How did you improve this year?

[Bender]

I don't know where to start, this is my first year of serious bass fishing. First thing is having a new boat that is stable enough to fish anywhere I have needed it to. After that I would say time on the water and then techniques. The shaky head has been my "go to" of the year and has produced well. After that I have really learned to finesse small top water baits and that has also been exciting, but I have stayed away from frogs and heavy top waters. After that I felt I learned a bit about cranking, mainly over 8 feet, which is a lot of fun and covers a lot of water quickly to help locate specific deeper targets.

Issues: I seldom catch short fish, not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing? Should I downsize?

On my list to learn is:
1. Where to find fish to develop a pattern
2. When to use each technique when said fish are found
3. drop shot
4. lipless cranks
5. etc. etc.

[Waterfoul]

Bender, you should fish some of the tournaments up here with me... we can learn a few things from each other for sure!  My top water game sucks!!  Now the drop shot on the other hand....  LOL!!!  Also, I'm getting pretty good at reading lakes and finding fish... as long as I get a chance to prefish of course.

[outdoorkid]

this year was my first year fishing tournaments and i learned that prefishing is very important when u have never been to a lake before. i have also added the dropshot to my arsenal for next year. i still need a lot of practice but i would like to get better at at early spring and fall patterns.

[skeeterman190]

  WELL Id have to say that one area i concentrated on was finding the spot with in a spot. I knew the areas i was fishing were good in the past but i didnt know them like i should i most definetly refined that area. I also didnt throw everything in the boat at them either i took a few baits and gained 100% confidence in them. I finally found a way to put that kicker in the boat this year too which was a great deal. i made alot of new friends especially 1javelin and tcook. we had some good times on the road this year leelanau was a blast guys we should do it again.. -skeeterman-

[bigjc]

I would have to agree with all of you Drop Shotters, I too forced myself to spend a bit more time drop shotting in different situations this year, and I am hooked.  I had much more success with it this year than I did in 2006.

I would also have to agree with Josh and Seth, that the "biggest thing" that any of us can do is begin following Jesus Christ.  We get a few short years on this planet and then we enter Eternity, and we either enjoy Eternity in the presence of God, or we spend eternity with out God, the choice is ours.  As for me....I choose to follow Jesus.

Nicely put Josh.

JC

[Revtro]

Josh, that news just made my day.  Eternity is important, but you will find that life is much more meaningful in the here-and-now because you realize that God has unique plans and hopes for you.  I'd love to hear how it all happened for you sometime.  Maybe I'll start a post about that somewhere on the board.

Regarding improving... (By the way the disimprovement line was a too funny.  I feel that way from time to time too.)  For me, it was all about fishing new water and not being afraid to explore vast new areas of St. Clair and the Det. River.  Typically September is a horrible month for me and this year I learned some new areas that produced for nearly the entire month.  So that was definitely an improvement. 

For next year, I really want to figure out what to do when the water gets cold.  October and November this year were really tough.  Something isn't clicking.

[joshimoto son]

Well Tom, that just sounds like a reason to get together and go fishing sometime.

joshimoto son

[Revtro]

I'm with ya Josh... as if we need an excuse. 

ebond.. Any advice for late fall/early winter smallies on St. Clair?  It was like they just shut off this year.. it was weird.  PM me about it if you have any advice.  I don't want to derail this post.  Thanks!

[Skulley]

I really worked on versatility this year.  I worked and changing things up in changing conditions and really seemed to load the boat.  That day on St. Clair with Mojo and Revtro was one of the more enlightening days I had in the 07 season.  Rev and Mojo went out deeper and I got in tight to the shore in about 4 to 6 fow and tore 'em up.  By the time Rev and Mojo had found me, I had boated at least 50.  I had caught so many my hands were sore from lipping so many.  I used a combination of about 20 different baits.  I did not catch those fish on everything I threw.  Some were better than others and some didn't work at all that day.  I had many days like that in 07. 

Here is a simple way to improve your catch late in the year. Target smallmouth bass on Kent Lake. I stopped chasing largies in the Fall long ago. It is not like we have massive reservoirs and schools of huge bass chasing wads of threadfin shad up creek arms here in Michigan. If you read Bassmaster or watch Hank Parker they act like Fall is almost as good as Spring. Maybe for them on those lakes. I found a way to get bites and wonder if others have too.

There were times in October out on Erie when I gave up on finicky smallmouth along the north shore.  I returned up the river and found scads and scads of largemouths chasing shad.  I threw a variety of baits and was able to establish fall largemouth patterns in the Detroit River.  They were very consistant.  It was some of the best largemouth fishing I had ever done in the fall.  It wasn't reservoir fishing but it sure did seem like it.  Fall fishing in Michigan can be as good as spring fishing in Michigan.  I have read those same articles in Bassmaster and watched all those Hank Parker episodes.  I actually pay a little more attention to In-Fisherman for bass fishing techniques as they are more geared to northern fishing.  I do that for both largemouth and smallmouth.  I notice that Bassmaster and Hank Parker are more geared to southern fishing although I have used their patterning techniques and well as other techniques and been successful.  That kind of versatility is what helped me load the boat.  I had some of the most phenomenal fishing trips this year.

Overall, I caught one heckuva lotta fish using a heckuva lotta different baits on a heckuva lotta different techniques.  I had a heckuva lotta 50+ fish days.  More than I have ever had in all the years I have been fishing. 



BD                 

[GotstaFish]

The biggest improvement I made this year was on patience. 

[Cy]

This topic has been running for a while and I have been thinking about how I was going to answer it.

First, I improved this year by first cashing my first tournament check and having a couple of good finishes.  Not as many as I would like but I'll take it.

I improved my skills this year by almost perfecting my grass mat fishing skills. I tried to spending some time with other baits, that I have less confidence in.  Probably not as much time as I should but I tried.  I think I got closer to finding and fishing patterns then I ever had before.  All and all I think it was a good year.

Cy

[Durand Dan]

Thanks everyone!! When I started this post I wasn't sure what it would bring. It has furnished many great tips, several surprises and the realization that I am not the only one learning every time I hit the water. I have printed them and will review as I work at getting everyting ready for the coming year. Thanks again and see you in the spring (as soon as there is open water). 

DD