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How often do you get skunked? 2024


fishing user avatarNeedemp reply : 

I am just curious as to how often do you guys get skunked? I know some guys on this forum keep track of these types of records about themselves. If you dont keep records, in your estimation how often do you think you get skunked. For this question lets eliminate any trip that was less than an hour or maybe two. Also, I include any size bass, but not other species.


fishing user avatarTop reply : 

I don't get skunked that much... but my numbers aren't high... its because of pure tenacity that I don't get skunked... I will stay on the lake for 10 hours before I get skunked :)

AL


fishing user avatarbassclown reply : 

not very often. most of the places i fish have 1 or 2 spots that i know are good for a fish or two.


fishing user avatarRaul reply : 

Haven 't seen a fishless day in over 17 years, I always manage to catch a few, like SFC_AL put it, tenacity pays off and I can be more stubborn than a mule.


fishing user avatarairborne_angler reply : 

I always tell myself that I WILL catch at least one fish. No matter the species. Im targeting Bass but like yesterday I was Catching Trout on my Dropshot. Not what I was after,but I cant say I was skunked either.


fishing user avatarValascus reply : 

Same thing as a lot of the previous replies on this thread. I do get skunked sometimes, but I usually catch at least one fish out of pure stubborness. I would say if I go out to fish (to me a good trip is about 6-10 hours), on the big long trips I rarely get skunked. Sometime on those long trips I get good numbers, but times I don't get good numbers (which is usually the case) I usually get at least one. On my long fishing days I usually get 3-8 fish. I rarely have days where I get more than 8 fish and if I do they are dinks. Now I have gone on shorter trips (45mins - 2 hours) where I get skunked. I get skunked WAAAAAAAAY more on the short trips. I guess it's cuz I have less time to deduce how to catch 'em.  The more time ya spend on the water the more likely ya are to not get skunked...ya figure 'em out eventually.


fishing user avatarburleytog reply : 

Twice this year.  First time was less of a fishing trip and more of a 'try out the new motor' trip.  Wife and I hit a local lake about 9:30PM to try for some catfish.  Stayed till 2AM and didn't get a single bite.  But I did have fun with that outboard.  ;)

Second time was a couple of weeks ago.  Went out with a friend on his boat.  He caught one nice bass on a drop shot, I only got a couple of bites and landed quite a bit of abandoned line (only bad thing about the carolina rig).

I am determined to catch fish every time I go out.  If that means putting the big tackle away and resorting to the tiny tackle and mealworms for bluegill, then so be it.


fishing user avatarJohn Cullum reply : 

Short fish, hardly ever. I can't recall going out and not getting at least a shorty in the last few years.

On the other hand in a tourney I had a zero one time last year and one time this year in about 50 tournaments over the past three years.


fishing user avatarTom Bass reply : 

I have a secret. I never get skunked. When ever I can't catch bass I stow the bass gear and get out my ultra-light gear and catch me some bream. :D Sometimes I have more fun fishin' for the panfish than I do for the bass. ;D


fishing user avatarairborne_angler reply : 

The Bluegill can save the day. One day in May I fished the whole day. It was hot and I was whooped. I tried downsizing and got into a Nest of big spawning male 'Gills....Now that was a hoot. Strong fighters and easy to catch. Made up for being skunked by the Bass


fishing user avatarroadwarrior reply : 

If I don't catch a bass over 5 lbs, I feel like I have been skunked.

It happens quite often.


fishing user avatarSiebert Outdoors reply : 

about the only time I might get skunked is in jan or feb.  Sometimes they just dont want to bit when the water is less the 40 degrees. :-?


fishing user avatarroadwarrior reply : 

GMAN,

You are only 4 1/2 hours away.

Buddy, that's when we are going to catch the next World Record. I'm not kidding, January and February are the ABSOLUTE best months to catch monster smallmouth!


fishing user avatarcajun1977. reply : 
  Quote
GMAN,

You are only 4 1/2 hours away.

Buddy, that's when we are going to catch the next World Record. I'm not kidding, January and February are the ABSOLUTE best months to catch monster smallmouth!

its august 2nd 2006 who cares about jan and feb ;)
fishing user avatarHookemdown. reply : 
  Quote
its august 3rd 2006 who cares about jan and feb ;)

;D ;D whoa wait a sec..... ;D ;D

Good stuff Good stuff.

