Some thoughts on Bass Fishing

[DR_Bass]

A great example of a pro doing what they know best was seen on the Northern Run of the Elite Series to the Great Northern waters.

Every body who predicted a winner said, "who ever patterns the smallies" will be in the money.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Northern tour series bring back to back winners with Largemouth sacks and were caught shallow on jigs? Exactly opposite of what the pro's thought.

I believe Biffle and Brauer went "against the grain".      98 other pros tried what they thought would put the best limit in the boat.

Matt

To me, they fished their strengths.

If you always fish your strengths you are going to win sooner or later..

[Catt]

Catt - do you honestly believe he meant that, or....?? Even if he did, what does it matter?

Let's keep this thread from getting personal, guys. People get defensive, then aggressive. Seen it happen too many times before.

Keep your eye on the ball and focus on the topic at hand instead.

Sorry Boss I've no intention of being antagonistic but if I'm being obviously harmful to newbie's I would like to know in what capacity?

I truly like this type of discussion; I like people to think about why they have came to the conclusions they have came to. I want to know what Glenn thinks, what avid thinks, what Needemp thinks, & I want to know what newbie's think.  

But for the peace & harmony to the site I'll let this subject die  

[A-Jay]

On 6/2/2007 at 6:53 AM, Catt said:

for the peace & harmony to the site I'll let this subject die  

And I'm bringing it back ~

Such a great thread for so many reasons.

Above and beyond all the knowledge dropped,

this one may be a perfect example of the stuff this forum was built on.

I say read it.

A-Jay

[slonezp]

11 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

And I'm bringing it back ~

Such a great thread for so many reasons.

Above and beyond all the knowledge dropped,

this one may be a perfect example of the stuff this forum was built on.

I say read it.

A-Jay

So you want to make me read? Just give me the answers A-Jay...give them to me...

[Glenn]

It is a good read. And I apologize if my comments made it sound like I wanted it to end. Quite the contrary - I wanted it to stay on topic and keep going!

 

[TcRoc]

I haven’t read it yet just choked on my “beverage” seeing a revived 14 year old thread .. now I have something to read while I watch my wife burn the hamburgers ?

[Catt]

9 hours ago, A-Jay said:

And I'm bringing it back ~

 

Of course you would ?

 

I still stand by what I wrote & YouTube videos by many of the Pros have solidified it.

 

I think it was Jordan Lee who stated on Bass Fishing University what amazed him the most about Pro level fisherman was that they all had 3-4 techniques (topwater, mid-depth, & bottom) that they're really good at & that they "try" to find water that match their strengths.

 

KVD on his show College of Bass started that he only recently learned how aggressive bass really are in cold water. Totally opposite to traditional beliefs.

 

Gary Klein & Rick Clunn on numerous videos stated anglers put to much emphasis on rods, reels, lines, & lures and not enough on the angler.

 

Anglers often respond to failure and frustration by over-complicating theory and technique. As much as it helps our egos to regard a difficult task as complex, this type of thinking is often the biggest obstacle between you and your fishing success.

 

K.I.S.S. ?

[MGF]

I tend to agree with Catt. I fish a small local river often and I've been fishing it for many years. It seems the longer I fish it the less confident I about trying to predict where the fish will be.

 

It seems that I'm always catching fish where I have never caught them before. I can point to many areas where I have had epic action once or that are good once in a great while. There's one stretch that my wife and I have named "The Good Bank". It has been good and it looks like it should be good but I don't remember the last time I got more than a dink or two there.

 

 Since the depth range is very limited it's a little easier when it comes to bait/presentation selection but, very often, the results still seem counterintuitive. 

[MGF]

One more thing...in more recent years and the internet the access to information and opinions from anglers of all levels from all over the world is unbelievable. I, probably like most of you have consumed a HUGE quantity. I can't say that it hasn't improved my fishing but any improvement is marginal.

 

First exposure to some of the techniques that have really been good for me came off the net but I don't know how many extra fish it accounts for.

