Five Techniques/lures - Tourney vs Recreational Fishing

[mark43]

Hi there,

There are two parts to this thread. The first is to see if you fish differently when cash is on the line vs just getting out for a day on the water. Let's say on a recreational trip, you may utilize a particular technique/lure that you enjoy using, even though you feel it may not equal as many fish in the boat as some other technique/lure? In other words, is it more important to you to actually catch something, or to throw something you just enjoy throwing? For example, I love throwing topwater, mainly poppers, but do I keep throwing them when I think that maybe I could catch more fishing using a drop shot, hmm?

The second part is that I have too much tackle with me on the boat and I know it slows me down when I'm sitting there trying to decide what to throw. That drives me crazy and I want to streamline my time on the water by limiting my choices and dedicating five rods to five techniques, hence my request for your five favorite techniques. I will add that I do not fish tournaments and that I mainly target smallmouth in a lake or reservoir setting, but often encounter LM and Walleye as well. My 5 current setups are: (1) Crankbaits (6' - 10'), (2) Spinnerbaits (3/8, 1/2oz), (3) Drop shot, (4) Super Fluke (Primary) 3/16oz finesse football jigs (Secondary), (5) misc rod - poppers, Mepps, hard jerks, small swimbaits, tubes, ned rigs, wacky Senkos, small lipless cranks, etc :) Case in point, the last time I went out, I barely put down that misc rod because I just kept cycling through all those dang baits, geez. Anyway, thanks for reading and any critiques are welcome.

[Okie74133]

I don't fish tournaments but I can say that if I did, nothing I do would change because I challenge myself every time I go. I don't have a relaxed mode when fishing. I think most people's fishing success comes from the confidence they have in what they're doing. I'm not saying to not recognize when it's time to change things up, but from my own experience I know that if I start constantly changing lures, my catch rate drops substantially. That's why I only carry 3 rods now. I pre-plan taking into consideration time of year, lake, and water conditions. I rig three rods with what I think will catch fish and I stick with it. I wish I had a dollar for all the times I started throwing something and then got away from it only to waste time and eventually come back to my original lure and catch fish. I think consistency, determination, and confidence are huge factors in fishing success.

[bassboat1]

I don't fish tournaments anymore (30 years of club and opens), I'll still get out 100+ times this season. I do fish a little differently now. Instead of running off to replicate a particular pattern, I'll stay on a good spot and run some different techniques and angles on it, hoping to learn some more details about it. I'll also use a texas rig on a big spot - I've got a ton of confidence in it, and not being under a time crunch allows me to catch 'em all instead of only the active ones. I'm also exploring/improving my crankbait game. I have three dedicated rods on deck most of the time: 6XD, Rkcrawler, mid-depth..( and possibly a squarebill or flatside also). When the water's cool, I'll have a couple jerkbait rods that I'm alternating. I think I'm catching more/bigger bass than any year to date. Right now, there are the 3 CB rods, 1 JB, texas, jig. Niche/cover specific rigs: chatterbait, Fluke, dropshot (TBH, haven't thrown that yet this year), frog, SB.

[DaveBrabec]

I dont fish many tournaments anymore but did for 20 + years.You dont need 100 fish days in a tournament.Most beginners catch their limit then go try and catch a kicker.Best time to catch a big one is first thing.Most guys shouldnt have a problem catching 5 fish .I dont drop shot much in a tournament unless the bite just sucks.Topwater ,jigs, cranking ,swimbaits seem to win more money here.

