diver_sniper

I think we are missing each other on this one. I don't think anyone is saying that they are trying not to catch fish. We're just saying that sometimes we go out with a focus on one certain type of lure or technique. Not because we think it's the only way to catch fish that day, but rather because we want to grasp an understanding of the method so that if ever facing tournament conditions that force us to switch to tactics we wouldn't normally begin with, we have a feel for it. Just last night I had some crankbaits arrive in the mail, and my roommate looked at them and said, "You fish for bass with those things? All I ever really use is worms, maybe a Sluggo from time to time." And I replied to him, "Well, I haven't fished them much yet, but I'm gonna work hard to learn how to use them, so that I have a wider variety options anytime I'm on the water." The part I didn't say to him was that if we fished tournaments against each other, I would probably win more often because I'm trying to hone multiple skills while you're sitting on just a couple. Sure I'm probably going to face some defeat while venturing into these new challenges, but that doesn't mean I'm accepting of the fact that it didn't catch me any fish. I'm trying to catch a fish on every cast, just like the lures I already know well. But when I do start to catch fish or distinguish a pattern, I've just stepped my game up a level. If I hadn't gone through the couple days of struggling I never would have attained this new skill. But now I got it, and I'm better off because of it.

I know this one has sank to the bottom a bit, but I thought I'd chime in anyways. There are 3 different mindsets that I will approach the lake with: 1. The mental tournament mindset. Like you guys have said, I try to act like I'm in a tournament. Everything is done the same way it would be done as if I was in a tournament. 2. The experimental mindset. These are the days where I just try to learn things. I will try to focus on a type of lure, a certain type of structure, or just anything that I feel I need to get better at. If I'm only focused on catching 5 fish as quick as I can, I'm usually not learning anything new, I'm only exercising the things that I already have a handle on. What I do here is usually go somewhere that I know fish probably are, and try to catch them on something that I normally wouldn't use because I have no confidence in my ability to land fish with it. And when I do this I usually do it fairly slow, at a pace where I can analyze anything that is or isn't happening. I do this so that come the real tournament, my bag of tricks is deeper than it would be if I stuck to my 5 or 6 standard methods. When I started with this fishing thing, I had some buddies who I thought were pretty good fishermen. But then after I fished some tournys with them, and we finished in the bottom half, I realized that they had some holes in their game. One of them can fish his frog with the best of them, and another knows his T-rig like the back of his hand. But when tourny day comes around and the only thing getting bites is a crankbait, or C-rig, or slow falling plastics, whatever it may be, they're completely stumped. I promised myself after those defeats that I would never be out there without a strong list of backup plans again. 3. Simply casual. Sometimes it's fun to just go out and fish. Call up a friend who isn't a die hard bass fisherman and just take them out on the lake for the heck of it. For me it's best to just relax on the lake sometimes. I'm lucky enough to be a single college guy with a short list of obligations or responsibilities, so during the summer months I'm able to get out on the water after work pretty much every day. If I'm pushing myself too hard every single one of those days, I start to forget the reason I'm out there. Winning is a lot of fun, but I can't let myself forget that I fish because I love it with a deep passion. These relaxation days help me keep that in check.

I would, but we have this pesky thing in the North country known as ice. So I'll be spending the next 5-6 months only dreaming about the things I wish I could log. :'( Great info guys. The percentage thing is one that I wasn't sure how to approach, but I'll have to do my best to at least get a good idea of percentage per lure and probably fish per hour on X lure or something like that. Here's another thing I was wondering about. Do you guys log every single fish? I was thinking I would limit detailed logging to only fish that would meet the livewell size requirements if it were a tournament situation. That way my numbers don't get skewed causing me to have records leading me to small fish that I'm not concerned about. Also if it seems like I might end up wasting a lot of time writing if I log every little fish I catch. Is this the right train of thought or do you guys disagree?

I didn't know about that site until now, thanks guys! It's awesome, I did some fake entries just to see how it works, very cool.

I've decided that next season I'm going to keep a binder in my boat with some pre-made forms to record specifics about fish that I catch. The idea behind it is so that come tourny time, or anytime that I'm struggling, I can go back and see what worked for me in the past when conditions matched what I'm again facing at the given time. My memory is about as sharp as a rusty butter knife, so this is probably a good idea for me. Here are the questions: How in depth do you guys feel this should be done? Do you think it should be done for all fish, or should small ones be disregarded? What are a handful of the most important things that you think should be recorded about catching a good fish? What are some specifics that you think are important that others might not think to consider? Thanks for any input, fellas.

I have to vote confidence. If I don't have confidence in what I'm doing, I can't have any patience. If I make a cast and think to myself, "That's probably not gonna produce anything... Maybe I should tie on something else... Maybe I should move", it's not a good thing. Especially in a tourny situation. I start to panic a little bit and do everything faster than I should. Or I'll start casting in dumb random places hoping for luck. Luck can be a powerful thing, but not something I like to rely on. Both are important, and obviously knowledge is the number one, but for me, confidence has to be in place before patience can be attained.

