using smarts to outfish others...

[ngt]

In the big picture, I'm still new to fishing. Tried many different types, but more of a beginner in many types, than an expert in one. Headed out to a local stocked small lake for some shore fishing in the rain a couple weekends ago. Gets pretty packed and not many people were catching anything. In about 20 minutes I figured out where the fish were, how to get a non-floating bait that they love to float up into the area where they were, and out caught everyone around me. Felt great, lol. Had a buddy tell me, you need to think about fishing more. Not quite there yet, but getting the idea.

To make this more of a conversation, when is the last time you out fished everyone around you by doing things differently than everyone else. Not looking for your inside tips, just a story. Possibly the other people's reaction to you killing it My friend Steve on here was telling me a story about this just a few weeks ago, and now I'm really wanting to "become a smarter fisherman".

 

[sean mathews]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

fall chinook salmon on snake river. surface temperature of 68 degrees. moved out to deeper water and out fished 5 other boats who were all insistent that 45 to 50 feet was to deep for the fish. this worked multiple times go figure.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

It doesn't take much to outsmart a fish, a fish has a brain smaller than the size of a pea!

It also doesn't take much to outsmart most of the fishermen either, fishermen will usually get stuck in a pattern with a presentation that has worked well in the past for them and won't deviate from it much. They will think that if they aren't catch fish with their tried and true presentation... the fish aren't biting.

I have a couple of spots I can take other people to and they won't catch a thing unless they use what I'm using and fish exactly they way I fish. It's all presentation, lure size and action, depth, and speed.

There are other times I will outfish other fishermen because of lure color. they will stick to the same colors that have produced well in the past for them and won't take ambient conditions such as sunlight and water clarity into consideration. For instance, black and chartreuse will produce on a cloudy day when the water is muddy... but on a bright sunny day with clearer water the fish won't touch it.

There's also the seasonal movements of fish, some fishermen think they should be able to catch fish in the same spots they caught them when the water was 60*F... but the water has warmed up to 75* now, it's not going to happen.

Other fishermen are sooo dumb!:lol:

 

[sccatfish]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

The only thing I can think of is bass fishing in a pond in the evening. I carried two colors of soft plastics. Used one while it was still daylight. Once it got dark enough they quit biting that color-just as I knew they would. Put on the other color for fishing in the dark. I kept catching fish and my buddy was ready to leave because he wasn't catching any. I finally told why I was still catching fish so he could do the same and stay a while longer.

 

[pdgs]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

In the big picture, I'm still new to fishing. Tried many different types, but more of a beginner in many types, than an expert in one. Headed out to a local stocked small lake for some shore fishing in the rain a couple weekends ago. Gets pretty packed and not many people were catching anything. In about 20 minutes I figured out where the fish were, how to get a non-floating bait that they love to float up into the area where they were, and out caught everyone around me. Felt great, lol. Had a buddy tell me, you need to think about fishing more. Not quite there yet, but getting the idea.

To make this more of a conversation, when is the last time you out fished everyone around you by doing things differently than everyone else. Not looking for your inside tips, just a story. Possibly the other people's reaction to you killing it My friend Steve on here was telling me a story about this just a few weeks ago, and now I'm really wanting to "become a smarter fisherman".

Way to go buddy! FYI, you are a smarter fisherman, you just proved it!

 

[ngt]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

Way to go buddy! FYI, you are a smarter fisherman, you just proved it!

thanks man, I'm trying. Lots to learn and never enough time to get out and practice/try stuff I read/hear about.

 

[JB]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

I feel so blessed that I never felt competitive when fishing. I enjoyed the success of others, particularly my son and grandbuddies, as much as my own.

I guess fishing was/is something very different to me than to some folks. My son and I did do a bass tournament back in the 70s and I hated it, even though we won 3rd place. When we lived in MN we did the annual crappie tournament on Minnetonka but I still didn't like the pressure to succeed. I got enough of that 50 hours a week flying a desk.

To me, good fishing is communing with my environment and going with the flow. If I had to outfish somebody to enjoy it I would probably not do it.

 

[ngt]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

I feel so blessed that I never felt competitive when fishing. I enjoyed the success of others, particularly my son and grandbuddies, as much as my own.