 

A huge amount of the available info has limited application to where I fish and I certainly don't have the money to implement all the latest technology. In fact I'm way behind. That's less of a hindrance on my shallow river or a shallow weedy lake than it is on larger reservoir...which I don't fish all that often. 

[Catt]

Here's a recent revelation by Rick Clunn that shocked me. He said it wasn't until 2-3 yrs ago the he realized he had put to much emphasis on studying bass when he should put it on studying the food source. 

 

Kinda thought Rick would know that!

[MGF]

1 minute ago, Catt said:

Here's a recent revelation by Rick Clunn that shocked me. He said it wasn't until 2-3 yrs ago the he realized he had put to much emphasis on studying bass when he should put it on studying the food source. 

 

Kinda thought Rick would know that!

 

 I'm convinced that a lot of the variability I see is because of the movement of bait. On the river the other day I caught a bunch of bass with STUFFED bellies in an area where I sometimes get one or two but I don't usually hang around too long...it's a long way down river to the next ramp.

 

The largest bass had a huge crawdad claw sticking out of his throat. This claw was larger than the crawdads I usually see in the river or have bass spit up in the boat. I think there was bait present that isn't always there.

 

Beyond the obvious I'm not sure what to do to better track the bait location.

[Mobasser]

I've kind of been on both sides of all this. I had times when I overthought and overcomplicated my fishing. It never really worked well for me.              For the last several years, I've simplified things, and Im better for it. I focus on location as my main priority, and don't get so wrapped up in rods, tackle etc. Keeping things simple has worked well.

[MGF]

The single thing that has put more fish in my boat than anything else is focusing on my own physical skills.  

[Mobasser]

This is a good thread. Makes you think about some things you might not think about often.

[Mike L]

On 5/27/2007 at 11:13 AM, Catt said:

 

The human tendency is to respond to failure and frustration by the over-complication rather than simplification of technique and theory.

Enough Said…

 

 

 

 

Mike

[MGF]

One of the nonphysical skills that I think is important is picking up on clues and making good decisions.

 

The other day I left work for a midweek river trip. I was hoping to avoid the locust like plague of tubers that we've been suffering.

 

I launched caught several bass right away. all dinks except for one 16 incher...ok that's a dink to some. I had a long way to go to get to the egress ramp so I continued down river. Then I was overtaken by the tubers and wished I had stayed at work. I called my wife and told her not to pick me up because I was headed back to the launch ramp...I hadn't yet passed any shallow areas that would stop me from getting back up.

 

As I passed the area where I caught those opener bass I noticed there was a momentary lull in the tuber plague. I decided to drop the anchor and take a few casts. In a short time I caught a bunch of bass including a few more 16 inchers and an 18.

 

It's all pretty obvious in hindsight but I had every intention of passing up a good thing in order to make it down river before dark.

[Nathan Roberts]

There are levels to fishing, just like in any other sport. The mental and physical stress a professional angler endures is beyond anything most of us have experienced in a season of fishing. You would have to absolutely love the sport, eat, sleep and dream fishing. It seems like every fishermans dream is to become a pro fisherman, when in reality, it's very long gruesome season and the average person would completely break down. The long days on the water practicing, researching and studying unfamiliar bodies of water. Not to mention the travel and all the stress that comes with that. 

Of course I love fishing, would love to give competition fishing a shot. But am I that less than 1% of fisherman that can hack it, doubtful. So like most people out there I play my cards and see how they fall. 

[the reel ess]

On 5/29/2007 at 6:27 PM, Needemp said:

 I have heard it explained by KVD, Ike and others that you don't get caught up with what the locals say, but rather take what they say with a grain of salt and hope you get a tiny morsel. 

I do this with my good fishing buddy. He may tell me he zeroed on bass the day before I get to go. Well, if 6 hours Saturday morning is all the time I'll get to fish for the next week, I'm going anyway. I'm not knocking him. But he splits his time between bass and crappie. If the bass won't bite, He'll troll. If they won't bite for me, I'll try something else until either they cooperate or I run out of time. I keep trying because for me it really only takes one nice fish to make the day worthwhile. 

