I'm not sure if I'm just unlucky or what, but it seems like every time I go fishing with my buddy he catches fish and I don't.

I can use the same bait and fish in more or less the same spot, but for some reason they don't like my bait.

I know this is a VERY broad subject, but maybe some fishing tips might help others as well.

Oh ...This is bank fishing ..not boat

Luck has nothing to do with it.
As much as you think you both are doing things the same, invariably you’re not.

No two people do everything exactly the same even using the same bait being fished what you think is the same way.

The “more or less” comment is key. 
Next time make your offering first and make him just stand there.
After awhile, if you get hit or not hand him your setup, don’t change anything then see what happens. 
 

Keep in mind if you get bit, and then he doesn’t that may be all that’s home or you got a one moving in or out and that’s all there is. 

 

Good Luck

 

 

 

Mike

I can relate to this problem.  My brother and I fish a lot together and we have noticed what works for him won't work for me and visa versa. To us it's all in what you are comfortable with. My brother can catch bass on a drop shot, I can't. I can catch them on crankbaits, he can't. So try to pick lures that you are comfortable using and concentrate on catching bass with those. Just my opinion. Good luck.

2 hours ago, RCook said:

 

I can use the same bait and fish in more or less the same spot, but for some reason they don't like my bait.

 

 

Too funny! Thanks for the laugh this morning!

 

As soon as I read that I recalled what a drummer from a rock band of bass fishermen said to me one day...

 

Apparently within that band you had to fish or were supposed to and if ya didn't then it was looked down upon. One guitarist said of another band member "Even the dogs don't like him, and besides, he don't fish!" As a put down.

 

So one day the drummer, knowing I fished, he told me he simply did not have the patience for it. He said he could walk out onto the end of a dock and look down in the water and all the fish just scattered away from him instantly as if he was putting out some kind of a bad vibe that scared the fish away.

 

He said if he even tried to go with others who fished his vibe would keep them from catching fish!

 

I'm not saying you are putting out scary vibes scaring the fish away, only that I was reminded of this story as soon as I read your post.

 

Gotta find your zen!

 

Forgot to mention.... you kind of sound like my dad. He said he would go fishing with his brother and his brother would cast to a spot and not catch anything and my dad would cast in same spot right behind him and catch a fish. Happened often enough. My dad got a kick out of it. But his brother was not too pleased about it.

I get snakebit when I go with other people about 90% of the time. Now, I usually catch the one big fish on the boat, but generally I am bad luck lol

Mike is right. You're not doing the same thing as your buddy. Instead of fishing, watch your buddy and ask questions. I rarely get outfished unless I'm guiding and focused on putting the other angler on fish, but if I do, I'm asking questions and studying the other angler.

 

Watch his hands. That's where the magic happens, meaning that's where action is imparted to the bait. And tie on exactly what he's using in exactly the same way.

 

Now go get 'em, Tiger!

18 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

Watch his hands. That's where the magic happens, meaning that's where action is imparted to the bait. And tie on exactly what he's using in exactly the same way.

 

Now go get 'em, Tiger!

 

Swamp Girl, one of the true pleasures of fishing is out fishing your buddy doing exactly the opposite! Sometimes it actually works! And if it ticks him off and messes up his color scheme of things then all the better! 

 

Nothing funnier than to watch him switch over to white swimbait copy cat as he desperately tries to keep up. His waving the white flag and tying on what I am using is when I win! Forget the fishin!

 

However, his black and blue swim jig have often won the race. We showed up at one dock in a corner of a lake and he was pulling them out of there and I couldn't touch it or keep up. Fishin is war! Ha! And then who's buying the beers as we lie about our fish.

 

Another true pleasure of bass fishing is to always carry 1 or 2 dummy rods rigged up with complete BS lures on them and keep them visible to all the tournament guys. What'cha catching them on? As you pass by and they are looking at your Roland Martin helicopter lure hanging over the side... (Kidding of course but....)

 

There's more to fishin than just trying to catch!

 

Sometimes its not about what you use, but how you use it as Swamp Girl said.

8 minutes ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

Another true pleasure of bass fishing is to always carry 1 or 2 dummy rods rigged up with complete BS lures on them and keep them visible to all the tournament guys. What'cha catching them on? As you pass by and they are looking at your Roland Martin helicopter lure hanging over the side... (Kidding of course but....)

 

There's more to fishin than just trying to catch!

Instead of carrying dummy rods during tournaments, I and the vast majority of every long time tournament angler I know, always unhook or cover every piece of plastic rigged before we head in. 
 

I first saw that Marshaling an Elite event and always stuck with me. 
Now seems like we all do it. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

1 hour ago, RCook said:

I'm not sure if I'm just unlucky or what, but it seems like every time I go fishing with my buddy he catches fish and I don't.

I can use the same bait and fish in more or less the same spot, but for some reason they don't like my bait.

I know this is a VERY broad subject, but maybe some fishing tips might help others as well.