I guess fishing was/is something very different to me than to some folks. My son and I did do a bass tournament back in the 70s and I hated it, even though we won 3rd place. When we lived in MN we did the annual crappie tournament on Minnetonka but I still didn't like the pressure to succeed. I got enough of that 50 hours a week flying a desk.

To me, good fishing is communing with my environment and going with the flow. If I had to outfish somebody to enjoy it I would probably not do it.

that's not really the point, although I guess the title would lead you to believe otherwise. I was more excited about thinking what I was doing through, for better results. At this lake, and many other places, most fish the exact same way as the next guy and get similar results. I'm interested in learning how to take in more variables by kind of opening my eyes to really see the situation I'm fishing in. Then change what I'm doing accordingly, and get better results because of it. Shoot, I am "the other guy". Anchoring my boat on the Napa river and tossing out cut bait on a slider rig. I want to be the guy who studies the tide, water clarity, water temp, moon, structure, etc.. and picks his bait/lure/spot/angle from there. Turn it into less of a guessing game and more of a thinking mans game for better results. Not just about catching more than the guy next to me. I'm the type of person that would sit down and talk to them about what I was doing....Once I had one on the stringer

 

[dingbat]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

I took good friend of mine surf fishing at The Point at Hatteras for his birthday. You typically want to have your baits in the water at first light, but we slept thru our 4:30 am alarm by an hour. After stopping off at the tackle shop for coffee and bunker we headed out to the beach. Upon arrival, we found a deep trough running the length of the beach for about a half a mile with trucks parked bumper-to-bumper from one end to the other

We settled for a not so inviting spot at the very end of the trough where it started to narrow and get shallow. Upon closer inspection, there was a small break in the outer bar roughly 75 yards off the beach. Before putting on my waders I baited up and put the bait in the cut. I put the rod in sand spike and walked to the back of the truck to put my waders on. I had just crawled in the back of the truck to get my waders when the guy in the next truck yelled over, “hey, you have a bite”.

The fish was on briefly then spit the hook. I baited up again and thru it right back out. I did not get past the drivers door when the rod went down again. This one stuck, and less than 10 minutes after our arrival I put a nice, 38” Striper on the beach. I baited up and threw it back out. I just barely had my waders on when the reel scream again. Less than 20 minutes into it I had my limit of 2 - 38” Stripers and was done for the day.

I showed my friend exactly where to cast and within minutes, he too was hooked up. By this time, a crowd was starting to gather. The guys in the truck next to us had been there over 2 hours and had yet to get a bite. The guys two trucks down had been fishing for 2 days without a bite. In the mean time, my friends had caught and landed his second fish of the morning. In less than 45 minutes, we had caught our limit of four fish and where on the way back to the tackle shop to get the fish weighed.

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

I went on a trip over to lake Erie one time with a bunch of guys from where I worked and we were catching walleyes on the in line spinner and night crawler that was so popular at the time. We would cast out and as the boat drifted it would cause the spinner to make a swing as we reeled it back to the boat. I out caught the other guys about 6 to 1 and finally somebody asked me what I was doing different. I sharpened the hooks and hooked a bell sinker on ahead of the spinner. I was getting down into the fish zone quicker and able to reel a little faster causing more spinning action and when a fish hit I was able to hook them with the sharper hooks. A couple of the sore heads acted like I was cheating but the way I figure it they could have done the same thing if they would have thought about it. I thought they were having as much fun drinking as much as they wanted as I was having catching fish until the day was over and they realized that I had caught most of the fish and some of them started whining about it.

 

[pdgs]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

My method is pretty simple. When you go fishing, take lots of different stuff. If a bunch of people are fishing around you and not catching, find out what they're using and do something different. Quite often, they're all on the right track but a small variation (smarter fishing) gets you fish.

I also study a lot about the fish that I'm going after. There's tons of scientific studies that will tell you things about fish that you never knew. It's not uncommon for my brain to feel like it's in the middle of a light show with so many bulbs lighting up. It's pretty amazing to find out how many of these very informative articles are written by people that don't just study fish, they fish too! That last statement makes a lot of sense since there would be little drive to learn as much as these folks have it you didn't enjoy catching them.

Magazine articles are often published too late and in most cases are geared toward selling. I like to read them but pretty much take them with a grain of salt. If you really want to learn how to fish an area, hire a guide and learn. The old saying "Shutup and fish" really has it's merits when in the presence of a good guide.