Ok, a lot of my buddies have a habit of deciding exactly how much a fish weighs just by measuring it. This usually leaves a lot of room for exaggeration, and it kind of bugs me because they make some pretty unrealistic calls sometimes. So here are my questions: Are the digital scales that they sell at bait shops accurate? I've heard that you have to get the more expensive ones to have one that's any good, is that true? Second, is there a best way to weigh a fish that you have every intention of returning to the water? I don't want to harm the little guys anymore than I already have. I'm just curious because my head has been filled with claims that these scales are no good, but I can't see why that would be true and I'd like to get one, I was just wondering what you guys thought.

I don't know a whole lot about these things, I was wondering if someone might be able to help me out. I know the LMS-332c is discontinued, but is it basically the same thing as the 520's that they sell now? Does anyone know what the differences would be? Also, a lot of people around here seem to prefer Hummingbird over Lowrance. Why is that? I'm not one for brand loyalty, I just like the stuff that works the best, that's why I ask. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out!

Right now, I'm limited to just 3. I hope to have at least 6 by spring, and will try to continue adding. 1 Med-Hev BC that I fish my topwater stuff with. Sprofrog, spook, poppers, buzz baits, whatever. 1 Med BC that I fish mainly a jig or t-right with. 1 Med SR that I fish light stuff with. Sluggos, small suspending cranks, smaller spinner baits, unweighted plastics etc. I'm still pretty new to fishing hard and am in college, so money is tight. I'm pretty sure though that I will end up being one of those guys with 10-15 in my boat at a time, because even with the 3 I have now, I'll find myself tying a half a dozen knots or more in an evening of fishing. That's wasted time I would love to get away from.

I had the same thing happen to a spinner bait and I also put a tube on it. Worked great. If I remember right I caught 3 fish in the first 6 or 7 casts. Not much size to em but hey, it's action.

I like to use them if I've got fish that are really excited about buzzbaits at the time. If that's the case, the fact that it's big and really noisy will get you more hits because it's getting attention from more distance. If you throw one and they're just barely hitting it versus exploding on it, try putting on a smaller quieter single blade. That can help sometimes. Like someone else said, trailer hooks are where it's at. Average size may go up a bit, but from my experience, if you get yourself into a good buzzbait day, any fish seems as likely to hit it as the next. Just MHO.

That's absolutely awesome. Do you have to be a member to get more videos like that, or am I just being dumb and not finding them?

Hi all. My name is Chad, I'm 21, I'm from Alexandria MN. I'm Junior at North Dakota State University in Fargo ND majoring in fisheries and wildlife management. I've always had a love for fishing, especially bass fishing. I remember when I was a little kid my family would occasionally go fishing off shore for sunnies. Meanwhile I would be 40 yards down the shore getting my hula popper caught up in the lilly pads. That was the first sign that I had the bass gene in me. But it would lay dormant until recently Over the last couple of summers some of my buddies took me out and got the fire burning in me again. I hadn't got caught up in fishing because my other passion is waterfowl hunting and I kept myself occupied by obsessing over that(I'm gonna be double broke now ). But it got to the point that I wanted to go out more often than they did. So at the beginning of this summer I went to the bank, took out a little loan and bought my self a hideous 1987 Bayliner bass boat. (It may be ugly, but I love it) This summer I fished nearly every single day after work. Usually about 5 hours a day. More on weekends. My favorite lake is one that's only about a mile from where I grew up. 20 years ago it was only about 2/3 the size it is now. But the water level has gone up drastically, meaning that parts of the surrounding forest now rests underwater. The equates to awesome bass habitat and very few jet skiers. 8-) My favorite thing to do is pitch a medium to small sized jig at the underwater tree stumps out there. I love jig fishing, but I have a ton to learn about it. My most reliable bait is a Texas rigged tube craw. I've caught as many fish on that as I have on everything else combined. I also really like hitting the spots with the trusty old Sprofrog when the big guys are hiding in the slop. I fished my first tournament just 2 weekends ago. My partner and I took 3rd. I won't lie, when everyone was putting in their boats, we were that team in the old ugly boat. We got some good looks from the guys in their beautiful Rangers and Tritons. I could tell they were thinking, "Are you serious? They're gonna fish out of that?... Seriously!?" That made taking 3rd all the more satisfying though. Anyways, I'm absolutely hooked on the competitive aspect of the sport. Luckily I live in lake country so there are plenty of events and leagues to get involved with. My boat may not be the fastest, and it's certainly the ugliest, but as long as I remain a student of the game and always keep my mind open, I think good things will come. My apologies for the long intro. Thanks to anyone who made it all the way through. I look forward to learning, and if I can, teaching a little bit on the forum.