Gameplan

[airborne_angler]

How many of you put together a gameplan at home on what bait your gonna throw in order to have a successful day the next time you go out?

How many of you have that gameplan all set up (tied on) but when you get to the lake ,your whole game plan goes to H*LL and you end up spending a greater part of the day retying different lures and such.

I think that maybe my whole problem. I map out scenarios in my head and then they just dont go how I had them played out in my head which frustrates me.

I think im setting myself up for failure with this attitude,cause the fish arent always gonna bite on what you want to try and they might not always be where you think they are

Would it be better to go to the lake and THEN figure out what may work,instead of playing fantasy fishing in my head?

[brushhoggin]

i tie on my strongpoint lures the night before and then wait till i get on the water to gauge my gameplan, as there are so many variables to adjust to any given day, then i switch accordingly if need be

[slonezp]

We all have a successful game plan before we go out.

Have a rod tied up for each of your presentations. Senko, spinnerbait, jig, crank, etc. Then change colors, sizes as needed.

I think frustration is EXTREMELY detrimental to fishing. A bad mindset changes the way you cast, the way you retrieve, and makes a not so good day on the water much worse.

[fishfordollars]

I do, but i do not tie on lures. I wait until i get to the water. I want to know the clarity. Makes no sense to put a game plan together without current information.

Even if i am very familiar with the lake i still spend plenty of time with map study, internet searches, and make a few calls for current fish activity.

[NateFollmer]

We all have a successful game plan before we go out.

Have a rod tied up for each of your presentations. Senko, spinnerbait, jig, crank, etc. Then change colors, sizes as needed.

I think frustration is EXTREMELY detrimental to fishing. A bad mindset changes the way you cast, the way you retrieve, and makes a not so good day on the water much worse.

X2

Usually if things are that bad that nothing you have set up is working, you need to fish slow anyway. If you're mad, you aren't going to fish slow ha ha.

That's what makes a good angler though, learning to adapt to changes and figure out the puzzle. Fish are predictable, yet unpredictable at the same time...

[OHIO]

I do it all the time. I say I am gonna throw soft plastics and topwater, but when I get there, I change everything up. The worst part is when you throw your go to baits and they don't produce. My new go to bait is a buzz bait, so when I'm not catching anything I start fishing them and they usually catch fish if I am patient enough. I think the most important part is to stay calm and don't get angry if you aren't catching the fish you planned on when you were thinking about it the day before.

[Catt]

Catt's game plan for tonight

Deep water main lake structure!

#1Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall - Morning, Noon, or Night: Texas Rigged Gene Larew 7 ½ Salty Ring Worm Cinnamon Pepper Neon/June Bug Laminated (Camouflage).

#2 Terry Oldham's Jig 1/2 oz Black-N-Blue tipped with a Gene Larew Salty Hawg Craw 6" with 1 1/2" cut off the tail

#3 Texas Rigged Rage Tail Lobster color Falcon Lake Craw

#4 1/2 oz Buzz Bait with Klacker

#5 Stanley Wedge Plus Spinnerbait, 1/2 oz DBL Willow Gold/Silver White Skirt

[Lund Explorer]

I always go with a game plan set in my head.  Call it the power of positive thinking.

The problem is staying with it too long if things don't work out.

[ChiCityBasser]

I have a game plan when I go out as well which starts the night before with me getting my rods set up for the morning. I usually start out with a Strike King 1xs in Gizzard shade on my crankbait rod. My other rod has either a swim jig on it or is t-rigged with some form of plastic. Lots of the lakes here have weed growth and the 1Xs swims just over the weeds and I can usually get a bit or two. If the lake permits me to go deeper with a crank then I switch to something that goes deeper than 2 feet like the Xs.  After that the fish are calling the shots pretty much.

[curls00]

I have gameplans (usually from pre-fish) as to locations and whether I'll be making milk-runs from dock to dock, or saturating a flat in 6-8' of water with jigs or t-rigs, etc.

As for the plan on WHAT to throw, I bring 5 rods:

- spinnerbait (usually white w/ gold blades)

- jig (1/2 or 3/4oz, either black w/ red, or watermelon w/ red... depends on what my partner for the day likes to fish as I'll fish lighter if he's fishing darker)

- t-rig, weightless to start but I often use the clip-on style bullet weights if fishing something that dictates the use of weight.

- wacky rig.

- frog.

I always start with a white spinnerbait around here, so that one is always tied on. 

I also usually start with the watermelon w/ red jig as my partners usually throw black or black/blue jigs and I want to offer the fish something diff (plus the watermelon is my confidence colour!).

The t-rig stays naked until minutes before blast-off, when I have had a chance to gauge water colour and the other colours my partner and I are throwing. Also, this might be a senko or it might be a creature, depending on the plan for the day... so it stays naked until then. The time to rig a plastic is minimal compared to re-tying a hook.

Same goes for the wacky rig -- colour depends on the water clarity and the gameplan. It stays naked until closer to gametime.

The frog is usually one of two colours I like (White, and Black). Usually start with black and will switch if the topwater bite is on but not as much on the darker colour.