Sometimes we all see a fish regurgitate what its been eating or something still in its mouth. Craws,Shad, whatever...

I never gave it a thought when I was alot less hell bent on being a better fisherman which I now realize was foolish. :'(

I was just gassed it hit the lure I threw. I know Ive let fish go and paid no attention to it which was shortsighted I know. Im learning.

What exactly do you guys learn and what changes do you make accordingly on what you observe in the bass' mouth besides your lure ? Do you ever change colors, lure type ,fishing patterns ?

If the fish is aggresive enough to hit a craw lets say and your lure in a short span do you really know your throwing the right lure and in the right place just because you caught him ?

I know Im not learning enough from my first fish of the day whether he has feed in his mouth or not. :-/

Thanks Mark

Minnows = "moving" lures

Crawdads = soft plastics & jigs

(looking up vs looking down)

8-)

RW,

Question...your on the lake 15 minutes...throwing a white spinnerbait...you catch a 3 lb LM. He has a fresh craw in his mouth with the bait...do you grab the plastic rod and fish a craw pattern or keep throwing the white spinnerbait or change to a craw pattern spinnerbait ?

This is where my decision making really sucks.

I almost always catch some fish but I can never get 6-12+ bass days strung together because of it. I know it is partly because Im not recognizing the patterns and modifying what Im doing.

Of course 'where' (depth/structure) I caught the first one matters alot too but Im talking bait/technique.

Fishing is just like golf...a few good rounds in a row and think you finally got better...then next round you fall back to reality.  ;D

Mark

Well, I don't think you need to change up real fast when

something's working. I would keep throwing the spinnerbait

for awhile, for sure!

8-)

I was just thinking about this problem today. I've got the worst habit of spending more time (more so in the boat) tying on different lures than really fishing what I tied on. My biggest fear is wasting what little time I have on the water so I am constantly trying to throw everything in the box. A lot of times I'll catch a bass on a worm and then think "man he killed that worm! I bet he'd slaughter a spinnerbait (insert your lures here) and then I'm tying on a different bait and not getting bit. I've got to really settle down when I catch a fish. It doesn't help to read the day on the lake series and see the angler throw a crankbait from 7:30 to 7:41 then change to a jig and craw from 7:42 - 8:00 then on to something else then back again.

Perfect example was yesterday when I finally caught a bass in this city pond that connects by aqueduct to the river 300 yards away. A bunch of bream and carp and I only fish it on lunch breaks because it's 5 min from the office. I caught a bass on a buzzbait off some rip rap by the bank and then start immediately looking across the pond at all the brush thinking "I bet a jig and craw would pull a big 'un out of there" so off I go. Needless to say instead of saturating the water with a buzzbait I waste the rest of my break fishing unproductive patterns in unproductive water. I'd like to hear some of the "old heads" tell us how to improve our game in this department. Like when do you give up on a lure - or how much time do you give an unproductive bait during a tournament.

Well, I don't think you need to change up real fast when

something's working. I would keep throwing the spinnerbait

for awhile, for sure!

8-)

Thanks RW. Me too but I wondered what some of you guys were thinking on it.

d**n, If this game was easy I wouldnt bother.  

Mark

My biggest fear is wasting what little time I have on the water so I am constantly trying to throw everything in the box.

Im guilty of this as well.  Though lately, I've been bringing only a couple of specific baits with me.  For example, Ill grab only plastic rigs and spinnerbait rigs for an outing.  Ill focus on getting better with those.  Plus the lack of options makes me focus on fishing rather than second guessing my choice of lure.  Im certaintly guilty of overthinking on more than one occassion.  My new mission for my time on that water is to make things as simple as possible.  

Man! Big question.

I hear you. It's easy to miss those clues. Little observations, over time, can go a long way. But, just what do we look for? Sorry, no short answers -except you're on the right track in being observant and asking lots of questions. The trick is to ask good ones when you are out there.

If one thought being a serious bass fisherman was all just about bass, they're only seeing the tip of the iceberg the tip of the food pyramid that controls much of bass behavior over most of the year. Otherwise we're relying completely on "poke n hope" bites -"reaction strikes", "go-to lures", aggressive individuals, etc . No shame there; I actually believe such bites account for MOST of our catches day in and day out, whether we know the forage or not. This will not change. The first problem is, it's tough to emulate prey well with rod-n-reel, especially under most conditions (sky, water, ...). I believe the biggest barrier is conditions at hand influencing the effectiveness of hook-n-line angling.

Beyond these basic facts (says me see disclaimer*), knowing what the important forage species are, their habitat and habits (how they use the habitat) can allow you to alter or fine tune your effort, by homing in on where, when, and how, bass are feeding. If its bluegills we'll likely be fishing vegetation for stalking and ambushing bass. If its shad we're looking more to where open water meets appropriate structure where bass may hunt more by bust and run. Yellow perch are sort of in between these. Then---are these prey species supported mostly by plankton, insects, fish fry and fingerlings, or other fishes? When and where? Immediate conditions, more than any astronomical forces, run the show (see disclaimer*). Bass will not be far behind. Where are we (the top predator) in this chain? Are we casting a GoTo to a fallen log somewhere else?

Primary prey can change year to year, and does so through the year. And each prey species has very different life history strategies as they grow and mature. Also, some individual bass may key on certain prey, while others are doing something else. They may key on certain size prey: In general most small, young fishes are shallower (or more surface oriented for zooplankton and insects) than larger, older ones. Predators key on what is most cost effective what's available and vulnerable. Those that don't, starve.