[mark43]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Okie, I agree with your comment about confidence and success. That makes sense because, if you are throwing something you have confidence in, you'll spend more time with it. If one has little confidence in something, for whatever reason, you'll put it back in the box after 5 casts. Another great comment is "if I start constantly changing lures, my catch rate drops substantially". That right there is my main complaint about myself, that's what I have to work on. Thanks again for taking the time to write, you sound like myself, but more disciplined :)

bassboat, I really like cranks as well (My favorites are DT's and RkCrawlers, but also like XD5's and KVD1.5's) and cranks have produced the best for me this year so far. If I ever get a bigger boat, I'd like to carry more CB rods, but currently I'm happy with one (ALX Hustler). Getting out on the water 100 times in a season is hard to comprehend :) You must be retired or you live on a lake :) Time on the water is the best for learning and honing your skills, I'm jealous :)

Dave, Good stuff man, yeah, many times those reaction baits work so well, even better than live bait! (I know because if my wife is with me, she insists on using live bait. She often out fishes me, but not always :)

[bassboat1]

. Getting out on the water 100 times in a season is hard to comprehend :) You must be retired or you live on a lake :))

Single. 'Nuf said:)

Out after work 2-4 days/week + the weekend. I see the lake time changing soon with the new GF (but she lives on a lake..hmm...).

[mark43]

Single. 'Nuf said:)

Out after work 2-4 days/week + the weekend. I see the lake time changing soon with the new GF (but she lives on a lake..hmm...).

You're single! That makes sense now :) As ironic as it is, I actually put fishing on the back burner when I was bent on finding a wife. Looking back, it was an unnecessary sacrifice on my part, although I wasn't as hungry for fishing at that point in my life anyway. Good luck with your new girl, I predict you'll here the following one day, "Geez, it looks like you rather come over here to fish instead of coming over here to see me" Haha ;)

[bassboat1]

Good luck with your new girl, I predict you'll here the following one day, "Geez, it looks like you rather come over here to fish instead of coming over here to see me" Haha ;)

Well, she fishes too, cooks, and loves football. Life looks good:) Thanks for the best wishes!

[mark43]

Nice!! My wife likes to fish and cook (Doesn't like football though) as well. She's very competitive with me, although she doesn't touch the bait or the fish, I have to do that, but maybe one day she'll change :)

[willwork4fish]

I don't know if I necessarily fish differently but I definitely do some things differently when I'm fun fishing or even fishing clubbers. When it's just fun I'm probably a little sloppier, swing more fish in, stuff like that. I probably fish a little slower with a bigger entry fee. I'm really a junk fisherman so I'll throw whatever I think they might eat, sometimes I might throw 5 different baits on a 50 yard stretch.

[Mcjenson]

Hi there,

There are two parts to this thread. The first is to see if you fish differently when cash is on the line vs just getting out for a day on the water. Let's say on a recreational trip, you may utilize a particular technique/lure that you enjoy using, even though you feel it may not equal as many fish in the boat as some other technique/lure? In other words, is it more important to you to actually catch something, or to throw something you just enjoy throwing? For example, I love throwing topwater, mainly poppers, but do I keep throwing them when I think that maybe I could catch more fishing using a drop shot, hmm?

The second part is that I have too much tackle with me on the boat and I know it slows me down when I'm sitting there trying to decide what to throw. That drives me crazy and I want to streamline my time on the water by limiting my choices and dedicating five rods to five techniques, hence my request for your five favorite techniques. I will add that I do not fish tournaments and that I mainly target smallmouth in a lake or reservoir setting, but often encounter LM and Walleye as well. My 5 current setups are: (1) Crankbaits (6' - 10'), (2) Spinnerbaits (3/8, 1/2oz), (3) Drop shot, (4) Super Fluke (Primary) 3/16oz finesse football jigs (Secondary), (5) misc rod - poppers, Mepps, hard jerks, small swimbaits, tubes, ned rigs, wacky Senkos, small lipless cranks, etc :) Case in point, the last time I went out, I barely put down that misc rod because I just kept cycling through all those dang baits, geez. Anyway, thanks for reading and any critiques are welcome.

I don't have a ton of tournament experience, but I would say the biggest difference for my is just the amount of casts and time that lures are in the water on tournament day vs just fun fishing. I thought I fished fairly hard fun fishing, but I still would take a lunch break now and then, do quite a bit of graphing, hop around and try lots of different areas. During a tournament I tend to stick with confidence baits, keep lures in the water, and mostly stick with known areas. I definitely am more worn out at the end of a tournament day. I feel like fishing an 8 hour tournament is the equivalent of a 12 hour fun fishing day.