How many techniques did you learn when you 1st began bass fishing? I mean really get into the nitty gritty of it all and feel quite proficient before moving on to new techniques. 

 

What techniques were the ones you learned?

For me, I started seriously fishing for bass at 12-13 years old. Started with beetlespin, spinnerbait, ribbon tail worm, and a buzzbait. I didn't throw a treble hook bait till I was probably 20. I used those lures for that entire time. 

beetlespin, kastmasters, spinnerbaits , then t rigged worms, cranks for quiet awhile. This was back in the 60's..thru the 70's.

Mostly fished smallmouth in creeks as a teenager. Inline spinners, Rapalas, and live bait. Looking back, the level of proficiency I achieved left a lot to be desired. Still it left fond memories.

T Rig plastics of all kinds. 

I concentrated on the different techniques involved from just dragging a small worm to flippin, pitching and punching. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

As a young country boy in the 80's, I either used worms that I dug up or shiners/craw dads that I seined with a homemade seine made with two tobacco sticks. 

 

Somewhere in there I was throwing a Roostertail a lot too. In the late 80's, I was shown the Texas rig and it's still going strong in 2019 for me...lol.

2 hours ago, Catt said:

To this day if I'm throwing a spinner bait, chances are pretty good it's an H&H.

Mid to latter 1960s. Started with smaller topwater lures and farm.ponds

Fishing from shore as a youngster in mostly shallow often weedy lakes, my first 'technique' was live bait; crawlers, crayfish & any type of minnow.  This helped me learn about bass location & feeding times.

 From there I moved to 'techniques' I could fish effectively in the conditions; plastics fit the bill.

Swimming a worm worked OK, and in open water a Daredevil spoon and a Rebel minnow were the deal. 

I used spinning gear exclusively back them, so line twist was a major problem right there. 

Once I got off the bank (Coleman Crawdad) my opportunities, techniques & experience virtually exploded.

Been trying to keep that rolling for the last 50 years or so.

#iamold

A-Jay

 

For the first 15 years of my life, I was certain that throwing a spinnerbait on a rod with an "open face" (spinning reel), was the pinnacle of bass fishing. I had occasionally seen my dad throw a "jig and pig" in the cooler months, but never saw him catch a fish with it.

 

Ironically, I caught a ton of fish growing up throwing a spinnerbait and I probably haven't made 10 casts with one in the last 5 years...

I use to throw spinnerbaits , crankbaits and buzzbaits with limited success . it wasnt until I learned how to fish a texas rigged plastic worm that I started catching fish consistently . It was a game changer  . After that I became a better angler with the other lures as well .  

I started moistly throwing crankbaits and inline spinners like Shyster and Toni. Lot of members on here that never heard of them. Caught a lot of fish on them but can't get a fish to look at a Rooster Tail. It was along time before I finally started fishing soft plastics. Soft plastics helped me start catching more fish.

If I remember correctly the 1st lure I bought was a fleck weed wader spinnerbait. Then one day a co-worker gave me a bps catalog and it melted my brain.

When I started bass fishing I had only one technique > Catch Fish ?.

 

Probably the first technique or bait I learned was a spoon.  I had two Red Devils and would catch just about everything on them. 

I soaked bait for catfish and stripped bass as a kid, but I didn't start fishing for black bass until I was an adult with a steady income.  Technically, I started fishing for black bass with a pack of EWG hooks, a pack of black and blue Senkos, and a pack of green pumpkin Yum Dingers with chartreuse tails.  I remember thinking to myself how ingenious it was that Yum Dingers had a built in slot to texpose your hook. Immediately after about a 1.5 pounder stretched my line for the first time, the Bait Monkey had his way with me.  I started buying some of everything.  

My first bass lure was a Hawaiian Wiggler #3 weedless spoon and fished it the summer of '55. Weedless spoons are versitile, cast 50 yards and could work the surface or swim deeper, catch lots of bass on that lure.

Tom

6 hours ago, Catt said:

Remember how those flat rubber skirts used to stick together after they dried?

When I was first learning how to target bass I threw a weightless Texas rigged worm exclusively for about a year. From just that bait I learned about picking apart cover and proper hooksetting. It took me a long time to gain any confidence in reaction style baits.

6 hours ago, Catt said:

 

 

that's an h&h spinnerbait ... i still use 'em ... they are big on the coast and la. ... and catch fish ...

 

 

 

good fishing ...

 

 

 

I started out with the common earthworm as bait.  Then I quickly graduated to Rapala minnows and countdown minnows.  Within the next couple of years I added plastic worms and jitterbugs.  That pretty much covers me from around 7 or 8 years old through high school (1968 - 1979).  I started using a jon boat around age 15 using a minn kota trolling motor.

As illustrated by the answers above, there is a lot of confusion with what is a "technique". I don't buy into it. To me there is only one way to fish, get your lure in front of a fish by whatever means necessary. So to answer the OP's question, one, and still there.

I stated with Trout Magnets as I just wanted to catch "something", then once I got a 15-16" smallie on them I started to look more into bass fishing and fortunately found some of the MWF stuff on InFisherman and that is what got me catching bass with regularity.  

I started with one technique, cast out and reel in.  I remember using some of my grandpa's rattle traps in old abandoned gravel pits a 1/4 mile from my hometown.  I also remember being deathly afraid of losing them. I don't think I tried any bottom hopping stuff until I was 18-19.

I used an H&H, Johnson Silver Minnow, and an Arbogast #2 Hawaiian Wiggler. I later added a Devils Horse and Snagless Sally.