Becoming a better fisherman?

stevenhatchy · Post by **stevenhatchy** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 4:34 am

I am thinking about fishing as compared to golf. In golf, some people say playing more is the answer, others say working on short game, putting, driving, etc...

SO, What do you think was the single most helpful thing you worked on to become a better fisherman? Is it just time on the water?
Is it practicing casting, different techniques, etc...?

KlingerNOK · Post by **KlingerNOK** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:14 am

Without a doubt, it's time on the water.
It's one thing to read about a technique and another to use it, make it work and have confidence in it.
Time on the water makes everything about fishing better.

Afrayedknot · Post by **Afrayedknot** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:18 am

There is no substitute for time on the water.

bemo · Post by **bemo** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:23 am

Still working at it. Let me know when you discover the answer...

QUAKEnSHAKE · Post by **QUAKEnSHAKE** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:30 am

Targeting bass
Expanding my lure selection & use. In the past and to some extent still I used one maybe two presentations only. I went a few years just throwing nightcrawlers on a #4 hook I got that down now. I then got stuck on senkos went 2 years throwing those nearly exclusively. Past few years bought more lures jig spinnerbaits lipless cranks soft plastics like ika palm trees & frogs. My catches got bigger not really more catches just bigger and less collateral catches like gills catfish. But even so my first catch and last catch in 2013 came on a #4 hook w/crawler.

bemo · Post by **bemo** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:45 am

I think fishing in a club with other skilled anglers is a great help. I see a lot of less experienced fishermen join our club and then end up quitting after getting last place every tournament for a year. Those that stick it out tend to improve leaps and bounds over time.

Tournament fishing forces you to think critically about what is working for you and what is not. Not to say this won't happen outside of tournaments but it will be amplified when you are forced to constantly compare your skills with others.

You will also have the opportunity to fish with and around very experienced anglers that you may not otherwise interact with.

G3Steve · Post by **G3Steve** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:59 am

Time on the water. There's no substitute for figuring out structure, where the fish are at what parts of the day, how they position themselves on/around cover, etc.

That's how guys can come to a stretch of water and have a good idea about what's going to work.

Jeffbro999 · Post by **Jeffbro999** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:32 am

I would have to agree with time on the water being very important. One thing that I know helps me is being easily able to remember clearly past experiences and using that to my advantage. Whether that means keeping notes on conditions or just a mental picture of what's going on. Sometimes I figure something out that only works for a short period of time but then I remember that the next year when the conditions show the same thing. My buddy always asks me, " man how do you remember these things". If its important it goes in the memory bank for later.

Afrayedknot · Post by **Afrayedknot** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:37 am

One more thing: TT.

Not shortage of info here on TT!

dragon1 · Post by **dragon1** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:54 pm

Without a doubt, time on the water...and better yet, different bodies of water for different species of fish. Add in cold, cool and warm water species and then dissect the different techs for all the above throughout the year.

Yeah...that'll probably do her.

tomustang · Post by **tomustang** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:11 pm

Experience, trying out all the techniques in every situation. Stay versatile. Get as much time out in the water as possible. Pass your easy catches and go for harder spots like deep water.

Zimbass · Post by **Zimbass** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:15 pm

Luck............the more I fish the luckier I get

USA-RET · Post by **USA-RET** » Mon Jan 06, 2014 11:48 pm

Time on the water with someone who is a better fisherman than you. In a boat, on the shore makes no difference. Watch and learn. Nothing builds confidence in baits, techniques and presentations than watching someone catch fish in front of you. Beats the "cut and paste" TV fishing shows we watch by a mile and any magazine article you can read. You can ask questions as you go too. Pay attention to the cover or areas he fishes and how he presents and retrieves the baits. Ask questions about everything.

Ideally fish with a few different people and see how techniques vary or coincide. It doesn't happen overnight, but you will see huge improvements in your fishing success as time goes by.

Inspectorlee · Post by **Inspectorlee** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 5:26 am

Time on the water is a great all round answer, but to be specific, in my opinion it's casting accuracy. There's been too many times where I needed to cast next to a piece of timber (or under an overhanging tree branch, between docks, etc) , only to have my lure land ON the piece of timber. It's not fun losing a $15+ lure due to your inability to hit the spot just right. My worst trip with a buddy ended up costing us about $75 in lures after we did the math. I spent quite a few days working on my accuracy after that!

dragon1 · Post by **dragon1** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:29 pm

Inspectorlee wrote:Time on the water is a great all round answer, but to be specific, in my opinion it's casting accuracy. There's been too many times where I needed to cast next to a piece of timber (or under an overhanging tree branch, between docks, etc) , only to have my lure land ON the piece of timber. It's not fun losing a $15+ lure due to your inability to hit the spot just right. My worst trip with a buddy ended up costing us about $75 in lures after we did the math. I spent quite a few days working on my accuracy after that!

Refinement and mastery comes with consistent success, which means one must be on the water.

Agreed on accuracy, I practice pitching left handed (with a RH reel) into a cup or hat during "hard water" periods and use everything from 1/8 jigs to 2oz swimbaits on combos that vary from ML to swimbait combos. All this said, accurate casts in areas that are not holding fish is futile.

USA-RET wrote:Time on the water with someone who is a better fisherman than you. In a boat, on the shore makes no difference. Watch and learn. Nothing builds confidence in baits, techniques and presentations than watching someone catch fish in front of you. Beats the "cut and paste" TV fishing shows we watch by a mile and any magazine article you can read. You can ask questions as you go too. Pay attention to the cover or areas he fishes and how he presents and retrieves the baits. Ask questions about everything.

Yeah...so long as Ralph Mouth allows for more feeshin' than askin', most seasoned anglers MIGHT be okay with this.

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