Weak areas - and did you improve?

[Fish the Mitt]

5 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

 

This is also something I need to work on.  Grew up fishing small ponds with the deepest water only being around 10 feet.  When I get on a big lake I stick to the shore because I have no idea how to fish deep.  I need to use my electronics better for locating them would be the first step.

Same for me!

[Hawkeye21]

Last year I wanted to work on more finesse styles like the drop shot but I think I only tried it once.  I want to work more on that and also a shaky head.  I've got the gear, now just need to do it.

[Fish the Mitt]

9 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

Last year I wanted to work on more finesse styles like the drop shot but I think I only tried it once.  I want to work more on that and also a shaky head.  I've got the gear, now just need to do it.

That's funny you say that. This year, as far as lures and presentations are concerned, the shaky head is on the top of my list. The past few years, I've really focused on my jig fishing which has increased 100 fold. I'm confident with all types of power techniques, so this year, I too am focusing on some finesse style approaches. Which will also help since I'm also going to try and fish offshore more. 

 

I've actually told myself that I will be taking a trip to Higgins Lake (next to zero (some say zero) LMB and deep and clear) to force myself to fish deep, and play with some finesse stuff (drop shot and shaky head being the two biggest concerns).

 

 

 

As far as my backhand being a concern, it's actually not that bad. Beings I'm ambidextrous, that'll probably be the last thing I focus on. I just want to fine tune it if anything.

[Hawkeye21]

1 minute ago, SemperBass said:

That's funny you say that. This year, as far as lures and presentations are concerned, the shaky head is on the top of my list. The past few years, I've really focused on my jig fishing which has increased 100 fold. I'm confident with all types of power techniques, so this year, I too am focusing on some finesse style approaches. Which will also help since I'm also going to try and fish offshore more. 

 

I've actually told myself that I will be taking a trip to Higgins Lake (next to zero (some say zero) LMB and deep and clear) to force myself to fish deep, and play with some finesse stuff (drop shot and shaky head being the two biggest concerns).

Jigs were on my list of things to work on too but I found myself always using the same techniques that work for me.  It seems I always spend most of my day throwing a chatterbait, crankbait, wacky rig or frog.

 

I think the biggest issue is time.  I usually only get out once a week if lucky and that's only when it's not winter so when I'm on the water I get too anxious and feel the need to use my confidence lures and catch fish.  The other part of the problem is that I started fishing online tourneys last year and I struggle to spend time trying new things.

 

Goal number one, go fishing more. 

[Fish the Mitt]

13 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

Jigs were on my list of things to work on too but I found myself always using the same techniques that work for me.  It seems I always spend most of my day throwing a chatterbait, crankbait, wacky rig or frog.

 

I think the biggest issue is time.  I usually only get out once a week if lucky and that's only when it's not winter so when I'm on the water I get too anxious and feel the need to use my confidence lures and catch fish.  The other part of the problem is that I started fishing online tourneys last year and I struggle to spend time trying new things.

 

Goal number one, go fishing more. 

I hear ya. I throw a chatterbait, jig, and crankbait the most as well. Followed by a jerkbait, spinnerbait, and topwater. Followed closely by a limited finesse approach in T-Rigged, wacky, and mojo rigged plastics (rare tube session and drop shot as well). 

So as you can see, my finesse approach needs a little improvement.

[Hawkeye21]

Just now, SemperBass said:

I hear ya. I throw a chatterbait, jig, and crankbait the most as well. Followed by a jerkbait, spinnerbait, and topwater. Followed closely by a limited finesse approach in T-Rigged, wacky, and mojo rigged plastics (rare tube session as well). 

So as you can see, my finesse approach needs a little improvement.

Last year was the first year I tried a jerk bait and I did stick to it early in the year.  I caught a lot of fish on it and ordered more for this year.  I will chalk that one up as a success for last year.

[Fishing Cowgirl]

Open water fishing and lack of electronic knowledge is my weakness. Fishing Florida shallow is my comfort zone, mostly soft plastics like a fluke or stick bait. Love throwing my swim jigs with a space monkey or rage menace trailer. Florida shallow is 2'-6'. Most lakes are very shallow at maybe 10' at very deepest holes. We tend to turn off the sonar once we hit our spot. I fish slow.. like Forest Gump talking slow.

I drew some northern guys for the Southern Open here and it really made me realize I need to learn hard jerk baits, football and heavier jigs (Seibert Outdoors) like what I received for the Fishmas exchange,  and what to look for the open water structures. One was kind enough to show me graphs and what to look for (Thank you Steve Priest) . So, that's what I have to work on this year.

[senile1]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye21 said:

Goal number one, go fishing more.

This may be the number one goal for every working stiff.  

[TnRiver46]

On 2/11/2018 at 1:25 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

I actually did improve with a drop shot quite a bit. The biggest game changer for me was putting a wacky rig on a drop shot. I have a ton of confidence in a wacky rig, so that helped me stick with the DS longer.  

 

I still hate crankbaits, but I have no real desire to change that. 

