Mid Season Check Up

[little_stephen]

So, here in ohio, its about mid season for bass. were nearing the halfway point, and I took some time to reanalyze my bass fishing skills and what i want to improve on.

My goals when the season started were as follows (or something like these):

1. Throw more kinds of baits (not rely on my "crutch bait")- COMPLETE

2. Double my catch rate from last year- COMPLETE ;D

3. Take more time to analyze the bite (& know when to switch baits based on this information)-                          Im too stuborn to admit a bait isnt working.....

4. Analyze and eliminate non-productive waters faster (& start fishing the conditions not where I got fish before)- COMPLETE (to the best of my ability without a boat)

5. Catch a fish on each of the following baits I had not done before:

-Jig- COMPLETE

-Straight Tail Worm- COMPLETE

-Spinner Bait-

-Ribbon Tail Worm- COMPLETE

-Grub- COMPLETE

& Finnally

6. Learn to do the "walk the dog technique" with a topwater stick bait- COMPLETE ;D

So, now being mid season, those goals have changed and Ive started aiming myself at new goals (I set this lest about 2 months ago, I just haven't had a chance to post if yet. So some of the things have already gotten done.)

they are as follows:

1. Take more time to analyze the bite & know when to switch baits more effectively.

2. Cover water faster & saturate an area more effectively.

3. Improve my pitching skills by practicing in the yard.- COMPLETE

4. Improve my casting skills overall by adding different kinds of casts to my arsenal.- COMPLETE

5. Fish more variety of cover than I'm used to (ie lily pads).

6. Catch a fish on each of the following techniques:

- Topwate Stick Bait (Walk the Dog)-

- Football Jig-

- Lizard-

- Tube Bait-

- Spinner Bait-

- Swim Bait-

- Senko-

So lets here it, I know we all need to improve. And Im currious to see how my goal meeting skills stack up against the rest of you guys.....

Where are you with your goals for this year?

[little_stephen]

and no, "Defeating and/or not giving in to the tackle monkey" doesn't count!

thats an ongoing therapy needed course of action.... in fact, I think we need a Tackle Buyers Anonymous group or something.

[Mottfia]

Hey man,

 I love what you have going for ya. Keep it up. If you stay on track with what you have going you will be tough anywhere.

My goals aren't structured as tight as yours. I'm focused on being more effective with my style of fishing, gaining an understanding of what the fish are doing every trip, and being confident in being able to catch 12-15 lbs limit every trip.

That last part doesn't mean that I have to but I am trying to learn what the fish in that size range are doing so that if I had a tournament I could be confident in doing well.

Mottfia

[tnbassfisher]

I would love to get my goals organized as much as you do.

[aarogb]

    Catch a fish in water deeper than five feet.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Narrow your goals. It's a minor accomplishment to catch "a" fish on a jig, a certain worm or lure. It's another thing to master the jig.

I would suggest concentrating on decreasing your arsenal goals and increasing your awareness goals. Pick 1,2 or 3 methods/baits cover the water column from top to bottom (i.e.- jig, Mattlures b/g, spook) and bring nothing else all season.

Not only will you master these 3 baits/methods but you will be able to decipher where the credit goes. In other words, you catch a fish and ask yourself,..."am I finding where the fish are or am I changing baits enough?" By using the same baits, all the time, it's evident, you are finding the fish.

Follow?

By narrowing your goals to some of the more important growth elements, the other small stuff will happen alongside it.

[Fishing Rhino]

Fishing is like golf.

First rule is to enjoy yourself and have fun.

The thing with both is, the better you do, the more fun you have.

Rule two is, you will have good days and bad days, as far as results from your efforts.

The first priority for any fisherman should be to learn how to use a "fishfinder".  Don't expect it to find fish.  Expect it to show you the bottom, and bottom transitions.

Transitions in depths, and transitions in types of bottom, whether it be soft, hard, rocky, "broken" and whether or not it has vegetation.

Transitions of any type are important, and none should be overlooked.

Some transitions are dramatic, and obvious, others are subtle and easily overlooked.  You need to pay attention to catch the subtleties.

There are even "sounders" for shore fishermen which can be cast, and show bottom changes on the retrieve.

I do not know how well they work, since I have never used one.  But, were I a shore fisherman, I'd surely find out.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Fishing is like golf.