 

[ngt]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

I'm trying man. I just don't get the time to get out as much anymore. I haven't been out fishing with you in what seems like months, lol. Was supposed to go this morning, but stuff came up, again. Guides are pretty expensive, but you're right, the stuff I've picked up from them has been well worth the price.

 

[pdgs]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

I'm trying man. I just don't get the time to get out as much anymore. I haven't been out fishing with you in what seems like months, lol. Was supposed to go this morning, but stuff came up, again. Guides are pretty expensive, but you're right, the stuff I've picked up from them has been well worth the price.

I've got an open seat tomorrow and another on New Years day. Let me know.

 

[roscoe]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

The way I figure it, there are really only 2 kinds of fishing.
Fishing for suspended fish, and fishing for structured fish.

Suspended fish are going to be schooled up in open water, near their favorite meal.

Structured fish are going to be near a break, rock ledge, sand bar, stumps, edge of weeds.
Learn the lake a little, then look for the structure.

Recently fished within 200 yards of some friends, for about 3 hours. I landed 8 really nice keeper northerns and another 8 smaller ones. And a nice 20" walleye.

The friends caught 3 little northerns.

The difference, I kept my boat on the deep side of the weeds, 15-22' of water, and kept my lures near the bottom.
They were in 8-12' of water, in, and over the weeds.

The next day, I showed them how to catch the walleyes, 25-35' of water, on the bottom, not 4" above the bottom.
I was catching 16-22" fish.
They were 50' from me, casting up onto a rock bar, 8-16' of water. They were catching 10-14" eyes.

Same jigs, same minnows, they just wouldn't listen.


Years ago, went fishing with relatives, basically trolling small lake for walleye, using countdown Rapalas mostly.
Everyone was snagging lots of weeds, and losing lures, wasting time cleaning off weeds.

Me and my buddy switched over to floating Rapalas rigged with a 3-way swivel, and a 1/2 ounce sinker on a 3' leader of 4# test line. Basically a Wolf River rig.


We were able to get down to where the fish were, and the Rapala floated up above the swivel, sinker, and weeds.
If the sinker got snagged, the 4# test broke and we lost only the sinker, as the Rapala was still attached to the 10# test main line.

We supplied the fish for our shore lunch, then went and caught our limits again.
The guys in the other 2 boats struggled all day.

 

[ngt]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

I've got an open seat tomorrow and another on New Years day. Let me know.

That's the thing, I'd love to, but I don't get much time and when I do, it seems to be last minute. "Nothing is going on right now, I'm going" type of thing.

 

[pdgs]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

Check out my post on the sniffer trout board.

 

[aspeck]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

Had an older guy that I would go trout fishing with. He would always limit out and catch 6 fish to my 1. We were using same minnows and rigs, he just always out fished me. One day, in a state of pity towards me, he showed me his trick ... He put a kink in the minnow so it would spin wildly. Now I experience the same success he does.

 

[lncoop]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

Had an older guy that I would go trout fishing with. He would always limit out and catch 6 fish to my 1. We were using same minnows and rigs, he just always out fished me. One day, in a state of pity towards me, he showed me his trick ... He put a kink in the minnow so it would spin wildly. Now I experience the same success he does.

I knew it! Art uses kinky minnows!:lol:

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

Going back to probably 65-67 my father would take me night fishing with him and the guys. That was something i will never forget man what a adventure...After a few times out i wanted to fish with the guy's...night fishing meant dragging the bottom with what is now known as lindy rig's. Its a delicate balance of enough line out to drag the bottom or touch the bottom and not drag it...dragging the bottom will only end up in a snag. Of course i had no ideal what is was doing and it ended up with everyone pulling there lines so Al's son could get unstuck..that went over like lead @@#$@.

So the old man just hooked me up a plug and i was fishing all was good no more snags life was good. However something strange happened i started catching fish... walleye's to... again not good. Gene the resident expert took my plug and wanted to see what it was..he replied it as the strangest looking bug he had ever seen. My father laughed he didnt even know where he got the plug the reason i was using it was it was expendable

Today we know it as a polywart a unheard of plug in the northern states...The bill was not as big but it was the same damm thing. Here's a pic of the thing red face white body only with a bill

 

[roscoe]

Re: using smarts to outfish others...

Looks like an old Heddon Lucky 13 there Tail Gunner.

Never tried them at night.

I bet that white paint caught just enough moonlight to drive the walleyes crazy.