Need help

[GeoFisher]

Firstly I'd like to say thank you for the advice it really means a lot to me. I've fished tournaments at big places like barren and cumberland and small places like woods creek and lake linville. I guess my main issues are the "tournament mentality" and probably changing baits too often. I do love fishing and won't be giving it up altogether but the tournaments for my team are surprisingly competitive and can leave me a bit disappointed. My next tournament is at Dale Hollow and I'm hoping to catch my first smallie there but I know there are somethings different about how to catch them any advice would be much appreciated. I am very thankful to be a part of the community and the forum. Thank you very much for your help,I'll be using your advice soon.

All the advice so far is SPOT ON.......

And I especially like the advice about sticking to a few specific types of baits at first, and become really comfortable with them. If you gain confidence in them, you WILL catch fish.

I will share a story from a past trip. I have a buddy that fishes with me all the time. On past trips, even though he was fishing the same water as me and the same amount of time, I'd tell him he was fishing about 50% of the time I was fishing. I figured this based on the fact that he would tie on about 10 baits to my one bait. He would literally tie on every bait he had, trying to find that Magic Bait.

Take 4-5 poles, tie a different type bait on each one, AND then FISH, and FISH HARD. Only change if you know they are not working. If you catch fish on a bait, it will CATCH FISH. Don't waste time trying something else. Obviously, take this with a grain of salt, but the next bait in your tackle box may not work any better than what you already have tied on, and if you dig in your box, and tie something else on, that takes time. Do that a hundred times in the day and you've wasted maybe a few hours of time. In a 10 hr day, that may be 20% of the time.

I told my buddy a few trips ago that I had EXCLUSIVE VETO power over any bait he wanted to tie on. He'd show it to me and I vetoed 90% of the baits, which kept him in the water much longer, which also meant he caught more fish. MORE fish on this trip than the previous 10..........

It makes a difference.

I hope this helps.

Later,

Geo

[fishin-fool]

He would literally tie on every bait he had, trying to find that Magic Bait.

I'm guilty of this now that I think about it.

I try too hard to throw everything I've got at them. Guess I better work on being wiser when it comes to lure selection. And if something is not working then change up my presentation before getting fed up and changing lures.

[GeoFisher]

I'm guilty of this now that I think about it.

I try too hard to throw everything I've got at them. Guess I better work on being wiser when it comes to lure selection. And if something is not working then change up my presentation before getting fed up and changing lures.

When I start out on any new body or a new trip, I try to throw something different than everyone else in the boat. If there are 3 people, then I want all 3 fishing something differently if possible.

Once someone hooks up..........and then hooks up again, I try to switch. The only time I don't switch is if I'm specifically trying to catch something different, but in most cases, the person that hooked up has found something that catches fish. I'm not saying that other baits will not work, but by this time you know that at least one of the 3 baits are working because fish are actively eating it.

Now if two of the 3 people are catching fish, and they are similar baits, and yours is not quite similar, I'd switch to one of the two baits working.

If all 3 are working, cast like hell and fill the boat.............you're on a MAGICAL day .

Later,

Geo

[roadrunner]

When I start out on any new body or a new trip, I try to throw something different than everyone else in the boat. If there are 3 people, then I want all 3 fishing something differently if possible.

Once someone hooks up..........and then hooks up again, I try to switch. The only time I don't switch is if I'm specifically trying to catch something different, but in most cases, the person that hooked up has found something that catches fish. I'm not saying that other baits will not work, but by this time you know that at least one of the 3 baits are working because fish are actively eating it.

Now if two of the 3 people are catching fish, and they are similar baits, and yours is not quite similar, I'd switch to one of the two baits working.

If all 3 are working, cast like hell and fill the boat.............you're on a MAGICAL day .

Later,

Geo

I can't agree more i never throw the same bait as someone else in the boat until they prove that is what the fish want.

[Dave Stewart]

Good Luck in your tournament....some folks have given you some good advice here. I have been known to work with college and high school anglers free of charge that really want to learn as a way of giving back to a sport that has been so good to me over the years. If you really want to learn how to find bass and make lure decisions etc...etc...etc...you should contact me and maybe we can work something out where I can spend a day with you this winter in the classroom teaching you...you won't learn what you need to know to become a consistant bass angler trying to learn it on the water...or reading articles and watching tv that are more pointed toward trying to sell you something...just my opinion. Obviously what I teach will help you....some of the folks that have posted here giving you good advice have taken my Eliminating Water Class. You have to learn to walk before you can learn to run....give me a call and we will see if I can be of some assistance to your learning process.

Dave
270-362-9987

[mhall]

Good Luck in your tournament....some folks have given you some good advice here. I have been known to work with college and high school anglers free of charge that really want to learn as a way of giving back to a sport that has been so good to me over the years. If you really want to learn how to find bass and make lure decisions etc...etc...etc...you should contact me and maybe we can work something out where I can spend a day with you this winter in the classroom teaching you...you won't learn what you need to know to become a consistant bass angler trying to learn it on the water...or reading articles and watching tv that are more pointed toward trying to sell you something...just my opinion. Obviously what I teach will help you....some of the folks that have posted here giving you good advice have taken my Eliminating Water Class. You have to learn to walk before you can learn to run....give me a call and we will see if I can be of some assistance to your learning process.

Dave
270-362-9987

Class act

[GeoFisher]

Good Luck in your tournament....some folks have given you some good advice here. I have been known to work with college and high school anglers free of charge that really want to learn as a way of giving back to a sport that has been so good to me over the years. If you really want to learn how to find bass and make lure decisions etc...etc...etc...you should contact me and maybe we can work something out where I can spend a day with you this winter in the classroom teaching you...you won't learn what you need to know to become a consistant bass angler trying to learn it on the water...or reading articles and watching tv that are more pointed toward trying to sell you something...just my opinion. Obviously what I teach will help you....some of the folks that have posted here giving you good advice have taken my Eliminating Water Class. You have to learn to walk before you can learn to run....give me a call and we will see if I can be of some assistance to your learning process.

Dave
270-362-9987

Most Excellent....

Dave's Class is AWESOME. I've taken it and use the advise on every trip I take.

[chuckconder]

If your catching smaller fish that's better than nothing, but more importantly, your finding the fish and that's the first step. Now build on that. Example, I was on a lake two weeks ago and the small bass were burning me up... 8 to 11" fish. I changed my worm size to 10" and lost the small fish bite but it was real slow, I then change the color of the bait twice and and found that the 2nd color was perfect..boated 12 or 13 fish in the 12" to 17" range. I only had about 10 worms in that particular color with me and when they ran out I lost the bite.

My point is if you find a spot that has small fish don't leave it, the odds of a bigger fish in that area are usually pretty good. Make small adjustments until you get the bite you want. Then if you have to power fish at least you can be confident about the bait.