Best Fishing Decision You Have Ever Made??????????????? 2025
Dock Master reply :
So what is the best fishing decision you have ever made?
For me it would have to be a Saturday last year when me, my buddy, and his dad where fishing a electric motor only lake. We where not getting anything at our "best spot" so I made the decision to go fish some docks since we were not hitting on much there.
All I can say is that it was the best fishing decision of my life! First pitch to the dock and I land a 4 pounder (my PB). About 5 minutes later my buddies dad lands a 6 pounder, after that my buddy lands about a 3 pounder.
In all we caught about 10 fish in about 20 minutes. Needless to say my buddy and his dad loved me for mentioning that we should go and fish the docks.
Catt reply :
1974: Joined two bass clubs in Hemphill, Texas whose members included John Torian, John Hall, John Dean, Villis P "Bo" Dowden SR, Harold Allen, Larry Nixon, Tommy Martin, & Zell Roland
1976: Attended a 4 day seminar in Houston Texas that totally changed my outlook on bass fishing. The man putting on that seminar was Elwood L. " Buck" Perry, not only did I buy his books but I became a devout student of his teachings.
Still paying off 
FishingPirate reply :
Going to the Bark Camp Brawl Dinkmasters tournament ;D Seriously, I met some great local fisherman.
Low_Budget_Hooker reply :
Change all the lines from 250lb test to 180 lb test (costs about $200 to do 4 reels) Caught 4 fish in 5 days. Smallest fish paid $3k+
Muad Dib reply :
id say my best fishing decision would be more of a general decisiion. "Learn As Much as i CAN about bass fishing" - listen to all advice, suggestions ,tips ,tricks ,best spots ,where to fish ,how to fish etc.etc. THANK YOU BASS RESOURCE
South FLA reply :
Buying a jon boat when I was young (10), it opened up a whole new world, for Snook and Bass!
Sam reply :
Had a club tournament on Lake Gaston and viewed the weather reports and saw that there was going to be very high winds that day but the tournament director would not cancel the event.
Best Decision #1 - Leave boat home.
Best Decision #2 - Boater and I hauedl fannies back to Popular Creek as the winds started to pick up, beating the high winds on the main lake.
Four boats damaged, one seriously.
Some decisions have nothing to do with the art of fishing. 
mpspeer reply :
Taking advantage of all my connections to people who own boats hah.. me =ShoreFishRMan :-
DINK WHISPERER reply :
Buying a truck so i could haul my boat(that i bought before i even had a truck), LOL!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
zaraspook_dylan2 reply :
QuoteSo what is the best fishing decision you have ever made?For me it would have to be a Saturday last year when me, my buddy, and his dad where fishing a electric motor only lake. We where not getting anything at our "best spot" so I made the decision to go fish some docks since we were not hitting on much there.
All I can say is that it was the best fishing decision of my life! First pitch to the dock and I land a 4 pounder (my PB). About 5 minutes later my buddies dad lands a 6 pounder, after that my buddy lands about a 3 pounder.
In all we caught about 10 fish in about 20 minutes. Needless to say my buddy and his dad loved me for mentioning that we should go and fish the docks.
the best decision in fishing is when i made the move from fishing only spin-cast rods to bait cast. 8-)
bigfruits reply :
buying a canoe
skillet reply :
Joining Bass Resource and paying close attention to other members ...
skillet
the zone reply :
buying my first rod/reel/license/a couple spinners and bank fishing at 17.
it's been a pretty good click and I doubt I know more now than I did then... but it's been good.
I.rar reply :
QuoteJoining Bass Resource and paying close attention to other members...
skillet
this.
justinrose40 reply :
Joining Bass Fishing Resource of Course.
A more specific ocasion, I was fishing a night tournament on my home lake and was catching fish good on a brown jig with a brown trailor up until about midnight. Then took a 4 hour dry spell, finally around 4 am I took the time to think about what had changed. Then it hit me, duh, the moon had sat around midnight, and the bass must not be able to see my brown/brown jig good enough.
I took the brown trailer off and replaced it with a charlie one and caught a throwback on the first cast, 5 cast later caught a 5lber and was able to finish up our limit before daylight and ended up finishing 4th in a tournament that it looked like we had no chance of finishing in the money in. This was probably an easy decision to have made, but for some reason it took me 4 hours to think of it, but when I did it payed off big time.
T-2000 reply :
I'll second buying a canoe. For a while I'd been looking at Craigslist and stuff trying to find something, and then finally one day that summer I just committed and got a canoe at Dick's Sporting Goods. In hindsight it probably wasn't the best canoe for my needs, but it felt so good to get in the water! I caught my first largemouth about five minutes after launching on the maiden voyage.
Mattlures reply :
I started taking pictures of my fish. Its realy cool to look back through my photo albums and remember all the fish I have forgotten about.
BrianinMD reply :
Switched to baitcasters
Close second, trying jigs again. First time didn't go so well but now they are working out great for me.
Bankbeater reply :
Fishing plastics after reading about them here on Bass Resource. Before that I threw crankbaits all of the time, no matter what.
Fish Chris reply :
Moving back to Cali ;-)
Fish
Skunked in DR reply :
6 years ago when I started to fish again.
