Learning to fish on your own

[starthere]

Practice makes perfect!

[AvidAngler]

ive definitely only taught myself. i grew up with the image of old fisherman on television shows in boats just talking and waiting for fish to bite their lines basically. first time my girlfriends step dad took me bass fishing, i was hooked. im 18 now, started fishing around 17. i read so many threads everytime i get back from fishing just to see if there is anything better i can learn for next time. ive personally never had much luck in big lakes, probably because its so hard to find the fish. they aren't lying when they say only 10% of water holds fish. almost all of my luck has been in a larger pond found locally. and that was what hooked me, everytime i threw a watermelon worm in the water on a texas rig i made contact. but fishing a lake is a whole different ball game, but im so determined to learn it because it would be the ultimate accomplishment to learn.

[AvidAngler]

Hello Everybody,

I am new to Bass Fishin. I just bought my first bassin boat, a tacklebox full of various lures, some good Shakespear reels, and some good rods. My first weekend out was on Sam Rayburn Lake in Broaddus, Texas (I live close to there)...I used a couple of spinner baits and caught 1- 2lb bass, and that was it for the day.

What I would like is to learn plastics: How to rig C Rigs, Texas, and whatever else that might improve my fishing. If any of ya all have some good, simple techniques that you can share, I would be deeply appreciated to ya.

Thanks

youtube is your best friend, youtube any rig, any knot, any fishing technique and it will pop up with step by step instructions.

[Ratherbfishing]

When I was very young, my dad took me and my siblings trout fishing in a pay lake not too distant from my house. When I was about 14, I bought an Abu Garcia promotional magazine/catalog from the local IGA. It had such beautiful glossy illustrations and I even though few, if any, of the featured species were found any closer than 500 miles from my house, this was my inspirational handbook (my eyes would have absolutely boggled had there been such a thing as a Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas catalog). My eyes were glued to Virgil Ward as he fished those exotic North country lakes and I was mesmerized when he'd demonstate some jigging technique in the aquarium at the end of the show. Back then I mostly fished for bullheads or whatever I could catch from the muddy river near my house. Getting my drivers license opened things up a little and a high school friend introduced me to smallmouth bass. But access to the river was somewhat scarce then. In college, while other guys were hitting the bars on Friday nights, I was out at the lake behind my dormitory-admitedly it was also during the week when I should have been studying. And so it goes. I guess you could say I learned a lot of things and had to unlearn a lot of other things. But mostly it was by myself.

[NBR]

Fishing is a very simple sport filled with difficult details. This site provides a ton of info but you have to put it into prectice on the water. Each time you fish you should be able to learn something even when you catch nothing. First which bass are you trying to catch, what time of the bass' year is it, are you fishing lake, reservoir, river, stream or pond, what is the forage base in your water type, what is the weather, has the weather been consistant.

Don't let high expectations and poor results spoil your day. I fish a lot for smallies, I love their attitude and where I live they are plentiful. One particular lake I fish a 50+ fish morning is not terribly uncommon in May or June. The fish are shallow pre spawn, spawn and early post spawn. In my view easy pickens. Come July a different story. I think they suspend to feed on the smelt that next to crawdads are a prime forage. From a 25 fish morning early season I've learned a 3 to 5 fish day becomes a trip to be a good one.

Over the years my wife has learned that when she asks how the fishng was I almost always say great now she knows the follow up question is how was the catching. My answer is anything from great to nothing. On those tough days I'll look for new spots and try different presentations. C-rigging a minnow bait like a Rapala can be an effective wat to cover water deep. Please don't tell anyone I said this but a 1 ounce sinker, c-rigged with a floating crank is an excellant trolling lure to find fish. Drop shot is another great way to fish both vertical and working a lure down a break line.

[RPreeb]

What little I know of bass fishing was learned by stumbling around blind with my brother and a friend way back in the late 50's and early 60's in west central Wisconsin.  When I "graduated" from a cane pole to a casting rod, what I had to use was a 5 foot steel rod with an ancient casting reel.  With a 4" Bass-O-Reno (which my grandmother said was once her mother's) I could maybe throw it 50 feet.  I did catch a few (my first bass was on that old plug with that rod and reel).  

 

When I managed to save up my chore money and bought my first closed face spinning reel and glass rod, I was in heaven.  It was cheap - I had no thoughts about anything but improving on that 30+year old rig.  Suddenly I was able to reach out farther from the canoe.  I could slide it under overhanging trees, land a foot from shore like a frog or mouse would actually look to hungry bass.  Bass fishing became fun, even though it was thoroughly nontechnical - we were still kids with nobody to show us how, so we just fished and had a blast doing so.  Loved fishing a Hula Popper - frog imitation or black mouse.  Also used Jitterbugs, and prerigged worms, often with a propeller type spinner on the front end.

 

Now I'm trying to relearn it after not fishing bass for 50 years, and I'm in NE Colorado, not known for it's remarkable bass fishing.  This site has been a godsend, but nobody much talks about my area in particular, so in the end I guess I'll just have to stumble around until I get something figured out, same as I did when I was a kid.

[N Florida Mike]

My dad taught me to fish, but not for bass. I learned from 2 friends in th 70s, then went 30+ years learning mostly on my own.Bass resource and the friends Ive met on here have helped me to learn some new things.

In the old days when I first began bass fishing I did some  innovative things, such as fishing with a cane pole for bass.I mainly fished a shallow creek ( named deep bottom creek ) this way.I would walk up and down the creek and watch for schools of bass.Then plop the blue plastic worm in front of them. 

I learned casting, playing the fish, knots,drag,bait techniques,finding fish,etc.mostly through trial and error,doing it over and over by myself.Experience is the best teacher.

 

[Airman4754]

I was taught for to fish for salmon, steelhead, and trout. I had to teach myself how to fish for bass.

 

 

[RO_Watkins]

NCthompson,

 

I have fished all my life, but just started bass fishing about a year ago. Since then I have gone completely nuts over it and fish almost everyday.

 

Much like anyone else is saying it is very important to gather any and all information that you can. Websites like this one and YouTube will be your best friends. One of the hardest things for me has been figuring out presentations of baits. For that I would just suggest finding some shallow clear water sometime and watching to see how you bait reacts to your movements.

 

Another thing that I think is hugely important is to fish where you know there are fish to be caught. I know it sounds obvious, but it can be very frustrating to literally throw everything at them with no result. I started in ponds that I knew had a healthy bass population and moved to rivers and lakes from there. I have gotten a lot better in years time but I still have a lot of days that remind me that I don't know too well what I'm doing.

 

The last and most important thing is you can't catch them from the couch. I know you probably don't have ton of free time but if you want to get good you gotta fish. The more time spent on the water the more you'll learn.

 

With that said, good luck and don't get discouraged. Look forward to reading about your progress!