Things Learned

[Nebe]

check your knots... Lost some beauties because I dd not load test my knots..

[keeperreaper]

A few things learned over time:

1) Listen to people who have a very high success rate. Look for the minute details that they employ and copy them.

2) Have confidence in yourself and the lure/bait you are fishing.

3) Stay the course.

4) Don't be afraid to think outside the box and experiment.

5) Enjoy the experience not just the "catching".

6) The more time on the water the more proficient you become.

7) Teach your kids the right way of fishing and let them be part of the entire experience form prep to clean up.

[BassDawg]

Originally Posted by keeperreaper

A few things learned over time:

1) Listen to people who have a very high success rate. Look for the minute details that they employ and copy them.

2) Have confidence in yourself and the lure/bait you are fishing.

3) Stay the course.

4) Don't be afraid to think outside the box and experiment.

5) Enjoy the experience not just the "catching".

6) The more time on the water the more proficient you become.

7) Teach your kids the right way of fishing and let them be part of the entire experience form prep to clean up.

Words of Wisdom,,,,,,,,,,,

thanks for "keeping it simple", and
speaking from your experiences,,,,,,,,,,

[StriperNutBag]

the wind right in your face, you are golden. uncomfortable weather. weather so bad you cant even drink your beer(cause you are into so many fish)

[rphud]

Presentation. Swinging the plug/fly with/across the current to a to a spot through a rip, and pay attention to your line as you do it.

[joe the plumber]

Just one of the million things I've learned,this one stands out.When unhooking a bass or blue,never hesitate while grabbing the fish.Once you commit,commit.Hesitate and youve got a fish attached to your plug and your plug attached to your hand.
You cant teach this.It must be learned.You all know what I mean.

[MAKAI]

Originally Posted by joe the plumber

Just one of the million things I've learned,this one stands out.When unhooking a bass or blue,never hesitate while grabbing the fish.Once you commit,commit.Hesitate and youve got a fish attached to your plug and your plug attached to your hand.
You cant teach this.It must be learned.You all know what I mean.

And you don't learn it all at once

[Brian L]

Originally Posted by joe the plumber

Just one of the million things I've learned,this one stands out.When unhooking a bass or blue,never hesitate while grabbing the fish.Once you commit,commit.Hesitate and youve got a fish attached to your plug and your plug attached to your hand.
You cant teach this.It must be learned.You all know what I mean.

Big time.

[stiff tip]

fish everywhere w/ flap beach n boat .. alot ...iv'e learned alot ....ie.. when fishin b-harbor in june.bring sun screen ,fresh water .wide brim hat .and most importent is alcohal ars wipes for steve , for that very special moment that nature calls and theres not a thing but sand and seagulls ..............

[stiff tip]

fish everywhere w/ flap beach n boat .. alot ...iv'e learned alot ....ie.. when fishin b-harbor in june.bring sun screen ,fresh water .wide brim hat .and most importent is alcohal ars wipes for that very special moment that nature calls and theres not a thing but sand and seagulls ..............

[Brian L]

Slow means realllllly slow.

Ed stole my thunder wrt angles of presentation, but I'll repeat, as it also makes a huge difference in the boat. I've spent hundreds, if not thousands of days in the boat casting eels in SoCO. I'm always paying attention to how those angles make a difference depending on tide, boat positioning, wind, etc..

Shut your motor off during a drift (so obvious, yet I see hundreds of people doing this all the time), and don't start it back up again until you've drifted well over the area you're fishing(over 90% of the people I see do this and foul up the spot they're fishing in short time). When you've passed said area and want to re-drift, make a big loop around to the other side instead of driving back through the fish. I learned that one early, and it's uncanny how many folks I see doing this sort of thing. Many of them are out on the water a LOT.

That, and a light drag in a shallow rocky area is the best bet for landing big fish, not the opposite (which I learned the hard way too many times early on!). If you're patient enough, it's uncanny how often big fish will find their way out of the rocks. I've waited nearly half an hour for fish that I thought were big enough to wait for. It's resulted in some nice fish coming over the gunnels.

[fishaholic18]

I learned...Don't trust anyone...

[RIROCKHOUND]

NW wind is your friend, thats for sure!

Steve, we call fishing with shads a nd jigs Plan B. You know where!


Probably the best thing I've learned; there are NO FACTS in fishing. too many perfect nights on the water with everything but FISH....

[Pete F.]

When fishing in current and rocks, if I'm casting in the right place sometimes I hit the rocks. If I never hit them I'm not casting close enough.

[Zeno]

It is dificult to make general statements about fishing throughout the whole Northeast.
We in NY live on white water for most of the year as we are befitted greatly by SW flow most of the year. Out neighbors which are cast away in NJ are not so fortunate in this regard. I felt that bb post was stating that some of us advocate that you must have white water which is far from the truth. I made numerous trips to Cutty over the years and I am still yet to see white water....yet fish are plenty.And back bay casters wont see a white water unless the tsunami rolls through. Yet they all catch plenty of fish.
A lot of places in NY , in the daytime when water is flat your daytime catching will go down dramatically even during fall run
For some reason the big girls seem to prefer calmer water which usually coincides with a wind in your back

[2na]

I can see where you could get that drift re: white water from his post, and I see on your subsequent post you state 'the better fish almost always came on calm conditions and wind in my back' - thanks for clearing it up.

Just about the only general statements about fishing throughout the whole Northeast I can think of would be that water is wet and sometimes fish are in it - each area has its own unique characteristics which may be diametrically opposed to other areas. I see where you are coming from.

[MikeToole]

One thing I've learned is cold eels are cooperative eels. For years used a mesh bag to carry eels. Now I keep them in a small cooler bag with a small ice pack wrapped in wet newspaper. They seem almost dead while your hooking them but as soon as the hit the water they wake up. Haven't had to deal with an eel ball or the slimmy things wrapped around my arm since. They will last for a couple of days if you keep a fresh ice pack and wet paper.

I would also say most of my bigger fish have come when the water was calm with light winds. This may be because I mainly fish very rocky areas. I think the reason is because it is under these conditions that I can fish eels the best. I can reach the spots I want to cover and you can keep the eels where you want them to be.

[doc]

i have learned to forget the conventional wisdom that only certain plugs work at night...i have been using top water poppers at night for the past 3 years with good succcess...both fast and slow retrieves!

[The Dad Fisherman]

To stay out of the Political Thread when I'm in a Good Mood.....

...and to alway change things up....tried and true is great 80% of the time....but what about the other 20%?

[JoeBass]

Where I flyfish for stripers in Maine knowing not just what holes they may be in , but also exactly where and how to present to them makes ALL the difference. They will hold in very specific spots. I learned this over years, not hours or days. You have to put in the time.

[rphud]

Mr. Phelps...smoke clearing?!?!?!? Here I thought he kept that to dorm parties at large Southern institutions of "higher" learning.

[Krispy]

I learned the word "Danny" is owned by Gibbs

[Krispy]

Seriously though, being new to this sport can be difficult. As someone who has been fishing less than a decade and didn't grow up fishing, wading through the huge amounts p info online, books and magazines can be overwhelming.
I've learned to ignore 99 percent of the expert opinion.
As BB likes to say, show me the slips and what have you done lately, those are the only people I look toward for answers.

[canalbeach]

I've learned that "The big fish go farther North than I ever expected" and there is no crowds there.....