How receptive are you to trying new techniques that others are crediting with increased catches of your choice of species of fish ?

I think one of my greatest weaknesses as a fisherman is my failure to try to master new techniques. For example, in bass fishing I feel very competent in my ability to catch bass in different seasons of the year based on past learned skills, but I find I am resistant to try something new.

When I was young, I was always open to trying what I saw the pros on television or what I had read about in the various outdoor magazines that often lead to real life success and another go to option to increase my chance of success.

Now, not so much. And it is not arrogance that I know all that I need to know, I think it is more or less a contentment with my skill set that I am certain has limited me in being a better fisherman.

How about you, are you set in your ways or are you always challenging yourself to improve?

I was so set in my ways I would rig 3 rods I always use then have 2 others i might we use. I'm just getting back in and stopped fishing about 7 or so years ago. Sold boat and tackle. I wasn't having fun not enjoying myself. Only free time to fish was day of tourney.

Now that I'm back bitting at the bit to fish a tourney, I've realized I've matured a lot more and more open minded. I've fished a lot since I've bought my boat in August and slow buying new gear. I. Throwing things already I never had. And I'm gonna continue to find new stuff. I think each lure has a time and purpose.

I left too many tournaments wondering what I did wrong or what I should have done knowing the answer. Should have thrown something different. Duh. Now my goal is to have about 10 rods rigged differently

IRJ,
Very good response, thank you. I have definitely become too complacent in trying new methods. I used to make a study of bass fishing, I would read everything I could get my hands on prior to the internet.

I heard a comedian make a joke about people who watch fishing shows and actually "pay attention."
Well, that described me because I did pay attention to what Virgil Ward, Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston, Freddie Grant and a host of others had to say on their shows.

I remember my first bass I caught on a plastic worm. It was in a soil conservation tank where I had caught many bass before on a variety of lures but this was the first time I tried a plastic worm. I caught a bass on my very first cast with a worm that I think had Bill Dance on the package. It was scented like a grape.

After that first bass was caught on my first cast, I thought I had every bass in that small lakes number. Of course that was not the case. But I did catch a lot more bass as I improved as a worm fisherman.


Somewhere along the way I have settled for what I do know and no longer strive to learn something I have not tried that has proven to be productive.

I definitely need to work on that and go back to the time when catching bass or some other type of fish was a learning experience and not just a repetitive exercise in old ways learned long ago.

Book a teaching trip with James Biggs. He will teach you your weaknesses and show you how they work and time when not to use them also. I'm hard headed in like to throw stuff that gets me that thumb with the split second wonder of what's on the other end.

We have all been there; being set in your ways will really slow you down on the catching end of the stick. When you fish by yourself and not seek out fisherman that are better than you really compounds the problem. As you seek out these fisherman to learn new patterns, lures and techniques you will come to release the benefits of being versatile. The stories of situations, weather conditions and lake conditions that they will share with you will make you a better fisherman when you learn to recognize those conditions and apply what they are telling you. Like you said there is a place and time for not only particular lure, this flows over into the whole spectrum of Bass fishing of being in the right place at the right time. Most people are fishing for fish that are not there; so you have to find them to catch them.

Here is a great story on catching a fish on the first cast. The first older gentleman I fished with in Texas ask me that question; "Have you ever wondered why you catch a fish on the first cast then never get another bite on that lure"? It has happened to me over these 60 years that I have been chasing Bass hundreds of time and never thought anything about it until I fished with Mr. Martin.

His theory was that the lure was laying in the sun on the deck and was very hot. Bass are cold blooded just like a rattle snake and are constantly seeking pray that has a different body temperature than their own. A worm or spinner bait for example thrown in the shallows is several degrees warmer than the water and represents a critter that has been in a bush or on a rock sunning then enters the water. More often than not it gets eaten immediately as it enters the water. For the first 20 years of fishing I threw spinner baits exclusively and this is what I did about this presentation to win two tournaments in a row in early spring when the water was cold.

I had notices that the blades were hot laying in the sun. I could usually catch a fish on the first cast if I was on fish then nothing else until I picked up another spinner bait. I developed a 6 cell flash light that could be plugged into a cigarette lighter. I lined the inside with cork and aluminum foil to hold the heat and used the tail light of a car flipped over and shinning inside to heat up the blades of the baits. I kept a dozen spinner baits tied on and hanging in this HOT BOX. It was somewhat time consuming to unscrew the lens cover, take one out and replace the one just used; but it worked. It produced 12 keeper fish on 12 consecutive cast to win both tournaments. This was done at the beginning of Feb. on one lake and the end of Feb. on another lake. This gave me the confidence to know that it was working. The down fall is that the blades being very hot would be cold by the time I retrieved it back to the boat and had to change on every cast. If you were not on fish you worked your azz off and I lost interest pretty quickly.

Sense then I have developed a capsule and keeper that I can put on spinner baits, jigs, and Trigs. that will make the bait hot for 10 minutes of fishing time. Also just the capsule can be placed in the belly of the hollow belly swim baits. It has helped me fool many Bass over 10 lbs. and win numerous tournaments over the years. The cylinders are loaded with a chemical that is biodegradable and is activated by lake water entering the chamber. A jig is a wonderful bait to use these on. A spider rattle keeper will hold two of these and keep the bait hot for this presentation; then just change them out every 10 minutes or so to keep the bait hot. PATENT PENDING. HA....

Very good topic, and very true of the above responses. In my situation, i feel that i am open and excited to try new methods, but my problem is giving up too quickly. I have my "go to's" which is what i am most comfortable throwing (flipping jigs in heavy cover - Caddo Lake, crankbaits - Red River, weightless flukes - Grapevine, Lewisville, etc), but as soon as i pick up something "new to me" such as an A-Rig, i will throw it for 20 casts where i know there is fish, get no results and completely scrap it. I believe that i am so quick to scrap it because i am too impatient. In my mind, i know there is fish there, and if i throw this fluke where i have just thrown the A-Rig i am simply more confident that i will get a strike. My goal is to sllllllloooooooow doooooown. There is such a big difference with "covering a lot of water" and fishing way to fast. Just my 2 cents.

A new bass fisherman grilled me on cold weather techniques, which I told him about in depth. He then called my bluff by buying a boat and all the tackle I had recommended.

We went out, looked for the structure I had recommended, started using slabs in 40 FOW and both hooked up (bass) on the first drop. I never told him that was my first time deep structure fishing for largemouths.

Excellent Thread Mike. Another great post Donald.

I learned to fish in saltwater. What I learned from fishing saltwater spec rigs and plastics I took into bass fishing. But what I learned from fly fishing made be a better fisherman. I am always experimenting with new sizes, shapes, colors, sink rates, presentations. When you combine that with fishing in still water, moving water and multiple species of fish it really opens up opportunities to learn new techniques from multiple people and sources. What I learned from fishing with sinking flies for bluegill in a pond helped me to catch white bass off the bottom in moving water, etc., etc. etc.

I, like most, have my confidence baits and techniques. Despite that, I am definitely always challenging myself to learn and improve.

I'm very set but am trying to improve. I like to fish alone if I'm not with my kids or one fishing buddy. This little circle dos the offer many new influences. My goal this year is to fish with new people, learn something from YouTube and to use guides. I really hope to become a well rounded fisherman someday.