A Very Puzzling Question...Confidence

[.dsaavedra.]

ever since ive been on this BB i keep hearing about CONFIDENCE. yes i know that confidence is the key to success and have know this for a while. but CONFIDENCE is emphasized alot here on this bulleten board. now heres a sticky situation i find myself in almost everytime im fishing:

i go the lake w/ pocketsfull of CONFIDENCE. then as the time passes and i never even get a single fish my confidence gets depleted. i start tying on new lures after every 10 casts or so cuz i have no confidence in anything! i dont want to leave though because i still want to catch fish very much, but i just dont have the confidence!!!!! :( :(

i hate it when tat happens and that happens alot of the times i go fishing. what is the best thing to do when taht happens???

[grimlin]

Go home,cook something to eat,turn on the tv and call it a day! ;D

Just kidding....

On the reality side,it takes more than ten cast to catch something sometimes when the biting is slow...try tieing on something and working it,sticking with it and practicing whatever you are fishing with for an hour.

I fish jigs and pigs and it requires a SLOW PRESENTATION so it may not even be until 2-3 hours before i actually catch something.even then i get skunked out alot of times.Sometimes all you can do is enjoy nature for the day.

Sounds to me you are giving up on the lures you are fishing with too fast.

[Jig Man]

I second what grimlin says.

When the bite is slow I go to a jig or tube.  I know that if there are any fish present, I'll get some strikes.  During these times I pay very careful attention to the looks of the area, the water depth, my boat position and what the structure feels like with my baits so that I can try to find like areas if I get some bites.  

Win, lose or draw it keeps my mind occupied while my body is fishing.  I don't have time to lose my confidence because I am working on that next bite.

[.dsaavedra.]

yeah tahts what happening. maybe i just need to change my attitude about it. but the thing is this happens so often and it bothers me and i just cant "enjoy the nature" because im so pi$$ed off!!!! i know that 10 cast is way too fast to be changing up but the reason i do that is because i dont have confidence in what im fishing! i really wish i didnt do this but its almost like its uncontrollable!!!! its like ive run out of lures that i have confidence in so i just try anything and blindly hope for a bite....ive got to stop doin this!!!!!

[surfer]

I know what you are talking about.  When your go to lures aren't producing what do you do?  

I usually decide weather I want to stay on the lake and fish and not catch or call it a day.  If I am staying I remind myself I am there for the scenery and try not to expect any fish.  Then I try one of the many nonconfident lures I have and rarely use.  Right now that would be Dropshot and C-rig.  I try to dedicate a fair amount of time to it.  About an hour or two just so I can learn more about it and develop some confidence in them.  If you do catch something without confidence when your go to lures cant, it builds confidence.

Sometimes it is better to call it a day.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Confidence is established.  Show up at the lake with 2 lures.  Learn them till you know them in your sleep.  

[.dsaavedra.]

Confidence is established. Show up at the lake with 2 lures. Learn them till you know them in your sleep.

all i got to say to that is WOW. but that is probly not a bad idea it will keep me on track and make me spend more time fishing instead of changing/deciding what lure to put on.

im glad im not the only one who experiences the crappy situation. surfer, if i was fishing w/ myself, i probly would call it a day, but i was fishing w/ other people who were seriously fishing adn they actually caught 3 fish....and since we all drove together and i cant even drive...i was stuck.

[JuniorFisherJJ08]

Patience is key.

[Fish Man]

you  need to force yourself to fish that particualar lure (thats how i learned to fish soft plastics) and IMHO you cant have confidence in a lure before youve ever fished it because confidence is about knowing you can and if you never have how can to saw you know you can?

[Brookie]

just wondering are yo casting in the same spot every time? If you are try fan casting

[Catt]

Some days are diamonds

Some days are stones

Some days your better off never leaving home

I like Texas Rigged Plastic, the bass on Toledo Bend like plastic & I will throw plastic until the bass are sick of it which hasn't happened in 35+ years.

[kms399]

alot of time when i am not catching fish where i think they should be i will try just cruising around and watching the depth finder trying to find humps or rock piles. I am sure i look silly out there driving in circles but you would be suprised what you can find if you really try there are alot of spots that are small and not on a map, thanks to gps you will be able to find it again. you would be supprised how many fish you can pull off one little spot if there is no pressure because people are stuck on fishing visible structure.

[Gorgebassman]

CONFIDENCE:mean a state of mind or a manner marked by easy coolness and freedom from uncertainty.