They only work if you pull them with a gas motor from what I can tell! I never catch anything casting crank baits or spinner baits. I have never owned a chatter bait. I never catch fish shallow (in lakes). I need all kinds of work but I will probably just end up fishing deep with soft plastics. There's plenty of shallow water in the lakes around here, I just never get any bites there. Now rivers, I can catch fish shallow there

[Pro Logcatcher]

Backhand skip w/ baitcaster. I backlash every time. Also, for some reason as I get better at skipping with a baitcaster, skipping with a normal spinning rod gets worse...

[Munkin]

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 10:13 AM, Hawkeye21 said:

 

This is also something I need to work on.  Grew up fishing small ponds with the deepest water only being around 10 feet.  When I get on a big lake I stick to the shore because I have no idea how to fish deep.  I need to use my electronics better for locating them would be the first step.

Finding off shore fish is a weakness for me.

 

Allen

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, Munkin said:

Finding off shore fish is a weakness for me.

 

Allen

This is one of my only strengths.  It’s easier than you may think, especially on a reservoir. If you have sonar, idle the edge of the river channel and the graph won’t lie. When you see fish drop a spoon straight down on them and if they are active you will catch them. A small fluke on a round jig head is another good option for vertical fishing. If you don’t have sonar it’s trickier but can still be done. 

[uncustered]

my biggest killers have been tourney days. Seems like pre- fish, and day before I've found fish and developed a pattern, then a cold front, warm front, clouds (or lack thereof) change on tourney day and I struggled to adjust. 

 

 

Going out tomorrow post-frontal just to work on that....

[th365thli]

Growing up in North Carolina I fished with spinnerbaits and senkos all my life. Anything past 7 feet was uncomfortable for me. Fishing deep was not just a weakness, I blocked it as an option.

 

Moved to California with deep, clear and heavily pressured reservoirs. I was a fisherman out of water. I remember not catching bass for an entire season. I was so frustrated I didn't fish for 8 months. After receiving tips from a local tackle shop and trying a new lake I caught my first fish. I felt like I won the classic. I've been improving deep water skills since. There's no substitution for just doing it. I told myself even if I don't catch anything I'll still learn.

 

Next is improving punching.

[Patrickt]

I almost exclusively used t rig worm and jigs. First time out this year I caught two nice largemouth with lipless. Definitely adding this to the rotation this year. Also going to reintroduce soft swimbait. Had a lot of success with them a few years ago then sort of forgot about them the past 3 years. I feel comfortable with the slow techniques but they aren’t always successful. Hoping lipless and soft swimbait will be the ticket. Wanted to add dropshot last year but the lakes I fish in are a bit weedy and not super deep (40 ft) and I don’t have the electronics to cruise around looking for a fish.

[papajoe222]

Pitching left handed was what I wanted to improve as my bum right shoulder keeps me from using the technique. NOT HAPPENING. I can’t do Jack with my left hand. Shoulda known better. 

[Mobasser]

I am like Cat. Crankbaits are my weak point. I've got a bunch, but don't throw em,  and don't have much confidence in them.

[OCdockskipper]

I think where one fishes has much to do with it.  The person who continually fishes a variety of contrasting lakes often has to be proficient at a variety of techniques to consistently catch fish.  To contrast, most of my fishing has always been done on a "home" lake, where the techniques that don't work well end up being rarely used.

 

When I was young, my home lake was a deep, rocky impoundment with almost no vegetation.  The water had visibility of about 18" and the lake had a lot of water skiers and boat traffic during the day.  With my smaller boat, I couldn't go out & fish a channel bend in 30 feet of water at 11:00 am, I would have been run over.  So most of my fishing was limited to early mornings in no wake zones and the weapons of choice were topwaters & crankbaits.  I got good at fishing them but almost never picked up a jig, plastic worm or anything that would produce in a environment that would require weedlessness.

 

Fast forward a few decades and my home lake now is a shallow development lake, loaded with docks, summer weedbeds and water clarity of about 4 feet.  Now my effectiveness is with slower moving and smaller baits, while topwaters and crankbaits only tend to be effective on cloud covered, rainy days.  I find that on those times I do fish another body of water, my comfort zone is to start with the slower bottom bumping baits while years ago, the first thing I would throw was a crankbait.

 

Sorry if this veered a little off topic, the point I was getting at is if you don't fish a variety of waters (or a lake large enough to have variety itself), it is difficult to get better at a technique that is not suited to that body of water.

[Fish the Mitt]

37 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

Sorry if this veered a little off topic, the point I was getting at is if you don't fish a variety of waters (or a lake large enough to have variety itself), it is difficult to get better at a technique that is not suited to that body of water.

No, you're absolutely right. Most often, if not all the time, our weakest areas are generally the things we do the least. And it only makes sense. 

[Bankbeater]

My big one would probably be walking style topwater baits like a spook.  I always end up going right back to the poppers and jitterbugs after a few casts.

 

My number two would be reading the fish finder.  If I am fishing water that I am familiar with I won't even turn it on.  Last year I think I used it about two times.

[Seth_7]

I wanna improve on my jigs and drop shots. Definitely going to be working on that this spring/ summer!!