What techniques do you want to improve on and why? 2024

fishermantony reply :

I want to get a better rhythm with jerk baits and increase my confidence in them because I know they are great lures. After that probably deeper water techniques like spoons and dragging jigs and tubes.

BassThumb reply :

Drop Shot, because the water is clear and the fish are often spooky around here, and I can only seem to catch dinks with them. There is much room for improvement. ;D

TimJ reply :

definitely my drop shot techniques need improving. I guess I need to get out by myself occasionally and just practice.

MNGeorge reply :

As much as I dread the thought, drop shot fishing would be one technique I think would be handy at times, so I'd like to learn a little on how to go about it. I much prefer heavier tackle, mostly jigs, with a good size chunk of plastic or tube on it, but there are times when that doesn't work so well.

Lund Explorer reply :

I have really got to improve on NOT short-boating the wife, or whoever else is sitting in the backseat. It's not like I do it on purpose, but I just like to attack a weedline by sitting right on top of it and casting dead straight ahead. I seem to do the same thing fishing down a row of docks or just about anything else.

Am I the only guy that is guilty of this?

J Francho reply :

Senkos :-X

WanderLust reply :

Froggin'

My hooking percentage sucks.

Drop shottin would be a close second.

fishermantony reply :

Drop shotting was my Achilles heel for a couple of years! I finally got it in the fall of 09 and it's probably been my favorite technique since. Don't give up on it guys, you'll love it when you get it!

gotarheelz14 reply :

Crankbait'n, the lipped kind

fishermantony reply :

Quote
I have really got to improve on NOT short-boating the wife, or whoever else is sitting in the backseat. It's not like I do it on purpose, but I just like to attack a weedline by sitting right on top of it and casting dead straight ahead. I seem to do the same thing fishing down a row of docks or just about anything else.
Am I the only guy that is guilty of this?

I know how you feel on this completely! I've had to work hard on separating family time on the boat and serious fishing time or I'll make my family miserable.

Missouribassman95 reply :

Crankin, and Drop Shotting. I also need some work on fishing a senko!

BASSclary reply :

Crankbaits. I have atleast 50, yet i've never caught a fish on one. Darn Bait Monkey!!!!

And probably senkos too. Never caught a senko fish, but those don't count anyway right?

marinetech reply :

Big changes for me this year. Going from 6' bc rods to 7'. Also want to spend more time fishing cranks so I can learn when and where to use them. Started using spinnerbaits more last year and learned when they are at there best. I love fishing plastics and it is tough to quit and go to something else but this is the year !

pasadenafishin reply :

Drop shotting is a technique i am actually pretty good at. I really need to improve my jig and crankbait fishing though because i have a total of 0 fish with those

Revo_Carrot Stix reply :

If there is a technique called "slowing down" then that's what I need to work on.

wisconsin heat reply :

I want to work on the two extremes: i want to dominate (small bait) finnesse tactics-with lures down to an inch, and to work on using larger lures to catch some bigger bass(this one i might have trouble with) ;D

Goose52 reply :

Jigs - a versatile, proven bait that I just don't use much and have little confidence in. Why? Well, specifically, one 48 acre lake that is very deep, with lots of ledges, and some submerged timber here and there. I don't fish that lake much...but I should...the bass are down there...laughing... ;D

ctf58 reply :

Everything. I.m ok with tex rigged plastics, and lip-less cranks, but need someone to teach me more versatility. This year I want to try drop shot and Carolina rig.

But above all is flipping and pitching. None of my friends do it so no-one can show me how. :-?

JigMe reply :

Quote
Jigs - a versatile, proven bait that I just don't use much and have little confidence in. Why? Well, specifically, one 48 acre lake that is very deep, with lots of ledges, and some submerged timber here and there. I don't fish that lake much...but I should...the bass are down there...laughing... ;D

Me too. I have caught some fish with jig before, but would like to improve on.