Does Bass fishing apply I think not in most cases.

I have confidence in alot of fishing tecniques because I say to my self Iam going down to the lake and catchin a fish on ____________________ and I make myself do it in every conceviable way I can think of. That being said I have confidence in what ever I am fishing at the time maybe it will take 100 casts maybe it will take 10 its not about a pocket full of confidence its about knowing what ever your fishing with you believe in and sticking with it and fishing it every way you have learned till you get it right.

[Alpster]

I like Texas Rigged Plastic, the bass on Toledo Bend like plastic & I will throw plastic until the bass are sick of it which hasn't happened in 35+ years.

Catt nailed it. There have been more bass caught on Texas rigged plastic than all other lures combined. Forget everything else and get yourself a 7 1/2" Culprit Black Shad worm with a 1/8 oz bullet weight and throw it in the thickest sticks, bushes or lilly pads you can find. Cast into the cover and let the worm fall to the bottom. Let it stay motionless for 20 seconds or more. Then move it gently across the bottom and be aware of when it wiggles across a submerged limb or rock. My favorite presentation is casting onto lilly pads and letting the worm fall into a hole in the pads or off the edge of the pads. Keep doing this and you will not only catch fish, but you will gain a lot of confidence. JMHO

Ronnie

[.dsaavedra.]

thanks guys...youre all a big help!!! i think next time i might just bring a pack of hooks, a pack of bulletweights, a pack of toothpicks, and a pack of culprit worms. o and some scent too... i definitley understand what you mean about sticking to one lure and just learning it, and the more you fish it the better you get with it and the more fish will result! whenver im fishing in slimy weeds, i always get the weeds caught on my bullet weight, but if i take the weight off and fish the worm weightless, i dont get weeds... but the thing falls painfully slow!!!!! what should i do? which method gives the best action?

[Senko4life]

I have the same problem.  My confidence is in senkos and cranks.  When these patterns come up empty I sit and think for a minute.  Consider all the factors of the day; time of year, time of day, wether ect..., and come up with one lure you think will best match the situation.  Take this one lure and fish it the rest of the day.  Its better fishing the right lure with no hits than fishing 10 of the wrong lures with no hits.

[.dsaavedra.]

I have the same problem. My confidence is in senkos and cranks. When these patterns come up empty I sit and think for a minute. Consider all the factors of the day; time of year, time of day, wether ect..., and come up with one lure you think will best match the situation. Take this one lure and fish it the rest of the day. Its better fishing the right lure with no hits than fishing 10 of the wrong lures with no hits.

i think thats the single post on this thread taht applies most to my situation. my confidence is in senkos, cranks, and ribbontails. it seems i can draw a major conclusion from all these wonderful replies. i just need to chill and find out what i think will be the best thing to use at the time and just stick to it no matter how much i want to change because i get tired of fishing w/o bites. next time i will just stick to it. ill probly limit myself to those three baits listed above and stick with them, because of all baits i think those are the most effective and would like to master them. that brings up another question :-/ so many cranks to choose from...how do i narrow it down to just a couple!?!? i know one factor would be water depth, another would be probly forage, but what else? confidence colors?

[JuniorFisherJJ08]

i would definaltey get a shad colored crank, jsut because it would look natural.  I dont fish alot of cranks but i do have a box of nothing but cranks in all sizes and colors.

[Cajun1977]

im gonna go against the majority when they say bring one or two lures and thats it..bring what you have and what you can.  say you bring a crank and a spinnerbait, but they aint working well you gotta play around and find out what works,everyone knows there are days where the bass wont hit nothing except one particular thing,well how you gonna figure out they wanted the jerkbait when all you brought was a crank and a spinnerbait.   to me there is only one way to build confidence and thats experience and time on water nothin else comes close.a person could know everything there is to know about a jig and and catch fish on it alot  but what you gonna do when that jig dont work.you gotta have the confidence to know that you have enough arsenal to try and find one that works.

[Matt Fly]

I have introduced my girlfriend to fishing, all kinds.

She has no confidence in any tackle, rods, reels, baits,  or the fish.

I kept it simple,      I gave her some smaller profiled reels, and rods, and put her on 100's of white bass and hybrids off and on for the last 3 months.

What this did is allow her to learn some tackle, learn to fight some nice fish while learning to use a drag.  Gaining confidence in equipment and what lure do.