Score one for cajun


fishing user avatarCJ reply : 

Cajun,its August 2nd where I live. ;DBTW,the world record smallmouth was caught in August if I'm not mistaken.


fishing user avatarcajun1977. reply : 

date fixed ;D


fishing user avatarjtbassman reply : 

Posted by: roadwarrior Posted on: Today at 9:12pm

If I don't catch a bass over 5 lbs, I feel like I have been skunked.  

It happens quite often.  

Talk about settin' the bar high eh? ;D


fishing user avatarKU_Bassmaster. reply : 

I usually get skunked at once a year and it's normally in early spring.


fishing user avatarNick_Barr reply : 

I have gone a couple days getting skunked, mainly on days when its windy and I spend more time trying to control my little boat than fish.  Also in Western WA, our weather is so screwed up sometimes, I dont know why I dont see more bass in th ER from rapid Barometer Changes....LOL


fishing user avatarRODBENDER reply : 
  Quote
I have a secret. I never get skunked. When ever I can't catch bass I stow the bass gear and get out my ultra-light gear and catch me some bream. :D Sometimes I have more fun fishin' for the panfish than I do for the bass. ;D

Yep ....me too ...........

When i fish my home lake i always take some panfish grubs or flies ..... now and then a few crickets   ....i've been skunked so many times in the past on this lake in the mid to late summer .....Catching a good batch of bluegill really helps the ride home ...


fishing user avatarroadwarrior reply : 

cajun1977,

Touche'  


fishing user avatarsenile1 reply : 

My definition for getting skunked is when I don't catch a bass and I'm fishing for bass.  If I stop fishing for bass, and start fishing for crappie or bluegill and catch a few, I still say I got skunked.  This year I've been skunked twice, on one 6 hour trip and on one 3 hour trip.  I did catch some bluegill on the 6 hour trip but I was trying to catch bass.  


fishing user avatarRODBENDER reply : 
  Quote
My definition for getting skunked is when I don't catch a bass and I'm fishing for bass. If I stop fishing for bass, and start fishing for crappie or bluegill and catch a few, I still say I got skunked. This year I've been skunked twice, on one 6 hour trip and on one 3 hour trip. I did catch some bluegill on the 6 hour trip but I was trying to catch bass.

ok then i'll say when the bass skunk me ( at least 4 to 5 times per year )  ...I fish for bluegill while i lick my wounds ....  LOL


fishing user avatarBassassasin12 reply : 

From my log this year I have only been skunked once, and that was the first time the lake was fishable after the ice melted. So far so good... knock on wood.


fishing user avatarZebco202 reply : 

My days of getting skunked are getting farther and farther apart.  I hit a dry spell the other week where I went two straight fishing trips without getting a fish.  The guy that I was with only caught one fish in

two outings so I didn't feel too bad.  I'm back on track after catching a nice crappie on Saturday.

My current goal is to be able to weigh a fish in a tournament.  i've only fished three this year and I've caught fish, just no keepers.  Hopefully this saturday will be the day!!


fishing user avatarGeorge Welcome reply : 

I fish on one of the best bass lakes in the world, and yes every once in a while a skunk befalls us. I don't see how anyone, no matter where, can say it hasn't happened to them. I doesn't happen often, (3-4 times over the last 10 years, but it can and does happen.


fishing user avatarMatt Fly reply : 

No comments, I'm not putting a "hex" or "jinx" my self.      

The next 8 weeks, I've got some good tourneys coming and I've been waiting every since the boat got damaged in the spring to start back on the tournament trail with the opens starting up.

Hookem

Matt.


fishing user avatarRockvilleMDAngler reply : 

For me there are certain lakes where I get skunked nearly 50% of the time and others where it never happens.  I would say overall I get skunked (no fish at all, I never switch to bluegill) on 25% of my trips but I will be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn.


fishing user avatarguest reply : 

well I used to count skunked by no fish at all. As some mentioned Im stubborn and will fish till my arm falls off so I havent had a fishless day too often.

