Interested in other's opinions here.....`

[jdw174]

When it comes to bass fishing, I've never been a "run and gunner".  Never could see any point to it.  Fishing Kentucky and Barkley lakes like I do, both of them are loaded with BIG creeks and pockets.  When I go fishing (not nearly enough, btw), I'll decide where I'm going before I leave the dock.  Once I get there, I drop the TM and there I stay.  I take my time and fish thoroughly.....some might say TOO slow 8-)  Frankly, the high gas prices don't hurt me nearly as bad as some people because I don't run into a spot, make a dozen casts, then fire up and blast off at full throttle to another place and repeat.  Sometimes this works to my advantage, sometimes it doesn't.  I just figure that there's always fish wherever I stop, and it's my job to figure out what they want.

Now, what do the rest of you think?  Am I passing up some good fishing by staying in one place and fishing slow....or do you do it just like I do?  I'm curious

[Bud]

JDW174

That is the way I fish also.   I know this end of the lake well enought to know were thye fish should be and go from their.  Also I don't have the boat for running & gunning.

[Jig Man]

I run and gun after I find some type pattern.  I start out in a good area hitting points, pockets, etc.  When I find fish on a couple of like places, I start moving around to other places like them.  I won't run over 15 or 20 miles to a new spot though.

[Alpster]

I fish rather slowly and methodically also. I only use my TM to get from one spot to another (elec. only here) and to occasionally position the boat. I tend to stop & tie off or drop anchor and fish likely spots thoroughly. I recently fished with a few friends that I don't see very often and was amazed at how they fished soft plastics. For hours they would throw & retrieve and never stopped the trolling motor. Being a back seater I just fished along and kept my mouth shut, but I couldn't for the life of me, understand how you can fish effectively without ever stopping the boat. I'm not talking about firing up the outboard and flying to a new spot. I'm trying to describe fishing along banks and docks etc. without ever stopping the trolling motor. Do others fish this fast? Or am I just so old and slow that I just can't keep up. I was not surprised by the lack of fish caught on these excursions. Any thoughts?

Ronnie

[roadwarrior]

Last fall I had the opportunity to fish with Bud on Kentucky Lake and Barkley. He fishes EXACTLTY like I like to fish: Target a few areas and fish them THOROUGHLY. We anchored on a few spots and wind drifted others. If the presentation is "finesse", slow is the ticket. When I'm fishing ponds by myself, one cast can take five or even ten minutes. I fish slow and then slow down!

[fishbear]

I fish a lot like RW and others, pick a spot and fish it thoroughly, however, I am learning the advantages of fishing with a search bait, and keep moving, until you get bit, then slow down and fisht THAT spot thoroughly, then move on....  it seems to work very well on all the lakes around me, and the guys I fish with and against in tx, so am working on developing that skill.

[RobDar]

I have had this discussion REPEATEDLY with quite a few folks. If you watch Bass Masters...even the guys on it have very different styles. Some are runners and gunners and some are slow and patient...and each style has different success rates at different times.

...at our last tournament first and second place was each of these styles. First place was the guy who sat over the same hole all day...second place was all over the lake...there was less than a pound between the two.

I think that which ever style you are comfortable with and have confidence in is the style you will be most successful with. Fishing is as much a mental sport as it is anything else. I would say that if fishing slow and patient is where your confidence and comfort lie...then you are doing the right thing.

I get tired of hearing guys calling other guys bank bashers, hole hawgs, etc etc...each style has its plus's and minus's and will pay off under the right conditions. How we fish is not really as important as how we FEEL about how we fish.

I think that being able to fish both is a good thing though. I think the really successful guys...at least the guys in our tourney circut...know when to use each style.

WHERE you fish matters as well. In Kentucky Lake...if you are fishing the bays and cut backs...I feel you are fishing the right way for that lake. We have never had much luck fishing Kentucky Lake any other way than slow and methodical. We have tried the run and gun on Kentucky Lake and all we ever do is burn alot of gas. We fish it the same way you do. We pick a place to fish and the fish the hell out of it. We have a few favorites on Kentucky Lake that we will run and check out everytime we go...but other than those trips to a few favorites we will usually stay put in an area and cover it really well.

I love that lake.

[WhiteMike1018]

I think running and gunning comes into play a lot better when you have established a good pattern and have spots that are very closely related to the spot your fishing.

Also running and gunning is a lot better when you know the lake very well, and are confident fish will be in another spot when the one you are at just is not cutting it.

Sometimes running and gunning pays off.

If you stay in one spot for too long you limiting yourself, if you want big results take big risks.

-WM

[eastkybass]

It is a matter of personal preference.  I have fished both ways but I seem to fish in a more slowed down and work an area over trying get every fish in that area to hit.  

[FisshhBill]

I believe both methods have their own advantages and plus sides. However the disadvantages and downsides come into play when either is taken to the extreme. The extremes will probably cost you time (if you slow down too much) and plenty of money (if you run too much) .   :-/

[Catt]

I think the misunderstanding comes from people believing Run & Gun simply means turning the trolling motor on high and aimlessly wondering down a bank. KVD may very well be the fastest anglers on the circuit but believe me he is not just aimlessly wondering down a bank. He has selected a number of pieces of structure during pre-fishing and on each day he attacks each aggressively for a predetermined amount of time. Now once aggressive bass have been located even KVD will slow down enough to catch every available bass from that piece of structure. It's a fine combination of both techniques that will make or break you on each outing.