CAdeltaLipRipper reply :

I need to use swimbaits more,living in california that is an asset i must have haha,punching,i would like to get better with jigs,aaaand Id like to try carolina rigging this year

B A S S E R reply :

jigs, drop shots, and swim baits

Fish Chris reply :

Ya' know, I must have read the title of this thread 20 X's... and every time I did, I pondered it, and thought... "I dunno... Their are a whole bunch of techniques I totally suck at... crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs.. just to name a few.... but then I really don't feel like that stuff would help me much at all, to catch more giant Cali trout eaters, anyway. If I can't catch them on a swimbait (a Hud) or sightfishing (with whatever soft plastic bait I decide to grab) or on a crawler, or a dad, I probably wouldn't catch them on anything else anyway.

Then it finally clicked....

Their is one technique that I wish I was better at.... > trolling !

I know their are a handful of big bass sticks, who absolutely nail giants, trolling big swimbaits ! And as much as I've tried, I just flat suck at it

I think the closest I've ever come to sticking a big one trolling, was one time when I had trolled all the way from one end of my trophy pond, to the other. When my boat finally beached itself, I turned around to reel my lure in, and Bam ! Stuck a 10.2 Does that count ? {cooler yet, on the next cast, I stuck another 10+, and the 3rd I caught one that was 9 and change Only 3 bites I had all day, BTW.

But yea, trolling. Wish I knew how to do it correctly.

Fish

Goose52 reply :

Quote
But yea, trolling. Wish I knew how to do it correctly.
Fish

Sounds like you got it wired - you cruise around the lake like the Pied Piper, all those hawgs just follow your boat back to the beach, then you stick 'em. Maybe you're just not beaching the boat often enough... ;D

J Francho reply :

Chris, I'll get back to you on trolling...wildly under looked. Somewhat boring. You gotta set goals with it. I trolled for smallies for ten years or so. It's valid.

Dwight Hottle reply :

So the truth be known. J is an out of the closet troller. It is boring when your not catching but it can be rewarding. Especially on big water, think erie.

roadwarrior reply :

Trolling? That might work:

http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/outdoors/fishing/articles/smallmouth-world-record-reinstated.html

;D ;D

J Francho reply :

Quote
So the truth be known. J is an out of the closet troller. It is boring when your not catching but it can be rewarding. Especially on big water, think erie.

I used to do a lot of it on Ontario, before gobies were there, and the bass were scattered.

senile1 reply :

Quote
Ya' know, I must have read the title of this thread 20 X's... and every time I did, I pondered it, and thought... "I dunno... Their are a whole bunch of techniques I totally suck at... crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs.. just to name a few.... but then I really don't feel like that stuff would help me much at all, to catch more giant Cali trout eaters, anyway. If I can't catch them on a swimbait (a Hud) or sightfishing (with whatever soft plastic bait I decide to grab) or on a crawler, or a dad, I probably wouldn't catch them on anything else anyway.
Then it finally clicked....

Their is one technique that I wish I was better at.... > trolling !

Fish

I experienced the same thing when I looked at this thread, Chris, though the fish I catch are "just a tad smaller" than yours. There are techniques I could improve but I don't get to use them often because of conditions on the lakes that I fish most often.

One is the Carolina Rig. A few years back I made a concerted effort to fish the Carolina rig on a regular basis and had some success with it. However, the conditions on the lakes I fish aren't conducive to using the rig that often. Most of my lakes have a lot of wood or weeds and the water clarity is dingy to muddy most of the time. The fish tend to hang close to cover and fishing the Carolina rig around this cover results in a lot of hangups.

Another is the drop-shot. I've used it and had success as well but, again, most of the time there are better techniques to use on the lakes I fish regularly.

When I take trips to clearer lakes with less brush (Stockton, Table Rock, Norfork, etc) I find that I have to make sure I don't forget to use these techniques when necessary. I'm sure I could improve my skills with these techniques but the opportunity to do so doesn't present itself on a regular basis.

VABassin'14 reply :

This year I want to focus on learning how to fish a jig more effectively. I have caught a few fish on a jig before, but I haven't used them enough to feel really confident with using them. Last year I focused on spinnerbaits and learned a lot by just using them. If I can learn as much about using a jig this year as I did about spinnerbaits last year, I will have another lure that I can feel confident about tying on and catching fish with.

