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So a number of years ago I joined BFT thinking I was a pretty good fisherman (which I wasn't, just thought I was), but knowing my limitations... Well I originally asked a question of what I could do to move into the ten percent of fishermen that catch 90% of the fish... At the time I was given some great advice... Can't remember it all, but a few things that stuck out that have helped me over the years...
1. Keep a journal of your fishing trips... This really helps you learn about where to be, and when to get in on the best bites... I don't use it near as much as I did at first, not because it's not great to have, but mostly because I'm lazy... Loved to look back on the past year, my favorite AP to make this easy for a lazy bugger like me is to use Day One, it's like a personal journal AP but let's you put in pictures and etc...and it's right on my phone so I can update it easily... I don't really count fish much anymore, but I do like the tips of what I found worked at certain times of the year... Plus I like the photo's of the big ones that get posted there (Fun to see big cats when you're struggling to get a panfish bite)...
2. Probably the most important was time on the water, you've got to put in your time to get good and learn what you need to do to become a better fisherman... now you can't keep doing the same thing that's not working, you have to listen to tips of others and glean out of that info, things that will work for you the way you like to fish...
3. Confidence, you have to fish with confidence to catch fish, when you lose that feeling it's time to quit, you won't catch anything after that... If you fish with confidence, it doesn't really matter what lure you're using you'll still catch fish... I've seen this so many times when I've been fishing with a fly that is so torn up there is barely threads left on the hook and I'm still catching fish every cast...
4. Electronics for ice fishing, nothing like good electronics to make your ice fishing numbers climb, unless you fish a spot without fish like I did yesterday... Which I'm sure there were no fish because I had a camera down there and didn't see a fish all morning... otherwise I might have thought I was doing something wrong and would have kept changing baits and lures all morning, when the real story was you need to fish where the fish are and I didn't...
5. Learn to know habitat, not just cover but also topography of the lake bottom, using a good map and GPS can really up your odds to start in a good location... ( I really like In Depth Outdoors videos, they explain how to read topography and put you in the right spots..)
My info is probably nothing you don't already know, but there's a chance that some new fishermen might read this post and find something useful... Please feel free to add anything that you have learned that you find useful and don't mind passing on... Thanks Later J
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Excellent post and good reminders. And, with the exception of the sonar, they don't cost much. "Can't Buy Me Love" as the Beatles sang. I guess we don't need a tackle box the size of a Beetle to hold every variation of every lure known to man?
I hope you don't mind me adding one to your list: Learn from the best. I have gotten so much good advice on here and learned so much from going out fishing with different guys I've met on here. (Some of us are more different than others [  ]).
Oh, here's another: Think like a fish. They do what they do for a reason and figuring that out will help you make their acquaintance.
And another: Read and study everything you can find that applies to your fishing. Heck, it doesn't even hurt to learn about new things you might want to try in the future. Never know when some tidbit may be just the thing that assures success that day.
Thanks for making me think.
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Good stuff Jeff. I would add a couple of helpful ideas of my own...
1- Marry a very tolerant and understanding wife, preferably one with lots of money. If she enjoys fishing, the money part is no longer relevant.
2- Work to live rather than live to work. Retire as early as possible and fish every day. I have known too many men who worked for 40+ years, retired, and died few months later. A shame.
3- You covered this one very well, but it is worth repeating... watch, listen, and try what others have found to be effective. Plutarch, the Greek philosopher, wrote an essay entitled “On Listening” wherein he talks about the reason man was created with two ears and only one mouth. You can learn more by listening, and watching, than by expounding on your own best way to catch ‘em. I learn something from almost everybody I fish with, some of it helpful and some not so much. The best thing about fishing is that it is a continuous learning process where perfection is never attained... or wanted.
BLK, philosopher
Time for the 2019 catfish contest yet??
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It's good to hear from you, Lynn. Thought maybe you had gone into hibernation or hiding from the law for going over your limit on coyotes [ ].
Actually it's 57 days to the opening of the cat contest, but who's counting? [  ]
One more item to add while we're being all philosophical:
Don't take yourself too seriously. If it gets too competitive or your ego gets involved in a painful way or you're just plain not having fun anymore, what's the point? Don't go fishing and tell the whole truth unless you can take a joke. Maybe I'm weird but I like to tell about my goof-ups and failures; then I'll be more likely to be believed when I tell of my successes.