[BassNJake]

On 6/27/2021 at 8:32 AM, Catt said:

Here's a recent revelation by Rick Clunn that shocked me. He said it wasn't until 2-3 yrs ago the he realized he had put to much emphasis on studying bass when he should put it on studying the food source. 

 

Kinda thought Rick would know that!

Like all of us as Rick gets older the memory is the first to go.

I remember him talking about this in his anglers quest series which I read about 2005ish 

he said he was told by an indian chief - if you want to understand the owl, study the mouse

[TriStateBassin106]

On 5/25/2007 at 2:30 PM, Catt said:

I understand that bass fishing is not an exact science

I establish what I believe to be truths & the bass prove its all lies

About the time I think I have the bass figured out the bass prove I don't

All this talk about color, rods, reels, boats, moon phases, can a bass see my line ect is just interesting information

So I simply go fishing any time I can, using the techniques I have confidence in, & I let the chips fall where they may.

First of all, I wish it was still 2007 lol... and second this is pretty much my exact thoughts, there's only so much information you can use out on the water that will help or won't help you. Be confident in what you do on the water! Fishing is very personal to everyone! 

[Tennessee Boy]

Great thread.  Thanks @A-Jay for bringing it back to life.

 

I fished tournaments at the club level in the 90s.  I won my share of them.  The win I was most proud of was on a lake were everyone one knew that post spawn fish were hitting trickworms in the bushes as the fish were transitioning out of the creeks.  It was the same every year.  At blastoff,  I ran about 400 yard,  dropped the trolling motor, and fished my behind off for eight hours with a trickworm.  I didn't outsmart anyone,  I out fished them.  I never lost a tournament because someone outsmarted me.  I did loose several of them when I tried to outsmart everyone else by trying to do something that no one else had considered.   I'm not saying you can't win a tournament with some brilliant innovative approach.  I'm sure it happens but not often.  Most tournaments wins and most successful outings happen when you're simply dialed in to catching fish and you do it efficiently.  Think about how many major tournament have been won fishing docks.  It ain't rocket science.  

 

Every ten years or so someone smart will invent a new technique that changes fishing.  The rest of us would do well to just focus on getting better fishing a Texas rigged worm.

[Catt]

6 hours ago, BassNJake said:

Like all of us as Rick gets older the memory is the first to go.

I remember him talking about this in his anglers quest series which I read about 2005ish 

he said he was told by an indian chief - if you want to understand the owl, study the mouse

 

It wasn't that Rick forgot, it was he spent 80% of his career studying bass behavior & 20% studying the food source, he said that was backwards.

[Tennessee Boy]

On 6/30/2021 at 7:37 PM, Catt said:

 

It wasn't that Rick forgot, it was he spent 80% of his career studying bass behavior & 20% studying the food source, he said that was backwards.

I enjoy reading and listening to the philosophy of Rick Clunn.  The whole owl and mouse thing is classic Clunn.  It's interesting and fun but I always want to say “Okay Rick. I get it.  So can you recommend a good book on Threadfin Shad so I can start studying.”

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

So can you recommend a good book on Threadfin Shad so I can start studying.”

 

 

 

[MGF]

On 6/30/2021 at 1:15 PM, Nathan Roberts said:

There are levels to fishing, just like in any other sport. The mental and physical stress a professional angler endures is beyond anything most of us have experienced in a season of fishing. You would have to absolutely love the sport, eat, sleep and dream fishing. It seems like every fishermans dream is to become a pro fisherman, when in reality, it's very long gruesome season and the average person would completely break down. The long days on the water practicing, researching and studying unfamiliar bodies of water. Not to mention the travel and all the stress that comes with that. 

Of course I love fishing, would love to give competition fishing a shot. But am I that less than 1% of fisherman that can hack it, doubtful. So like most people out there I play my cards and see how they fall. 

I don't know that it's any harder or more stressful than than other ways we find to make a living.

 

What I do know is that just because you love the sport/activity does NOT mean that you will love the business. I made a business out of a hobby/passion once and it almost ruined my life. There a lot more to the business of fishing than just fishing.