Oh ...This is bank fishing ..not boat

Could just be a simple thing as how you are presenting your bait.

We’ve all had days/stretches like that. More often than not it comes down to a subtle change in presentation speed or movement. Even your line could be the determining factor.
 

Find some bait/rig/technique that you have real confidence in, and stick with it. I’m a firm believer in my “pet” rigs, to the point that I don’t leave the house without them tied on. 

Ain’t holding your mouth right 

Me watching @Pat Brown fishing a hybrid

hunter

Pssst.... Your bait and tackle aren't expensive enough.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Bait Monkey

3 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

 

Swamp Girl, one of the true pleasures of fishing is out fishing your buddy doing exactly the opposite! Sometimes it actually works!

I'm the opposite.  while I dont like it when a friend hands me my arse... I find true pleasure in fishing with a bud and watching them catch fish.    if I find them, I want them to as well.  it isn't competitive for me.  so that dummy rod thing is a non starter.

 

OP.  right now I am in your situation.   I am trying to help a newbie catch fish off his kayak.  he can be right next to me, and I hand him the bait to fish:  I will catch a fish and he just soaks them - no love.   my friend is fishing too fast.  he wont let the bait hit bottom and just let it sit for a spell.  at first it was because his equipment sucked.   he had a noodle rod combo that was so lacking in sensitivity, he always sought out a taut line.  he was inadvertently moving the bait to much seeking some feeling of the bait.    now he as bought better gear but he is still too fast.  

 

I think most newbies fish too fast.  

You also might be missing bites. Bass bite many different ways and many of them are subtle.

we need to collectively get this guy on some fish.  even his avatar photo vibe is so forlorn

1 hour ago, Darth-Baiter said:

we need to collectively get this guy on some fish.  even his avatar photo vibe is so forlorn

Could be his mugshot!

Suggest your buddy rig and cast out your rod/reel combo and hand it over to you. Have your friend explain what the bite feels like and what to look for.

This is the technique I use for new anglers until they start catching bass.

Tom

You are fishing with same friend I fish with.

Bank fishing, leap frog eachother, this way you are getting the first cast/bait in front of the fresh fish. If he is catching behind you, you’re not feeling the bite.  Ask him exactly what he is feeling and then pay attention for that. You may still not catch but you’ll get another clue to the puzzle.

 

One thing I’ve learned fishing with others, some people just aren’t as good as others, it’s just like sports. Different people have different levels. Practice practice practice will get you in the game. 

It's hard to not catch a bass on a weightless trick worm (no salt) on a 1/0 offset worm hook on 8 lb monofilament.

 

Just throw it at stuff and let it sit or twitch it or drag it or all of the above.  

 

You'll get one eventually!

Experiment... You'll find your baits. Mine are the rapala f11 and a bladed jig. Keep truckin

A few things to think about as you try to puzzle-out what might be going on: 

 

-Location: Are you really fishing the same spots? or just "pretty close" or "similar" spots?  Could he be making more precise casts than you, or making different judgments about where to cast?

 

-Depth and speed control -- how deep is your bait and how fast/often are you moving it? Is it possible your fried is experimenting more than you with presentation details, so he's more likely to end up finding what they want?

 

-Strike detection: Is it possible your friend is detecting strikes that you would miss?  Could he be a more attentive line-watcher, or more willing to set the hook when unsure?  

 

-Random chance:  Could it be that there is no actual pattern, and just by chance he's out-fished you a few times?  That you perhaps really have just been "unlucky" and there isn't any deeper reason;  Perhaps if you keep at it things will simply even out in the long run, as they tend to. 

10 hours ago, Craig P said:

 

One thing I’ve learned fishing with others, some people just aren’t as good as others, it’s just like sports.

 

This is true. Some people have the knack.

 

15 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

Suggest your buddy rig and cast out your rod/reel combo and hand it over to you. Have your friend explain what the bite feels like and what to look for.

 

Wisdom.

 

8 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

-Location: Are you really fishing the same spots? or just "pretty close" or "similar" spots?  Could he be making more precise casts than you, or making different judgments about where to cast?

 

-Depth and speed control -- how deep is your bait and how fast/often are you moving it? Is it possible your fried is experimenting more than you with presentation details, so he's more likely to end up finding what they want?

 

-Strike detection: Is it possible your friend is detecting strikes that you would miss?  Could he be a more attentive line-watcher, or more willing to set the hook when unsure?  

 

-Random chance:  Could it be that there is no actual pattern, and just by chance he's out-fished you a few times?  That you perhaps really have just been "unlucky" and there isn't any deeper reason;  Perhaps if you keep at it things will simply even out in the long run, as they tend to. 

 

I second all of this.

Make sure you're competent with plastic worms T-Rigging, Wacky Style, Shakey Head and weightless. Bass Resource has many videos and articles to help you. Simply dragging a t-rigged worm and fishing one weightless, casting or spinning, has caught numerous Bass. Focus on you and your style. Your day will come.

Good Fishing