From here it's taking such basics and applying them to your particular water. The best route is to have a ballpark plan, then FISH. Knowing prey can give you some good questions to ask going in and throughout the day. Take those spit-ups as potential blessings.

I guess the most practical advice I can give is to get to know a body of water well, and (try to) stay on top of it. The habits of the forage will begin to weigh in more heavily as you go, as observations accrue. How you take advantage of these things will not stay constant. This is not cookbook as each water, each year, each day, sometimes each hour, will be different. You'll be writing your own cookbook as you go.

FISH, and fish hard! Fishing isn't just catching -at least it isn't for me. Tough job we got there.

*Disclaimer: These (said 'ideas') are the things rolling around in my head and were derived from much reading, fishing and wildlife research experiences and should not necessarily be rolling around inside your head. I cannot provide a long list of Tournaments won or Trophy bass as proof of the value of these ideas. Read at your own risk. These ideas are subject to change.

Haha nice disclaimer Paul. But all jokes a side I completely agree with the above post. I was going to type something up very similar but I was beaten to it. lol

The good part is that he wrote it much better than I'm capable of.

Mottfia

Number 1 rule of fishing is; don't leave fish.

If you located active feeding bass, take the time to determine what they are feeding on. Every lake has a preferred prey the bass want at that particular time and place. If you can determine what the bass want; color, size, shape, action, speed and depth, then your day on the water should be good.

Most bass fisherman that I see running around the lake will catch one bass and keep moving, leaving feeding bass behind.

I will often wait for fisherman to leave a spot I know holds big bass to fish it.

WRB

RW,

Question...your on the lake 15 minutes...throwing a white spinnerbait...you catch a 3 lb LM. He has a fresh craw in his mouth with the bait...do you grab the plastic rod and fish a craw pattern or keep throwing the white spinnerbait or change to a craw pattern spinnerbait ?

First off a craw pattern spinnerbait isn't mimicking a craw, in fact a spinnerbait doesn't really mimic anything.  If you want to make a change based upon the fact that the bass had a craw in its mouth then switch to a jig or a soft plastic and fish it on the bottom.

Secondly, if the spinnerbait worked and there is cover/structure large enough to support multiple fish then keep throwing that spinnerbait in that location.  If you caught the fish on a small stump or something and there are more in the area then try the spinnerbait there.  If you don't get a bite then flip a jig or soft plastic in there and see if you get bit.  If you find more fish hanging around these stumps then you may be able to use that pattern (same depth, same cover) in multiple areas.

In essence, the first fish could've been telling you a couple of things  1) the white spinnerbait is going to work well today, 2) the location that you were fishing was ideal but you could do even better with a different bait, 3) you just got lucky!  Until you thoroughly explore each of the three possibilities you won't know for sure which one it is.

My disclaimer is that the above is assuming that my approach to the beginning of the day was to throw a white spinnerbait around the area that you caught your fish.  A LOT of decisions are made before I even take my rods out of the car to begin fishing.

My biggest fear is wasting what little time I have on the water so I am constantly trying to throw everything in the box.

Im guilty of this as well. Though lately, I've been bringing only a couple of specific baits with me. For example, Ill grab only plastic rigs and spinnerbait rigs for an outing. Ill focus on getting better with those. Plus the lack of options makes me focus on fishing rather than second guessing my choice of lure. Im certaintly guilty of overthinking on more than one occassion. My new mission for my time on that water is to make things as simple as possible.

The trip is only a waste if you didn't learn something during the trip.  Before tieing on a different lure  you need to think about why that new lure would be better given the situation that you are currently faced with.  If you can't think of a reason why lure B would be better than lure A then why change?

And to clark, if you caught a fish on the rip rap, then you should've tossed that jig and craw on the rip rap and pretended that the brush didn't exist.  You knew at least one aggressive fish was on the rip rap so you should've stayed there and fished the area (at least for a while) trying both fast and slow moving baits.

I don't fish tourneys so I can't help you there, but I do know that a large number of anglers fish entirely too fast.  That includes retrieve speed as well as leaving prime spots without fishing them completely.

If I'm fishing along, throwing a white spinnerbait and catch a 3lber with a crawdad in it's throat I could guess a few things about that bass and why it struck my bait.

One, that the fish is feeding on crawdads, though not exclusively.

Two, that the fish is actively feeding period and is doing what it does best,  attacking anything edible within it's reach.

Three, the fish is within it's preferred structure/cover zone and it attacked both the crawdad and the spinnerbait in defensive strikes of that zone.

In any case, while I will continue to fish the spinnerbait but I will definitely make sure I have at least one or two crawfish imitating baits rigged and on the deck (if I don't already) and begin alternating casts between the rods.  

...that the fish is actively feeding period and is doing what it does best, attacking anything edible within it's reach.

Fishing live minnows on the Tennessee River we often catch

smallmouth bloated with crawdads, sometimes stuck in the

gullet! These fish, I believe, will "attack anything edible within

its reach".

There is no better situation a fisherman will ever find than

actively feeding fish.

8-)

Great posts everyone.  It amazes me when I am on this site the amount of knowledge that is passed around here.  Many people will pay hundreds of dollars to get this information out of books,magazines,etc.  

I hope we all realize what an invaluable resource we have here.  I know I have increased my fishing/boating knowledge tremendously by paying attention while logged onto this site.  And, Just as in fishing paying attention is sometimes the key to taking home a check.  thanks everyone.