New techniques

[chrisg_sdcf]

I've been fishing for 20 years (really 30 but live worms, powerbait, or trolling for the first 10 or so) but recently I've decided to get more into learning different techniques. I almost always use some kind of plastic and bounce it off the bottom and I've used poppers and some crank baits as well but my best lure is just a rubber worm in a jig head.

When you decide to try something new like jigs, jerkbait, frog etc. Do you normally make yourself stick to the new technique until it works?

[medicpelle]

Pick a new technique and take 1-3 rods and work at it. It has worked for me in the past more often than not. Do not fall back on what you are comfortable doing and pick up and plastic worm. Leave the other rods home or lock them in the box and leave the key at home.

[Hobie-Wan Kenobi]

I made each year a focus on a certain technique.

Year of the Frog: Frogging seems simple enough. After a lot of trial and error, I was able to read areas better and determine if an area is not worth frogging. I became addicted to frogging and I would neglect any other type of fishing if I saw lilypads. Even if I knew I could fish other areas a catch more fish, the frog was what I was doing. I learned hooksetting techniques, how to play the wind, how wind positions fish...pretty much golf like analysis for catching fish on the frog.

Year of Punching: In response to frogging like crazy, I felt that a total approach was needed for truly ruling the heavy cover so many angler neglect in my area. In response to countless fish I knew we not active enough to try my frog in the past, I knew I needed to start punching for them. I used most of the lessons learned from frogging to effectively punch. I also learned all the nuances like line control, fall rates, when to finesse punch and when to go all out.

Year of the Crank: I would research about cranking a lot. I would then do some trial and error. Changing lines (went from FC to braid) and tweaking other things as well. I really didnt focus on fish. I focused on what the bottom feels like, how to barely touch the tops of deep weeds and such. The fish eventually came to me. Deep cranking is now one of my most productive and fun ways to catch fish.

Year of the Jig: Stopped using Texas Rigs and dropshots. I built confidence by starting out casting to docks and other high percentage areas. Once I got used to different type of bites, I began focusing on areas that I would catch fish deep cranking. I would find them with the crank and then switch over to the jig. Its a different ball game fishing shallow versus fishing deep with a jig. I have really since neglected the deep jig. idk why, just dont do it that often.

I feel If I focus on techniques in depth, I will make myself a better angler overall. I noticed when I do not place restrictions on myself, I can confidently go out and catch some fish, any time, any where. I cannot say I would have that same confidence if I didnt take the time to teach myself the finer points of each technique.

[chrisg_sdcf]

Pick a new technique and take 1-3 rods and work at it. It has worked for me in the past more often than not. Do not fall back on what you are comfortable doing and pick up and plastic worm. Leave the other rods home or lock them in the box and leave the key at home.

This is what I'm thinking I need to do. Otherwise I usually end up falling back on what I already know and really limit myself to one style of fishing

[chrisg_sdcf]

I made each year a focus on a certain technique.

Year of the Frog: Frogging seems simple enough. After a lot of trial and error, I was able to read areas better and determine if an area is not worth frogging. I became addicted to frogging and I would neglect any other type of fishing if I saw lilypads. Even if I knew I could fish other areas a catch more fish, the frog was what I was doing. I learned hooksetting techniques, how to play the wind, how wind positions fish...pretty much golf like analysis for catching fish on the frog.

Year of Punching: In response to frogging like crazy, I felt that a total approach was needed for truly ruling the heavy cover so many angler neglect in my area. In response to countless fish I knew we not active enough to try my frog in the past, I knew I needed to start punching for them. I used most of the lessons learned from frogging to effectively punch. I also learned all the nuances like line control, fall rates, when to finesse punch and when to go all out.

Year of the Crank: I would research about cranking a lot. I would then do some trial and error. Changing lines (went from FC to braid) and tweaking other things as well. I really didnt focus on fish. I focused on what the bottom feels like, how to barely touch the tops of deep weeds and such. The fish eventually came to me. Deep cranking is now one of my most productive and fun ways to catch fish.

Year of the Jig: Stopped using Texas Rigs and dropshots. I built confidence by starting out casting to docks and other high percentage areas. Once I got used to different type of bites, I began focusing on areas that I would catch fish deep cranking. I would find them with the crank and then switch over to the jig. Its a different ball game fishing shallow versus fishing deep with a jig. I have really since neglected the deep jig. idk why, just dont do it that often.

I feel If I focus on techniques in depth, I will make myself a better angler overall. I noticed when I do not place restrictions on myself, I can confidently go out and catch some fish, any time, any where. I cannot say I would have that same confidence if I didnt take the time to teach myself the finer points of each technique.