First rule is to enjoy yourself and have fun.

The thing with both is, the better you do, the more fun you have.

Great analogy!!  ;D

[Fishing Rhino]

One quick example of transitional bottom.

Lily pad beds.  Some ponds are wall to wall pads.  Some have none.  The rest of the ponds fall somewhere in between.

My "home pond" has four beds of the larger pads.  They are in three to five feet of water.  Since there is plenty of water at that depth, why so few beds?

Passing over them, and studying the sounder revealed a distinct transition of the bottom at the perimeter of the beds.

Where there were no pads, the bottom was smooth, and featureless.  While the bottom of the beds was distinctly different.  The line on the graph was irregular, with a ragged appearance.  

While not as dramatic as a rocky bottom with small and large stones, it was nonetheless quite evident.

I suspect, but will not find out until next year, those patches of bottom will hold pre-spawn bass before the pads begin to emerge from the bottom.

My reading of the sounder is that those patches are a cobble bottom.  Patches of small stones, from baseball to grapefruit size.  Only portions of most of those stones will be exposed.

Even if my reading is incorrect, the fact remains that those areas have a bottom, distinctly different from what surrounds them.

If the "irregularities" of the bottom line were magnified, it would resemble what the sounder shows for the rocky areas which have a mixture of stones from small to boulders a few feet in diameter.  Hence my interpretation of it being a cobble bottom.

[NasTMcfingas]

My goals this year was to become less dependent on soft plastics. I can't lie, there is always atleast one soft plastic bait rigged and ready to go (comfort zone) I've never really giving jigs a fair shot until this year I hit 7 in about two hr. ranging from 2 1/2lb to 4lb. It was slow fishing but the quality of fish was so much better. I also took Road Warriors advice and stopped beating the bank so much and dusted off the crankbaits for some deep water bass. I have lived in the deeper water for the last few day crankbaiting it.

[SirSnookalot]

No goals, except to see the sunrise on the beach every morning and to come safe to my wife.

Catching a fish is a mere bonus, not saying landing a 15 or 20 pounder isn't great.

[little_stephen]

double follow up if anyone is still looking over this string.......

First of all, I disagree about the fish finder. I fish from shore(keep reading, I know it backs up to something else you said.... Ill get to it in a sec) and all I carry is one, maybe two rods. a backpack with a small selection of lures. and what i can fit on my belt.

truth be told. too many people on this site have become in my opinion, "Jaded" by the fact that they have a boat, a rod locker packed with too many rigs. too much tackle. a fishfinder. 3 livewells. a huge outboard....ect. I fish for fun, from on a tiny little lake with nothing more than what I can hike in with.   I have to learn to become dependent on what I have already. I basically ran out of money..... well, literally (about 5 months ago) so what i managed to store away for the bait monkey when he comes out of hybernation is all Ive got. No new gear, no new tools.... all i can afford is new line and replacements for my terminal tackle.

(but I did like ur feedback from the rest of the post. I just think too often people forget the roots of even their own fishing expierence. I watched a guy try to fish at my home lake last week, he had all Quantum Reels on Allstar Rods, not one, but two of those huge tackle bags with about 8 planos in each over flowing with baits. and he literally carried 7 rods to the shore. He spent more time tinkering, less time fishing, and got skunked....... he forgot how to shore fish I kid you not!)

Second follow up

The reason I set so many goals is because Im trying to get a basic understanding of a technique. then i move on..... but i keep using the techniques Ive been able to apply successfully to my fishing. Its a technique I learned while in college as a Music Education Major speciallizing in percussion. You teach the student how to do something. then it becomes knowledge, not new...... that technique gets honed through practice while you learn new techniques. it takes disciple not to toss out the things you just learned. but eventually what youre going to do is build up a full composition of what you've been learning.    In music, you learn "phrases" or "sections" of a piece of music, then piece on a new section. then each time you play, you play the entire thing. so ur re-enforcing the old material & fine tuning it while youre learning the new. Its an awesum cycle that builds alot of cofidence in what you already know & gives ur the courage to keep moving forward....

(Just thought Id share that)

plus, like I said, I just wanna get a taste for a number of techniques that work in certian secnarios then Ill fine tune the ones I can apply best to my normal fishing (right now thats me studying jig fishing like its my job)

(Sorry, long post)