My wife and wallet might not agree.
SDoolittle reply :
QuoteMoving back to Cali ;-)Fish
I know what you mean. My best decision was volunteering for duty in Texas.
Brute reply :
My best ( smartest ) decision ever was cutting my line loose from the 8 foot gator I hooked in the tail this last Saturday.
He was not happy at all and I was upset because I lost my favorite crankbait.
Brute
SenkoShawn reply :
QuoteBuying a jon boat when I was young (10), it opened up a whole new world, for Snook and Bass!
DAMMMM STR8888
WRB reply :
Deciding to keep my day job after fishing the 3rd All American tournament and target trophy bass.
WRB
fishfordollars reply :
Going when I had decided to stay home. Won the first of three boats.
MNGeorge reply :
Deciding back in 1981 to start fishing rivers. On my third river rig since then and have never regretted selling the lake boat.
6pointbuck2003 reply :
deciding to make that "one last cast" it has payed off with the biggest bass to date. and has almost one my partner and i a few tournys. atleast it got us in the money.
SenkoShawn reply :
the day i tossed a senko.
Scorcher214 reply :
tying on one of those $1 buzzbaits from walmart.
Bassn Blvd reply :
Choosing a wife who doesn't mind when and where I go fishing as long as it's not on her birthday.
Mottfia reply :
Fishing my first tournament with my dad! We won with 17lbs and I've been hooked ever since.
Fishin Phil reply :
Decided to go on a fishing trip to Canada with some friends mainly to drink beer. Turns out I love fishing 
8 years later I still love fishing (and beer).
Big Mike in Fl reply :
my best fishing decision was just that...fishing.
about 3 years ago, I was well on my way to alcoholism. I was partying every night, getting wasted every night. yadda yadda, you get the point. I always fished, but it wasn't nearly that important to me. it was a once in a while thing, well, at some point in time, the two things (drinking and fishing) switched priorities. now I'm virtually obsessed with fishing, and I drink once in a while. now, when I'm upset, angry, depressed... I grab my pole and head to the water, it used to be the first thing I grabbed was a beer (or some southern comfort ;D)
so anyway, you catch my drift...fishing is probably the best decision I ever made, I just wished I had made it before I wrecked my beautiful truck... but that's a whole other story.
ncstatered21 reply :
Going to a local fishing club meeting. I did this just recently and also fished in one of their tournaments and had a blast. Just going to the meeting and fishing that one day tournament I learned a ton about fishing. Hopefully I'll be fishing with this club more and maybe start fishing different tournaments.
lure junkie reply :
introducing my kids to fishing.
princecraft papa reply :
buying a good rod & reel for each of my kids, they are both hooked! I have 2 gurls 9 & 12, the fact that they had good equipment meant not having to deal with problems while learning. quality equip. is just easier to use! Thats what the bait monkey tells me, and that is what I tell my wife!
bassmedic46 reply :
My best decision was starting to fish, Better late then never.
Tin reply :
Forcing myself to finesse fish deep water instead of living and dying with my jig rod....$
Hawghead reply :
Two specifically but the originate back to this site.
Listening to recommendations of folks like Glenn and others more experience guys and upgrading my equipment. I still don't have top dollar stuff, but a couple of rigs push $200 with one going $200+ and that is a lot for me. Really enjoy using better equipment.
I bought some senko a long time ago and never used em. Last spring I was fishing a small pond kept getting hits on a TRigged Lizard but they were short striking and I couldn't get them hooked.
Concluded I needed a slower fall, and t-rigged a weightless senko and started slamming them. Last summer I know I caught between 150-200 bass on senko style baits.
The increase in strikes couple with the higher quality equipment has lead to a lot of bass being caught in the past twelve months for me. Now I anticipate bass fishing as much as bowhunting, and that is saying A LOT.
Fish Chris reply :
Hey, I know I already answered with, "Moving back to Cali" (which I still stand behind)....... and I see that several people have also responded with BIG philisophical answers as well.
But one more thing does come to mind......
Probably the next best thing I ever decided to do with my fishing, was to use nothing but braided line. I just never break fish off anymore. And when your fishing specifically for big ones, that's even more important.
Saves me lots of time, worry, and $$$ too. I remember how I use to always have to stretch my mono before every trip, to try to get the coils out... and test for weak spots, and then have to replace it every 1 to 3 trips.... Ha ! No more.
I change my braid about 1 or 2 times per reel, per year...... and that's just because I'm sponsored, and have 'miles' of braided line on my dresser, and in the closet.
TUF-Line XP baby ;-)
Peace,
Fish
ChiCityBasser reply :
Best decision I ever made was to leave the cheap ebay rods alone and invest in some better rods and reels. Me and my brothers do our own type of 3 man tournament for the fishing season mainly from the shore. The first year I caught a total of 8 fish with some guidance from them. Then over the off season I subscribed to a couple of fishing magazines and sites and read up on the equipment and techniques. Last year I caught a total of 54 fish with a PB of 4#.
All do to better equipment and more knowledge
MALTESE FALCON reply :
Buying a house on Lake St. Clair. Now I can fish every day. I don't have to tow a boat, and deal with the circus at the boat ramp.