She's casting, catching, learning to fight fish and gaining confidence on cranks, flukes, topwater baits.    Chris loves to throw a swimbait, her PB bass has grown from 2.5 on Sam Rayburn in April,  4.5 lber in May on Fork, (she lost a monster on 30lb braid using a Yellow Magic topwater, broke her off in the trees), to a 6.25 lb Storms Swimbait Fork bass in June.

Confidence comes with experience, and experience is gained by catching fish that are catchable.    Sometimes it isn't bass.

Hookem

Matt

[snapperd1]

Confidence is a state of mind if you don't believe in what you are doing or how you are doing it you will not catch fish.  I fish with my 8 year old son all the time and he can catch fish on just about any bait.  The reason for this is that he has not developed the negative attitude towards certain baits that those of us a little old may have.  I know i have had day when nothing seems to work, but I have my goto bait that I will fish until my arm falls off.  I like a 1/2 oz football jig with a hula grug.  With this bait I can feel the bottom and the fish love it for what ever reason.  I catch large mouth and small mouth bass, pickerel, crappies, and big northern pike on this bait all the time.  I even find color does not play a role in my success it is all up to me.  If I am confident then I catch fish.  My point in all this is you make your own confidence, believe in your bait and your self and go catch some fish.

TD

[Del from philly]

Im starting to feel like im not alone.....

some days its strikes every first cast at a new spot....other days, like yesterday, it feels like your playing yoyo with your lure.....

I like your original thought on confidence....sometimes i wonder whether it really comes down to confidence.....some times it seems like it does

i do gotta say, it seems that just when i start to relax, and not really worry or doubt, and just fish, i seem to get strikes.....but when i sit their thinking about it the whole time i wont get bit.....

the thing i do after a solid 3 hours of no fish, i tye on a relitively large spinner and fish for smaller younger bass.....also, their is always a chance that one of the big guys sees it and reflex strikes...

even catching a small 9" bass makes you feel better then driving home with no good thoughts.....

[Taliesin]

I agree with some of what has been said here, with a little to add to it.

I grew up fishing farm ponds. It's a documented fact that there are about three times more bass caught per hour of fishing in farm ponds than in larger lakes. They are a LOT easier to catch, though some ponds will only have smaller ones.

When you get to the pond, pick a couple of lures you think will work and use those. If you are still there after a couple of hours with nothing then move to another bait.

Since pond bass are easier to catch (probably due to low fishing pressure) you should be able to catch them.

Once you have caught a few with your lures you will have the confidence in them to use them successfully on larger lakes.

That being said...

My confidence problem that I am working on now is fishing larger waters, unless it's cloudy  .

I am slowly getting that confidence, but it is even more difficult on the waters I am fishing. Even people that fish this lake 2-3 times a week will get skunked in our tourneys. Not long ago the winner of the tourney brought in only one fish at <4 pounds. I am pretty sure I have a handle on in now after going out Thursday (3 pm to 9:30 pm) and Friday (11:30 am to 9:30 pm). I may have only caught one keeper bass in both days (length limit is 15"), but I caught it early on Thursday and spent most of the time just searching for similar structure. I found enough that I will be able to bring in fish for this Thursday's tourney (1 pm to 8 pm).

And if I don't catch fish? I can still feel fairly good about it since many of the people in the tourney don't  .

[AlanM85]

 Personally I think the advice given here by LBH and Fluke is great, and many anglers should pay attention to it. I know I need to. There's been many times I get to a good looking spot, and tie on a lure I'm not too confident with just to toss it a few times and change out to something I'm more confident with.  I do this knowing that I should be throwing that other lure all day, practicing my retrieve with it, figuring out how to make it work for me.

 I'd say just start small building confidence, and start fresh. Don't go out thinking you're going to catch them all day, that can lead to some serious let downs imo. Start building confidence one step at a time; Be confident in the spot you've picked, be confident in your casting, your lure, and your presentation. When you get a bite with that base of confidence, just be sure to remember everything that was going on when you got bit, find the pattern and stick with it. If you're just casting and reeling, catching a bass means little more than that, giving you no more confidence than you had before. Also, probably doesn't need to be mentioned. But no matter how much confidence I have, if I just get to a lake I look for other bass anglers. They could have been there for hours, so that can tell me where to start looking for spots if I can see what depth they're fishing.

[George Welcome]

1st level of confidence needs to be in the location that you are fishing. If everyone that fishes that location is/has caught fish than you are probably doing something wrong. It could be that you just possibly have not found the fish