Just curious...any of you have those months where you go fishing maybe 3-4 times a week, catch maybe 10 fish a day BUT seem to lose maybe 2-3 good fish per trip? You know, the "Oh my God, that was a huge fish!" moment. I've been having that kind of luck the past month....what are your thoughts?

Gomer

Everyone has those periods. I find when it happens to me I have become lazy and it's usually due to a lack of all around attention to my Tackle, maps, pre tournament work, etc.

Rededicate yourself and fish your way out of it.

Good luck!

So when in a slump I would look for small things to change, like timing of the hook set, speed of the hook set; it is not a major change that is usually needed.

So when in a slump I would look for small things to change, like timing of the hook set, speed of the hook set; it is not a major change that is usually needed.

I agree. Even though you are still catching fish, go back to your basics. Along with the above, re-tie often, sharpen your hooks, etc. If you're only losing larger fish you may want to move up on your hook size.

At least you are catching fish..........

during the work week i shore fish early am before work and and again i will go out after work .for me lately Ive simplified on my lure selection  so i can just focus on technique instead of constantly changing lures  and fussing with trying to see the fishing line to keep tying knots . i don't want a bunch of small things messing up my concentration so this is why Ive simplified  i seem to be having more fun.  the other day i stopped and went  fishing  at this retention pond after work ,i was tired and unfocused and changing lure after lure  when i spotted a heron on the other side of the bank ,motionless , focused calm as can be , just sitting there  fishing watching me fidgeting . i  thought  to myself, man I'm lacking patience this bird just taught me something .all along he was probably laughing at me and thinking.STUPID ROOKIE FISHERMAN!

If I caught 10 fish in a day it would be a pretty d**n good day!

Just about every pond or small lake here in Florida produce fish. I fish anything from small private lakes (yes, I get permission...most of the time.) to county and state park lakes. And you're right about getting back to the basics. I didn't tie a very good knot on my Xrap this morning, and lost it after catching my 4th fish on it in less than 10 mins. Sigh!!! What a bummer. [My complacency cost me a good lure and more fish. Off to Wallly World for another Xrap. Live and learn right ;)/

Checking my line and making myself re-tie was the hardest things to force myself to do but since Ive established that habit of checking and re-tying, I loose a lot less fish. When youre catching fish you get excited and the fundamentals go out the window but its worth the extra effort to take care of the details.

After how many fish do you re-tie?  or do you just examine the line and retie if it looks worn?

Thinking about that, I have had a bigger problem this year with loosing fish because of a knot or line failure.   I haven't developed the habit of retying often enough.  In previous years I wasn't catching the quality or quantity of fish that I'm catching this year so I think that would be my single biggest improvement to my catch ratio.

Eric

If I just caught a fish and it went through cover or by any rocks or logs or the fish was large then I will probably retie.  Otherwise I just check the line esp. near the lure/hook and if it looks pulled/worn or anything about the know just doesnt look right I will retie.

Just my preference.

Man you should be pleased no matter what. I would kill to catch that many fish a trip and to be able to fish that many times a week. As long as you are catching fish don't call it a slump. Call it a slump when you are not catching anything.

Man you should be pleased no matter what. I would kill to catch that many fish a trip and to be able to fish that many times a week. As long as you are catching fish don't call it a slump. Call it a slump when you are not catching anything.

Yeah, it was a slump for the last two weeks or so.  I am used to catching at least two to ten dinks or better each 4 hours of fishing.  For two weeks, I could not catch one to save my life and that included fishing Percy Priest lake near Nashville.

Finally, three days or so ago, they turned back on and I got a couple of dinks on each outing.  I went down to the lake tonight hog hunting and got nothing but I was power fishing a lake from shore.

You're not really in a slump so much as you've lost attention to details and you already know the solution.  Wish I had that problem.  We'll see in the morning when I go back down there float fishing worms.

You can fish 3-4 times a week, catching around 10 per trip and you're complaining?

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You can fish 3-4 times a week, catching around 10 per trip and you're complaining?

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Heck no, I ain't complaining. I am truly blessed to be living in the great BASS state of Florida....seems liken there's a pond or some body of water every 100 yds or so that carry BASS. There's no secret to finding them either, just do a Google Earth search. I thought I knew just about all the bodies of water locally until I tried Google Earth....HOLY GUACAMOLE ponds are everywhere! I'm heading to Dallas next month to fish Lake Fork with lil brother...can't wait.

That's the great thing about freshwater, the fish may be hiding or unwilling to hit, but they are there. It's difficult to get skunked.