[Guest avid]

"run and gun" is a term I never heard of till the modern tournament pro's began dominating the circuit.

I think if you have a quality pattern.  e.g. primary points extending into 15' of water, it makes sense to target those areas.  That being said, I think alot of newbies and many wannabe's think if they go and tear up as much water as possible with cranks and spinnerbaits, then they are using a "run and gun" style.

I think they are haphazardly blind casting and no doubt young.

[The Largemouth Herald]

I've fished many club tournaments and quite a few local tournaments in Central Florida. Most of my wins are when I fish one hot spot that was found during prefish. I have won some fishing maybe two good spots during the day. I find that when I panic and Run and Gun because I didn't catch a fish in the 1st hour on my prefish spot(s), I end up running everywhere and don't slow down enough to be effective. Just my personal experience. If I am not successful prefishing, I usually don't fish the tournament unless it's a club tournament. If it's a club tourney, and my prefishing was bad, I'll Run and Gun since I didn't find fish anyways.

[5bass]

Typically in the spring (pre and post spawn) I'll burn some water with a spinnerbait or crankbait and cover as much of it as I can during any given trip. This is usually done in different creeks after I have sectioned them off in 3 parts (mouth,middle and back) and made an educated guess on which section the biggest concentration of fish "should be" at that time. I cover the section I picked out and if I dont get bit, I move to the next creek but I will fish a different section of water than I did in the first creek.

When the bass move deep I am a "run and gun" fool. On my home lake, brushpiles is the name of the game in the summer......thats where the bigger fish are. Period. And to fish the most brushpiles I can, I have to use the "run and gun".  

I'm a power fisherman at heart and the "run and gun" style fits me well.

[RoLo]

That's always an interesting question, but there's two separate perspectives to "coverage".

Like you, I'm also a finesse fisherman who believes that any area worth fishing, is worth fishing right.

For instance, on a new lake that I've never fished before, I might have "10" preselected trial sites.

At each of those 10 trial sites I'll fish slowly and methodically, changing depths, speeds and lures as I see fit.

However, once my conscience tells me that I've spent enough time at any given site, I feel a surge of "run-and-gun".

Now that big-mill bolted on the transom comes in handy, as it moves the boat quickly from Site-4 to Site-5.

But the instant the motor is killed, the rush is gone! Now it's back to business as usual (thoughtful - slow - methodical).

I have noticed though, on days when the fish aren't coming to the boat, I spend less time finesse fishing at each spot.

Although I'm not fishing any faster, I'm wasting more time running from spot-to-spot,

you could say, a malcontent finesse fisherman

Roger

[Banor]

In practice I will run and gun the first day for sure and sometimes the second day.  By the time I get to the lake I already have water elminated and the high percentage areas chosen.  I will "run and gun" those areas until I narrow down a pattern.  Once I have a pattern I will slow down and disect.  By tournament day I may have a "milk run" set up but that is not a "run and gun".  I am primarily a soft plastics guy so I wont employ run and gun during tournaments but I will milk run and slowly fish my areas.  You cant effectively fish soft plastics running and gunning IMO.

To answer your question... how you fish is how you fish.  It's not anyone's perrogative to tell you different.  If you fish slow and are productive then by all means do it!  

I will say that unless the fish are VERY active you are not going to be as productive running and gunning.... but again, that is just one man's personal opinion.  Your mileage may vary.

B

[alhuff]

slow and pick apart the cover.......

Alfred

[Needemp]

Personally. I think if you fish slow all the time, or you gun and run all the time, then you will be successful only part of the time. How big of a part of that time is debatable. There are times that you have to fish fast to catch good numbers of quality bass. There are times you have to slow down. Determining when those times are is what separates good fisherman from great fisherman. The guy that ONLY fishes slow has more bad days than the guy that realizes, "Hey, slow isn't gonna cut it today, so I better speed up my retrieve." The fisherman that can do that is who I admire because to me, he is versatile and has the intelligence to put everything together consistently. Just my opinion!

[BLUESKY]

I will pick an area apart and fish it rather slowly, but depending on the size of the cover or area, if I'm not getting bit in 15 minutes, or if the area just looks like it should produce maybe 1/2 hour I will move on because I'm looking for fish and hopefully a check to at least cover my expenses. When fishing just for fun and relaxation I many times dont fire up the outboard except to get back on the trailer or if I'm trying to get out of the way of unexpeted bad weather.

[amfyoyo1]

I couldn't for the life of me, understand how you can fish effectively without ever stopping the boat... fishing along banks and docks etc. without ever stopping the trolling motor. Ronnie

The troll and gun tactic is used at times on areas you don't know and allows you to find productive spots. Then return to those spots to "really fish them". sounds like the boater forgot the second half. ;D

[logger]

I have always fished slow because until last week I never had a trolling motor. But I think I cover spots a lot better than I would if I was more mobile.