely!  Access to plentiful water is key.  

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Even though I'm no longer managing habitat I still like to keep up with fisheries stuff, and like reading statistics about any lake I can find published. Results of questionaires and other surveys are sometimes put out by state agencies, but the best way to get data is to simply request it from a lake biologist. I'd predict that most anyone involved on this board would be relieved to discover the average number of  bass caught per angling hour is very low, maybe 0.25, or 1.32 bass per hour for an average over 12 months. Some lakes and private ponds are higher. Spring catches might run 1.88 per angler hour, which is pretty good. Tournament catch rates sometimes run a little higher, not always. Some local tournaments fall below typical average catches. Keep in mind many local tournaments see 75% of starting anglers being skunked on day one. All you need to focus on is being in the top 25% for another shot at it.

I've had maybe 50 days in my fishing life since 1959, in which I caught 50 or more largemouth bass in a day. Several of those events had all the fish coming with the boat in one position for up to an hour of non-stop action, and other times the action was split up morning and evening. It's something I don't count on, ever. It's just something that happens unexpectedly. I've had too many days to count of catching 20 keeper bass, mostly in spring or fall. In summer hot weather maybe I hit 20 in one day a hundred times, though I really am doing well to just guess. It's rare for me to have large numbers, but part of that is I focus on medium sized bass, not sticking around for high numbers of small ones. Lately I've done well to get 5 quality day bites and haul in 3 keepers, fishing deep, while very few day bassers come in having caught even one bass of any size. Night bassers are doing better. We consider it a bad night catching only 2-3 bass.

Jim

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this is about a 4 acre lake I normally go to... hahahaha I guess I need "more water"

well until someone is silly enough to give me a boat sponsorship I guess I will just enjoy my 3 or 4 fish an outing... besides it is good exercise rowing all over that lil lake