CSimon2 reply :

I want to improve upon my plastic worm fishing. I am a very impatient person. I need to learn to have patience. That is my goal for this year.

fishermantony reply :

Quote
Ya' know, I must have read the title of this thread 20 X's... and every time I did, I pondered it, and thought... "I dunno... Their are a whole bunch of techniques I totally suck at... crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs.. just to name a few.... but then I really don't feel like that stuff would help me much at all, to catch more giant Cali trout eaters, anyway. If I can't catch them on a swimbait (a Hud) or sightfishing (with whatever soft plastic bait I decide to grab) or on a crawler, or a dad, I probably wouldn't catch them on anything else anyway.
Then it finally clicked....

Their is one technique that I wish I was better at.... > trolling !

I know their are a handful of big bass sticks, who absolutely nail giants, trolling big swimbaits ! And as much as I've tried, I just flat suck at it

I think the closest I've ever come to sticking a big one trolling, was one time when I had trolled all the way from one end of my trophy pond, to the other. When my boat finally beached itself, I turned around to reel my lure in, and Bam ! Stuck a 10.2 Does that count ? {cooler yet, on the next cast, I stuck another 10+, and the 3rd I caught one that was 9 and change Only 3 bites I had all day, BTW.

But yea, trolling. Wish I knew how to do it correctly.

Fish

Fish, I couldn't have imagined that you would suck at any of those techniques you mentioned or any techniques for that matter. Here in the Spokane area a 10lb largemouth would be HUGE!!! I'm determined to get one at least pretty close and I think it may be a swimbait that does it. I don't have a whole lot of experience with the big swimbaits, but my plan is to take a few trips this year where all I bring is my big swimbait set up and big swim baits on a few lakes I think might have a 10lber. You'll see the pics on this sight if I ever get one.

Ferstler Slim reply :

I've still never caught a bass on a spinnerbait. That's priority 1. Next is tube jigs.

Dave

Syppy reply :

Topwater... Any sort of Topwater. I've caught things on spinners and cranks and senko/bottom worms. But I have yet to catch a thing off the topwater. I tried this last summer some froggin' and buzzbaits, but for some reason I cannot get a single fish to take them from the top of the water. Hopefully will fix that this spring.

timothy_spain reply :

drop shot

InLikeFinz reply :

Jigs. I got close to getting a good feel for the jig bite on our last fishing trip last year before it got too cold. Hoping to pick up where I left off as soon as it warms up!

Why? Bigger fish! HeHe!

georgiaken reply :

Dropshot, jerkbait, crankbait (lipped) and 20ft jig fishing. I use lipless cranks so much that I absolutely hate crank baits.

The lake I fish the most is clogged with weeds after June, so I don't dropshot too often (since I am rarely fishing deep).

I really want to get more comfortable with fishing 15-30 feet down. In the summer when the bass go deep, I spend too much time flipping weeds etc and not enough time focusing on humps and rock piles.

I had great fun with jigs in the shallows and pulling spinnerbaits over weedbeds last year, so this year, it's time to move forward (BTW, I've only been fishing for a year).

cBooms@SML reply :

everything. haha i need to learn how to fish a jig. i taught myself how to t-rig last summer by just going out and doing it. i need to work on the things i like the least or know nothing about; cranks (both kinds), drop-shot, flukes, tubes, senkos, jerkbaits

A-Jay reply :

There are two areas in particular for me ~

1. Boat positioning -- I think I have a tendency to get up on top of fish too often. When I feel like I'm set up right my confidence goes up.

2. Night fishing -- There is a lot that goes with this one. Just have to get out there more nights and make it happen.

A-Jay

mikesjet reply :

My biggest short coming isn't so much a technique, I really need to use my electronics more and get away from being a bank beater. I always start out with great hopes fishing some hidden gem but end up pitching to a laydown somewhere. This obiviously kills my catch during the summer.

JacobK reply :

buying new gear (sold all of my gear last fall.)

fishermantony reply :

Quote
buying new gear (sold all of my gear last fall.)

Why?????????

JacobK reply :

Quote

Quote
buying new gear (sold all of my gear last fall.)

Why?????????

Financial woes and personal reasons.

11047

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