Falcon
bigfish88 reply :
well said senkoshawn, well said. that bout sums it up for me. best thing ive done is put on a senko.
Nate D reply :
Quoteintroducing my kids to fishing.
Ditto!
jacker reply :
joining the college bass fishing team. I had no idea tournement fishing was so fun, opened up a new world for me, now i just need the boat!
BassmanDan reply :
Finally throwing a swimbait and committing to it.
nickb reply :
My best decision was enjoying fishing with my buddies from high school. We still talk and get together to fish every now and then. It's like a small reunion. I've learned so much from fishing with them, and I've gained lifelong friends. If we wouldn't have fished together, I'm sure we wouldn't be talking near as much as we do now.
ZeNoob reply :
moving into a condo with a good bass pond 30ft out side of my back door.
andamtoft reply :
It's a tight race between joining my fist bass club so I could fish tournaments and switching over to baitcasters ;D
84Lowe reply :
Dad woke me up one morning and said let's go fishing....best decision was saying YES! 17 years ago and still at it ;D
bigtimfish reply :
buy a boat!
Fish Chris reply :
would you guys believe I've still never thrown a Senko in my life ??? :-)
I know they work. I've got fish over 16 lbs on my website, which were caught on Senko's.....
I've just always felt that I could more easily catch the fish I was after, on a trout patterned swimbait..... and if I had to finesse them with something, then I'd use a tail hooked, fly-lined crawler (or a wad of them).
But I guess the real reason I have never thrown a Senko, is that they became SOOO freaking popular, several years back, and I HATE to do whatever the crowd is doing, as I'm not after the fish the crowds are catching.
Anyway, stick a BIG one :-)
Fish
CatBassin reply :
Deciding that it doesn't matter what people think or even if they laugh, experimenting with tackle is always a great idea. I used to only try new things or ways to fish when I was by myself but decided one day, why wait if the opportunity is there. I'll try using any fishing style, used for different species, for bass and will work baits in a completely different manner than they were designed for, if I had a feeling it would catch fish I would try fishing with my feet.
iFisch reply :
Buy a fishing kayak.
Sure I can't get to all the fishing holes in one day, but fuel cost = $0. Those guys wipping around with a 250hp, get what, 6mpg?
It's more enjoyable, because I can go to the lake M-F, while most guys can only afford to go once or twice a week if their lucky.
little_stephen reply :
my answer is honest and three fold
step one. decided to teach myself to fish for bass, being tired of the occasional trip with my dad to shore fish for bluegill while the other guys were bass fishing
step two. subscribing to what has been the first source of information on fishing. magazines. BASS Master. BASS Times, In Fishermen, & Bassin'
step three. Joining this site and networking out to EVERYONE I can find. to date. Ive met a great local organizer of small scale tourneys. and a new friend whos taking me under his wing and offered to take me fishing and teach me how to use what Ive learned!
crankybaits reply :
buying my 2.5 year old boat for half price from someone who never used it.
SirSnookalot reply :
Going back to light spinnning tackle and giving up b/c, conventional only for offhsore fishing.
SaintsFn reply :
QuoteChoosing a wife who doesn't mind when and where I go fishing as long as it's not on her birthday.
You found one of those too??? Aren't they wonderful? The funny part is that my wife doesn't even LIKE seafood. 
FishingPirate reply :
QuoteGoing to the Bark Camp Brawl Dinkmasters tournament ;D Seriously, I met some great local fisherman.
Im going to have to add to this. I wouldnt have gotten in to tournament fishing if it hadnt been for some of the guys there.
roadwarrior reply :
I attended a "Soft Plastics" seminar at the Spring Boat Show
in 1997. The Pro I can't remember, but the silly looking "BIC pen"
is something I'll never forget. This single event rekindled my interest
in bass fishing, and the rest is history!
8-)
Muad Dib reply :
i also have to say and i forget who always says this but seriously "buy the best equipment you can afford" and listen to what the bait monkey has to tell you. hes seldom wrong.
t
Muddy reply :
Three decisions actually
1. Forget about high end stuff, which I cant afford anyway and concentrate on finding fish on a regular basis
(Catt Quote" It's not the equipment it's whats between your ears)
2. Learning how to fish a jig
3.Learning how to read deeper water, structure and cover
Red reply :
QuoteChoosing a wife who doesn't mind when and where I go fishing as long as it's not on her birthday.
X2!! i got really lucky in this department, sometimes she even gives me some money and says "go buy some fishing stuff!"
Cliff
AverageJoeBass reply :
QuoteQuoteChoosing a wife who doesn't mind when and where I go fishing as long as it's not on her birthday.X2!! i got really lucky in this department, sometimes she even gives me some money and says "go buy some fishing stuff!"
Cliff
Red, I need to introduce my wife to yours!!! ;D ;D ;D
simplejoe reply :
The best things I've done is.
1. Buying better rods and reels.
2. This one was important: Buying a boat getting the heck off of shore.
3. Having a wife that doesn't mind I'm going fishing all the time and spending a ton of money doing it.
joe
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