Old Geezers catch more Now or Then?

First off, I'm an old geezer myself. Back in the early 80's up into the 90's anglers had only had two options when it comes to fishing line. Stren or Trilene. Sure there were different varieties ie. XT or XL or Big Game. Never the less, not much to think about except for line size for the most part.

Today fisherman get the choice of many different types of line, Braid, Fluoro, Copolymer, hybrid and mono and a plethora of manufactures making these lines.

Do you catch more fish today then you did say 20 yrs ago with these newer lines (technology electronics aside)

fish bite wires now days

yes

I took a break of almost 20 years from bass fishing and got back into it 3 or 4 years ago. I know exactly what you are talking about.

I went to Bass Pro to get a new pistol grip rod, some Stren, lead worm weights, and TruTurn hooks. I was overwhelmed by the changes. I can't believe the difference I feel with a modern rod, fluoro line, and a tungsten weight when I fish a worm.

I believe to a certain degree there was less pressure when I started bass fishing in the late 70's and fish just weren't as line wary. I used Trilene XL until the big bass bug hit in the mid 80's and I went to Big Game. Caught lots of fish on both. With the additional pressure now we look for any advantage we can get and that includes the line we use. Our line is all there is between us and the fish. I love fluoro and use InvizX for most things. Still use Big Game for topwaters, some cranks and braid for froggin and heavy flipping. Do I catch more today than back then I dunno but I have a lot of confidence in the "new" lines. That being said if I could only use one line it would be 15# Big Game. A thump still feels like a thump and I actually think the new rods and tungsten weights help us detect things better than the line.

I caught more better quality fish back in the late 60's and 70's, but now I catch a lot more quantity overall. I cant decide if that's due to lack of pressure back then and better technique now, but I'm not exactly convinced line is the major factor either. Don't get me wrong I love fluorocarbon and as hard as it was to get used to when it first came out I stuck with it, and glad I did. I now use it 80% of the time and would hate to have to go back to mono for the techniques I use for fluorocarbon now.
Everything evolves, line, baits, electronics, rods, reels and all you can do is find what you have confidence in, put your head in the game and try and connect the dots.

I remember catching them on Cajun mono and spiderwire braid.Im not yet geezer status tho.

I truly believe in the early days there were more fish to catch. They were in waters that was not visited very often by good fisherman.
- 1966 to 82 I threw nothing but one spinner bait, one spook and two crank baits. Fished all on 17 lb. Golden Stren. Won many tournaments and caught tons of fish.
- 1982 moved to Texas and started listening to others, reading and doing research on the new wave of fishing. As I implemented these techniques it became harder and harder to just go out and catch big stringers. I went with the smaller quality line, the best plastics, cranks, jigs and equipment which didn't help any at all.
- 1990 to Present, went back to the old ways with just a few changes that I believe to be for the better. I top water with 25 lb. Original Stren Mono.. I throw Spinner baits and cranks on 20 lb. Stren Floro. and fish heavy cover with plastics on 25 lb. XPS Floro.. Never looked back and have caught more than my share of big bass and stringers of bass. What I don't want to worry about is breaking a big fish off. I wasn't in it much for the sport and joy of playing a fish until she give up. Just too many things can happen in that 60 seconds. I slid them to the boat and into the net. Seeing a big old beautiful Bass jump was a rare occasion. She really had to catch me with my guard down to put on any kind of show.

Catching is much more difficult now than it was back in the 60's and 70's. I just do not believe it has a day in and day out affect on catching to have all the new and latest equipment; especially line and 400 dollar rod/reel combos.. It's all about finding fish that are feeding and working them over with your strengths and the baits you have confidence in. The other thing I found helpful is fishing one lake at a time, until you know every big fish whole that will produce on a regular basis; starting shallow then moving your way out to deep water each day as they travel back and forth.

Definition for geezer---Not young, not old...somewhere in between. I can handle that...lol

Don I have the same experience as you. I am able to catch just as many bass today with the abundance of tackle choices as I did when there were fewer options.

I believe there is great merit to the modern rods/reels and no doubt electronics. The anglers today are accessing bass that I never would have thought about getting to 20 yrs ago. Case in point Combs long lining a crankbait to 25' plus on Fork. 20 yrs ago I would have dropped a 3/4 oz. Hopkins spoon on them.