 I count skunked as not putttin any legal keepers to the boat THIS HAS HAPPENED SIX TIMES THIS YEAR out of 37 trips Four of those on A Big Bass Lake where the Min size is 15 inches The rest by State Min which is 12 inches I release them all anyway I just like to measure skunked by keepers.


fishing user avatarsenile1 reply : 

Muddy, that's probably a good way to measure it.  The minimum on the lakes I fish is 15 inches and I do feel just as skunked when I don't catch any keepers.  As for RW, feeling skunked every time you don't catch a 5 lb plus fish is a very high bar.  


fishing user avatarKeithscatch reply : 

Got skunked Saturday for the first time in a while. We only fished from 7am-11am but still my partner managed to catch 4 keepers. I guess I get skunked maybe 10% of the time. maybe less 5%. Not sure. But I do get skunked occasionally. Never at night though ;) and more in the heat of the summer for sure.

Winter time being my most productive time to fish for me. This is true in Texas and in Florida. Not much of a winter here mostly low's in the 40's water temp usually stays in the low 50's maybe dips down to high 40's. Perfect Rattletrap temps....Gotta love it. Bring on the winter.....


fishing user avatardodgeguy reply : 

last year i didn't get skunked.this year 1 time so far.


fishing user avatarfishingJ reply : 

I havent bin skunked this year yet when ive bin only bass fishing.


fishing user avatarvolman33 reply : 

very rarely maybe once in every 10 times i go out


fishing user avatarCoRy reply : 

i got skunked once this year  :( BUT i only fished for about 20-30 minutes off of the dock.  My baitcaster got all tangled up so i left.  early this spring i did really well in a little 1.5-2 acre pond that is connected to the main lake.  they didn't stalk it, but bass swam through a culvert to the pond.  There isn't many fish in this pond, but they are mostly nice sized, a lot between 2-6lbs.  did really well during the spawn.  Threw em all back though.  Most people were'nt fishin yet cause of the cold.  Didn't keep me from fishin though  ;D


fishing user avatarLip Ripper 87 reply : 

I have went out the last two days. Caught 2 the first day, also losing the big one. Screw 6lb test on my finesse setup!

The second day i fished a tournament and got skunked. Second time this year. The water temp was almost 90 F !!

i think my record this year is around 20/22.


fishing user avatarCousin Eddie reply : 

I just took up fishing from my kayak last Dec. Not one fish until March. What a day that was! I still get skunked, but I catch enough to keep me at it.


fishing user avatarLightninrod reply : 

It happens..............too often; maybe every fourth trip?

Happened to me today at a PFA lake :-[.

Dan


fishing user avatarcart7t reply : 

;D

See the RE: Skunked thread in outings!

Prior to yesterday, I went to Perry county lake this early spring for a rogue bite.  The lake had been dumped on with cold rain, lake level up 2 feet, pure mud,  strong current as the water was pouring over the spillway.  I resorted to flippin jigs on cover on steep banks that was breaking the current.  Zero fish.


fishing user avatarNeedemp reply : 

Morning Cart7. Well I posted this thread just because I was curious as to how many people went without getting skunked. I did not even state the fact that I have not been skunked all year anywhere in this thread. I didnt ask the question to try and breg on myself. I figured I would be blanked at some point this year. Low and behold i had no idea that this post would bring me my curse.

Cart7 and I went to Gillespie Lake in Illinois because of the reputation it has for big bass. Niether of us have ever been there. What we didnt know before we got there was that the lake had dropped two feet and spooked the bass. WE GOT SKUNKED >:(. It was 9 to 10 hours of frustration. We fished everywhere, threw everything and caught zilch. There was a tourny last weekend there and out of 20 boats, only four returned with bass.

When I posted this question, I mentioned that no other species counted. If you go bass fishing and dont catch a bass, but you do catch bluegill, you got skunked, IMPO. I did catch an 18" drum on a Crawbug, but no bass :(. Lesson learned: from now on- call for an updated fishing report.


fishing user avatarRattlinrogue reply : 

I rarely get skunked,but when I do it's usually this time of year when the water is way too hot and the bass are lethargic.




10994

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