I don't know if I have the time/patience to focus on one technique for a whole year but I think it's awesome that you did that. Id probably be able to do one technique for a month or so lol. I do really want to learn all the techniques so I can feel confident in any lake I go to. Right now I heavily fish one lake but I'm planning on rotating lakes eventually. We are lucky to have so many lakes nearby. Mostly I want to be able to teach my kids how to really fish.

[Hobie-Wan Kenobi]

I made each year a focus on a certain technique.

Year of the Frog: Frogging seems simple enough. After a lot of trial and error, I was able to read areas better and determine if an area is not worth frogging. I became addicted to frogging and I would neglect any other type of fishing if I saw lilypads. Even if I knew I could fish other areas a catch more fish, the frog was what I was doing. I learned hooksetting techniques, how to play the wind, how wind positions fish...pretty much golf like analysis for catching fish on the frog.

Year of Punching: In response to frogging like crazy, I felt that a total approach was needed for truly ruling the heavy cover so many angler neglect in my area. In response to countless fish I knew we not active enough to try my frog in the past, I knew I needed to start punching for them. I used most of the lessons learned from frogging to effectively punch. I also learned all the nuances like line control, fall rates, when to finesse punch and when to go all out.

Year of the Crank: I would research about cranking a lot. I would then do some trial and error. Changing lines (went from FC to braid) and tweaking other things as well. I really didnt focus on fish. I focused on what the bottom feels like, how to barely touch the tops of deep weeds and such. The fish eventually came to me. Deep cranking is now one of my most productive and fun ways to catch fish.

Year of the Jig: Stopped using Texas Rigs and dropshots. I built confidence by starting out casting to docks and other high percentage areas. Once I got used to different type of bites, I began focusing on areas that I would catch fish deep cranking. I would find them with the crank and then switch over to the jig. Its a different ball game fishing shallow versus fishing deep with a jig. I have really since neglected the deep jig. idk why, just dont do it that often.

I feel If I focus on techniques in depth, I will make myself a better angler overall. I noticed when I do not place restrictions on myself, I can confidently go out and catch some fish, any time, any where. I cannot say I would have that same confidence if I didnt take the time to teach myself the finer points of each technique.

I don't know if I have the time/patience to focus on one technique for a whole year but I think it's awesome that you did that. Id probably be able to do one technique for a month or so lol. I do really want to learn all the techniques so I can feel confident in any lake I go to. Right now I heavily fish one lake but I'm planning on rotating lakes eventually. We are lucky to have so many lakes nearby. Mostly I want to be able to teach my kids how to really fish.

Fishing different lakes helps a lot. Some may have deep clear water with little cover, some may be full of vegetation and such. You are gonna have to pick lakes that compliment your focus.

[toddmc]

As has been said, you have to spend a lot of time with a technique to get completely comfortable with it. But, you will learn a lot quicker if you fish bodies of water that are conducive to the technique, and those bodies of water have solid fish populations. I grew up using hundreds of golf course ponds as my training grounds for the bigger lakes and tournament fishing. The pros that I fished with in Pro-ams as a teenager were very surprised that I knew how to fish all of the major techniques at a young age. Deep cranking was my only weakness because I don't have golf course lakes where I can fish deep cranks. I still fish those golf course lakes forty years later to get comfortable with newly invented techniques, and to freshen up techniques that I have been fishing for decades.
A fishing channel like Tactical Bassin would never exist if Matt and Tim didn't have a lake like Clearlake to test and compare their tackle. Make sure that you don't give up on a technique just because it doesn't work on your home lake. I purposely drive 11 1/2 hours to Clealake each summer to ply techniques that I don't get to use much at home and to learn new techniques. Unfortunately, there as so many bass techniques available today that it is tough to keep up.

[chrisg_sdcf]

I made each year a focus on a certain technique.

Year of the Frog: Frogging seems simple enough. After a lot of trial and error, I was able to read areas better and determine if an area is not worth frogging. I became addicted to frogging and I would neglect any other type of fishing if I saw lilypads. Even if I knew I could fish other areas a catch more fish, the frog was what I was doing. I learned hooksetting techniques, how to play the wind, how wind positions fish...pretty much golf like analysis for catching fish on the frog.

Year of Punching: In response to frogging like crazy, I felt that a total approach was needed for truly ruling the heavy cover so many angler neglect in my area. In response to countless fish I knew we not active enough to try my frog in the past, I knew I needed to start punching for them. I used most of the lessons learned from frogging to effectively punch. I also learned all the nuances like line control, fall rates, when to finesse punch and when to go all out.