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. They are much appreciated.

sometimes i think if most of us just keep it simple and not get caught up in all the hype of this bait is better than that bait, we all would probably catch same amount of fish..but i know a few things does make a difference like tungsten weights, i ate my words on that too..can't believe how much more sensitive tungsten is over lead its pricey but worth it..

we can all be hurt by overthinking our fishing gear sometimes...but like they say the more things change the more they stay the same....

Yes

The biggest change is, I fish deeper now than back when I beat the bank and catch bigger fish now. During the spawn is about the only time now that I fish shallow. Love to fish big worms on slopes and drop offs.I'm 80 years old so guess I'm a geezer. Still fish at least 5 days a week, leave the weekends to the working men.

There were lots of bass clubs and bass fishermen in the 70s and 80s, BUT - some major things were different:

We had fewer people overall in Texas. So, less people on the lakes. NO Jetskis.

We also had new lakes coming online all the time. Not so anymore. It seemed to me that once a lake hit about 7 or 8 years old up to about 14 or 15 it would sort of "peak". The explosion of baitfish would begin to decline with the rotting of cover.

Electronics were limited to flashers early on and you really had to know how to read them. Fish, bait, cover and bottoms were something that had to be learned and most fishermen didn't do too well at it.
Deeper structure fishing was in it's infancy. That has certainly changed. It's impossible for fish to hide now.

Before Durocher and Floridas were introduced, an eight pound Texas bass was considered the lunker of a lifetime. Kinda hard to believe, but it was.

All that said, fishing is still fishing. You still have to find them - every time out. And you still have to provide the right bait and presentation. And you still have good days and bad days.

Too many people on almost every lake today. I guess the push to involve more and more people in tournament fishing is good for boat, motor, and tackle manufacturers and retailers but I haven't yet figured out how it's a good thing for fishermen.

Us geezers should remember length limits at tournaments. Started for me at 11" then everyone screamed when it went to 12" then really screamed when it went to 14". Lakes change over time (silting, grass goes and comes etc...) Fishing changes with it. The new electronics have been the most extreme change overall. You can see and study things so much better. Techniques change. Never heard of some of the things we do now back in the day. I agree that there are a lot more pleasure boaters out today. They definitely make changes to water conditions. What never changes is basic time spent on the water, studying your surroundings and putting a lure in front of a fish willing to bite it. Fish does not know you, what age you are or what you look like. All it knows is what is in front of him.

Then: Less to zero pressure offshore, worse techniques and equipment.

Now: More pressure, better techniques and equipment.

Probably about the same. Most "old geezers" that I've run into talk about the big ones they used to catch and then you a see an old pic of them holding a fish on a $2 mickey mouse spring scale.

I'm an old Geezer past the 60 year old mark. I didn't even start bass fishing until I was about 40. The one thing that sticks out in my mind is like some have said the fishing pressure. There just were not even close to the number of anglers 25 years ago. Fishing local clubs and tournaments you pretty much knew just about everyone out there fishing. Now days there are 10 times more tournaments and anglers. In my early days of fishing I could go to a lake like Cedar Creek and be fishing willow bushes, duckweed and all kinds of vegetation and structure. If it was not a tournament day you could fish all day and maybe see 4 or 5 other bass anglers and that was it. If you were fishing a tournament you usually never worried about catching a limit, it was just if yours was bigger than all of the others which would determine how you did. Nowdays I don't fish near as much as back then but you see tons of guys fishing on just about every lake you visit and limits of fish are really hard to come by a lot of the times and you have to work so much harder for the fish. Also the knowledge of even the youngest of bass anglers is amazing. Some of us old geezers just have to rely on one thing that still seems to be an advantage some times. Instinct from all of the experience from fishing so long.

I think the introduction of the Florida genetics to Texas has a lot to do with it. Prior to that, we only had northern/native bass and they weren't nearly as finicky as the Floridas and their crosses.

ok... so here is my question. Do think the addition of Florida strain was one of the causes in the change in catch rate.

I know my own opinion. I think it has decreased pure catch rate and "aggressiveness of fish" from the stories I have heard. I DO think it has increased size...

but I wana here your take

I totally agree on that Florida factor and what, Texan Til I Die, said above is dead on. The thing is it use to be nothing to catch a stringer of 3 to 6 lb. N. Strain back in the day. Today, if you can get the conditions right you can do better than that with Florida's; but it is all that in-between time that you have to use today's methodology to find and catch them.

I am an old geezer. Just ask my kids.I fish when,where,how,and with who I want to.I catch more and bigger fish than ever, old school and new tec. My advice, stay on the water as much as you can. Thank you JESUS !!!!