Peace
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Thanks Craig,
One thing I think I've found over the years is I think I know what someone says when I hear it, but as time goes on and experiences increase, I find a new deeper understanding of what was meant... Take the basic concepts and build upon them, there can be more to them than what initially meets your understanding...... On my electronics comment, it doesn't necessarily mean just a fish finder.... camera's add a lot of understanding, gidgits and gismos like jigging jaw jackers and etc. can be useful tools that can help up your catch ratios... but they aren't necessary, but can help... Like a boat or float tube isn't necessary, but they help... Some day I hope to be a good fisherman, but now I know I've got a long ways to go... Later J
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Man, I'd like to add a recommendation that people try to get some sight fishing done while we have hard water. Catch a few dozen perch looking down the hole in a dark tent at Fish Lake and you can better visualize what the motion of the line at the surface means.
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Hey Lynn thanks for the great tips you added, for sure a tolerant wife goes a long ways to helping your fishing ability... I think I've found a way to push my wife's understanding too often, but so far she hasn't committed me to the fishing asylum, although I'm sure she thinks I'm fitting material... Sometimes I think she thinks all I think about is fishing... crazy huh???
Thanks to Craig for doing the Catfish countdown... I must admit it's kind of fun to let Ron do all the worrying about keeping score and the Ice Challenge this time of year... I might even be rested and ready to go back to work by March... I'm kind of amazed more folks don't get into this Ice Challenge, it's a blast for sure...
Anyway will be looking forward to seeing those catfish reports start before too long... Wish I could figure out how to catch some this winter, I need a fish in that category... Thanks J
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That's a great tip that takes the electronics out of the equation and let's you learn the same thing without the investment... I've been playing with some small crappie in a shallow pond so it's been sight fishing and is really fun... Crazy how sleepy the fish sometimes come in and you have to really coax some into biting... Others come in and the slightest wrong move turns them off and then it all changes from day to day as well... That's a great tip and a whole lot of fun... Some of my earliest fun fishing memories was ice fishing for whitefish at Bear lake post cisco run, laying on the ice with a tarp over my head so I could see the fish down below and watching as five fish would circle the hook and I'd wait for one to get brave enough to hit it... Very fun for sure... Thanks for the tip... J
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Great post. I have grown to believe that the "confidence", or "mojo" as we like to call it, is a huge factor is catching fish. Great fishermen have this, and those that struggle do not. We always find it fascinating (my brother and I) when we go fishing with people who just do not have the mojo, and they know it. We will catch 10 to their 1 using exactly the same gear and lures/flies. Its amazing. We did an experiment one time with my Dad (who has lost is mojo in his later years)...we were on Kolob (may she RIP) one fall, on the boat spin fishing (not our usual fly fishing) because Dad loves to do that. I had on a particular lure that I had gone 8 for 8 on, all nice big cutts. My Dad had yet to catch a fish, so I handed over my pole to my Dad and told him where to cast. He continued to cast that lure for about 30 minutes, nothing. He then handed it back to me, and I proceeded to catch 3 more back to back, lol. There is something to the confidence and fish mojo for sure!
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It's one of those characteristics of fishing that is very hard to quantify, but it is a for sure thing... I know when I've got it and I know when it leaves and I'm learning that it's time to quit once it's gone because I've stayed and tried to work through it and just wasted my time... I wish it could be on all the time for me, but it's not, but it seems to stay longer the more you trust what you're doing when your out there.. Hard to tell others how to gain this confidence though, it's one of those things you develop by time on the water doing things right... Thanks for the comments... J
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Ya know, one of the theories I've been working on is sounds broadcasting through the pole, the line, and into the water. I know it sounds crazy but try sticking the tip of your fishing pole against someone's throat some time and have them talk at a normal tone and see how much you feel their voice in your hand. One of the things I try to avoid is clicks, snaps, rubbing and that kind of thing against my pole with fishing, especially when deadsticking with somewhat of a tight line (icefishing is a perfect example of this.) Talking might also broadcast along the line. We do know that some fish communicate through sound by clicking stones inside their anatomy, and they can hear each other at great distances, so it's not much of a stretch to think that you talking with your hand resting directly on a sensitive carbon blank with good solid guides and tight line could broadcast a little sound into the water around it.
This, along with things like getting sunscreen on your line, may help explain part of the mojo.
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