Year of the Crank: I would research about cranking a lot. I would then do some trial and error. Changing lines (went from FC to braid) and tweaking other things as well. I really didnt focus on fish. I focused on what the bottom feels like, how to barely touch the tops of deep weeds and such. The fish eventually came to me. Deep cranking is now one of my most productive and fun ways to catch fish.

Year of the Jig: Stopped using Texas Rigs and dropshots. I built confidence by starting out casting to docks and other high percentage areas. Once I got used to different type of bites, I began focusing on areas that I would catch fish deep cranking. I would find them with the crank and then switch over to the jig. Its a different ball game fishing shallow versus fishing deep with a jig. I have really since neglected the deep jig. idk why, just dont do it that often.

I feel If I focus on techniques in depth, I will make myself a better angler overall. I noticed when I do not place restrictions on myself, I can confidently go out and catch some fish, any time, any where. I cannot say I would have that same confidence if I didnt take the time to teach myself the finer points of each technique.

I don't know if I have the time/patience to focus on one technique for a whole year but I think it's awesome that you did that. Id probably be able to do one technique for a month or so lol. I do really want to learn all the techniques so I can feel confident in any lake I go to. Right now I heavily fish one lake but I'm planning on rotating lakes eventually. We are lucky to have so many lakes nearby. Mostly I want to be able to teach my kids how to really fish.

Fishing different lakes helps a lot. Some may have deep clear water with little cover, some may be full of vegetation and such. You are gonna have to pick lakes that compliment your focus.

I've been sticking to one since it's the closest but I definitely feel like I would learn a lot more switching lakes occasionally. I'll be on a new lake in a couple weeks that my brother fishes a lot so maybe I can try to learn a new technique then.

[chrisg_sdcf]

As has been said, you have to spend a lot of time with a technique to get completely comfortable with it. But, you will learn a lot quicker if you fish bodies of water that are conducive to the technique, and those bodies of water have solid fish populations. I grew up using hundreds of golf course ponds as my training grounds for the bigger lakes and tournament fishing. The pros that I fished with in Pro-ams as a teenager were very surprised that I knew how to fish all of the major techniques at a young age. Deep cranking was my only weakness because I don't have golf course lakes where I can fish deep cranks. I still fish those golf course lakes forty years later to get comfortable with newly invented techniques, and to freshen up techniques that I have been fishing for decades.
A fishing channel like Tactical Bassin would never exist if Matt and Tim didn't have a lake like Clearlake to test and compare their tackle. Make sure that you don't give up on a technique just because it doesn't work on your home lake. I purposely drive 11 1/2 hours to Clealake each summer to ply techniques that I don't get to use much at home and to learn new techniques. Unfortunately, there as so many bass techniques available today that it is tough to keep up.

I really wanted to go to clear lake this summer but didnt get the chance. It's about 3.5 to 4 hours from me so if you are willing to drive 11.5 hours to fish it I guess I better make a stronger effort to get there

[toddmc]

As has been said, you have to spend a lot of time with a technique to get completely comfortable with it. But, you will learn a lot quicker if you fish bodies of water that are conducive to the technique, and those bodies of water have solid fish populations. I grew up using hundreds of golf course ponds as my training grounds for the bigger lakes and tournament fishing. The pros that I fished with in Pro-ams as a teenager were very surprised that I knew how to fish all of the major techniques at a young age. Deep cranking was my only weakness because I don't have golf course lakes where I can fish deep cranks. I still fish those golf course lakes forty years later to get comfortable with newly invented techniques, and to freshen up techniques that I have been fishing for decades.
A fishing channel like Tactical Bassin would never exist if Matt and Tim didn't have a lake like Clearlake to test and compare their tackle. Make sure that you don't give up on a technique just because it doesn't work on your home lake. I purposely drive 11 1/2 hours to Clealake each summer to ply techniques that I don't get to use much at home and to learn new techniques. Unfortunately, there as so many bass techniques available today that it is tough to keep up.

I really wanted to go to clear lake this summer but didnt get the chance. It's about 3.5 to 4 hours from me so if you are willing to drive 11.5 hours to fish it I guess I better make a stronger effort to get there

I'd be there a couple times a month if I lived that close! Clearlake is one of the best lakes in the country to learn new techniques because it has a shallow north end covered in grass and a deeper south end filled with rock. There are often many techniques working at the same time, giving you a choice of what you want to do.

[GOOD YEAR 71]

Do you normally make yourself stick to the new technique until it works?

Yes