Fishing S-LO-W

How many times have I heard this said ?
I have never worked a bait slow, maybe due to my ADD, but what happened today on Fork may have been just what needed to slow my presentation of plastic baits:
On Fork at 5:30am; before 6:30 we had caught several nice fish.
We are working down a bank and I threw into a psych of grass several times before moving on. I made a cast up by the dock and hung my bait up. Had to go in to get it. Moving into the shallows I got the T/m stuck in the v of a lay down. Got the bait loose and threw it back into the grass patch. For the next, what seemed to be eternity, I tried to get the t/m out of the tree. Once I did I took up the slack on my line and there was a tug on the end of it.
Dang, now I'm hung up in the grass, so I pulled a little harder and BOOM there she was. After a nice fight with her jumping a couple of times I pulled in a real nice 5# largemouth bass.
For all the noise I made and NOT working the bait, how in the world could I have snagged that bass.
So I think I will add SLOW to my arsenal of baits.
How long do you wait to move your plastics ?

I posted a pic of my son yesterday of his first bass. We were using live bait for him and I was throwing a jig and not getting bit. Wanting to be like dad he wanted to throw the jig. So I cast it out and let it sit there figuring he would get bored. It sat that for ever and suddenly it started to swim off slowly. I helped reel down and set the hook and he reeled it in.

The right speed is the one that's getting the most consistent action at any given time. It can be a little different from lake to lake and can change during the same day. Slowing it way down to deadsticking is very effective sometimes. Monti is a good example of a lake where they usually like it painfully slowwwww...

Nutman, on an imaginary continuum (or scale) considering plastic presentations . . . from no movement, to slow, to medium to really fast, slow always catches fish while ripping a worm across the water only works situationally.

I think "slow" is the closest thing we have to someone fishing with live worms and minnows.

Your story is good. It adds to all those who have snagged fish while untangling a line knot.

Brad

Waiting for 3o seconds before moving a bait close to a dock is not too long.

Hey Tommy;
That fish today was a blast. My boys were with me and got a good laugh out of it.
Thought I had my first Fork over when she jumped, but it was only 22 inches and real skinny.

I can fish slow enough to make someone scream. There really is no such thing as too slow.

Me too. I can T-rig c-rig and jig so slow, you'll think I've quit fishing. Actually that's my preferred way to fish.

I fish that slow and I fall asleep.
Did it yesterday, just about fell out of my chair on the back deck

I always tell myself to slow down but it isnt long before the impatience sets in and I speed up. My issue is I have caught so many fish on that initial fall of the worm that if I dont get bit then I work it back to the boat way too fast.

This is part of adjusting to the situation. If the fish are reacting to the initial fall consistently then deadsticking is a fail and an accomplished pitcher with some good tempo will clean house. The opposite is also just as true.

I've caught fish picking a backlash out.

I've lost count of the number of fish I've caught trying to jiggle a jig or any lure free of a snag. As soon As it pulled lose, bam.

my name says it all....its surprising how long a big bass will look before he bites

w

+1

I've caught numerous fish when I stop fishing my worm and turn around and say something to my fishing partner. I have realized over the years that slower is usually better. I try to remind myself of that every time I fish.

I can't tell you how many fish I have caught while on my cell phone, sometimes when it is really slow I like to phone a friend. I have a buddy who can smoke a cigarette during one cast and retrieve.

My biggest fish came on a c-ring. It had been in the water probably 10 minutes. I was talking to my son while the light breeze was pushing us along slowly. I wasn't really even paying attention to the line.

My dad used to tell me to work a plastic worm at the same speed a real worm would crawl...

That's slow!

Maybe should've tried that today I stunk up the place out there lol.

Ahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Several times I've been getting out a back lash, texting on the phone, or even peeing...lol (I'm a multi-tasker) and got a bite. One time it happened with a jig in a tournament, and I slowed down the rest of the day and got enough good bites to win the tourney.

Got to listen to the clues the bass are giving you.

when fishing T-rig or C-rig I've always paused 5 seconds between movement...and when I have to be "slow" I count to 10.....always works for me...

Check out Mark Pack Jig style, it ain't slow .....

I have come to love fishing slow. I catch a lot more fish slow

The worst thing you can do is get into a one style fits all mentality, doing the same thing all the time.

About as much as I do to fish slow is to change weights on jigs and plastics or go weightless. If I'm on some key spot or piece of cover I might soak something for a little bit. I like the exercise, action, and practice involved in covering a lot of ground and discovering new hidden pieces of cover. I also like to fish moving baits a bunch, esp crank baits, swimming jigs and plastics, and heavy jigs to probe for cover.

Fishing very slow is only good if you like catching really big bass.

If my 13 yo son doesn't get a bite w/ plastics, he sets the rod down and doesn't mess with it. Sooner or late he has one on. Have seen this NOT work only once. I can't make myself do it...

Years ago when I first started fishing Fork...the ONE common theme with guides and articles was "When you think you're fishing slow enough...SLOW DOWN!!!!"

I can tell you that I tend to fish pretty slow...some of my buddies that have fished with me struggle because they want to be constantly on the move while I like to pick an area apart if I know there are fish in the area. My wife showed me a new definition to fishing slow and how it can work.

We were fishing her 1st tournament on Cypress Springs a few years back. We were on our first spot and I had already caught 4 or 5 fish while she had been talking pretty much non-stop for a good 45 minutes. Then all of a sudden there was a silence....the one that tells me I think she just fell asleep in her chair on the back of the boat. I didn't dare turn around and make a noise. Well about 5 minutes of total silence goes by then I here a short scream followed by watching a 2# fish come out of the water with her fluke in it's mouth. She had fallen asleep and the fish tried to pull her rod away from her waking her up. But it wasn't over then......

In the same area about 2 hours later, she had to tinkle. So it's time to hang her butt over the side of the boat. After making sure no one was within clear sight she gets ready to take care of business and went to set her rod down and I tell her...."no no no honey, you have to always have a line in the water in a tournament so cast your bait out then set your rod down." So, she cast it out....takes care of business, leisurely stands up to situate herself, then grabs a water then finally picks up her rod, all of which took at least 4-5 minutes. And then.....you guessed it....as soon as she did the line runs off and she has another 3# fish on the line. i think the bait sitting there all that time then getting moved ever so slightly caused it to get it.

That is a great story. Every scene and detail is being played out in my mind.
I can see the line moving and the fish jumping

Im normally catching mine while im texting or running my mouth and not paying attention.

Happened to me Friday morning...Buddy got hung up on a dock and while i was running the trolling motor and keeping the boat from slamming into the dock my line was in the water. Once he got free and I pushed the boat off of the dock I lifted my rod and it bowed over with a 4 lber.

I used to find a fish on my line when I put down the pole to light up a smoke. I don't smoke anymore so I don't catch them that way anymore.

Even tho i m Fishing a completely Different lake. the Fish seem more interested in my Jig the less i move, i Throw it out there and let it sink. i Don't Hop it, or drag it, i just Give it just little a shake. let it sit, then another shake, then normally they will smack it!

To heck with that. Keep the slow, I will stick to burning my reels up.

I learned to do slow with a Rogue like this early in my fishing career trying to throw it on a rod that was way to stiff for a lure that light. End result was regular bird nest which allowed the lure to just sit for minutes at a time. I'd hear a splash and look up and it would be gone or I'd start to reel up the slack and there would be a fish at the other end.........