After a really tough year in 2016 I decided it was time to take a new approach to my fishing. I knew I was a better bass angler than what things looked like at the end of the season. So far that new approach is working although it’s too early to claim victory. We all know that one or two tournaments can make or break a season.
I thought I’d put a few of my thoughts into this column. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but my hope is that some of the changes I’ve made will help some of you if you’re struggling. What I did isn’t just for tournament anglers. Fun fishermen sometimes need to rethink things, too. In the end we all want to catch more bass.
First off, I had to do a head-check and not get too down on myself. Everybody has tough times. Not catching big bass isn’t the end of the world. It’s not like somebody died. If you look at the standings in any one year, you’ll see that there are anglers who have had stellar careers and who are now struggling. Ups and downs are a part of fishing.
Past that, I decided to ignore most of the advice I was getting or hearing, especially if it pertained to where the fish were or what they were biting. This year I leave the dock with a completely open mind when practice starts. And when I say “completely open” that’s exactly what I mean.
I look around, run the lake and generally look things over before I get too carried away with a specific spot, technique and lure choice. Another thing is that I don’t pay any attention to where the other guys are stopped or to what they’re doing. They’re invisible to me. It’s my tournament and my fish. I have to do things my way.
That’s not as easy to do as it sounds. These guys are really good and some of them are always in the hunt. Ignoring a competitor who’s won several tournaments isn’t something that comes naturally, but it’s something that has to be done. In the end professional bass fishing is about individual performance.
The other thing I’m doing is fish the area I’m in thoroughly. I stay put until I’m confident I’ve caught every fish I can. In some lakes you have to move more than in others but the fundamentalidea is always the same. You can’t get in a hurry to move and go somewhere else. It’s important to stay put and fish every square foot of water in front of you.
Most of the places we fish have nice populations of quality bass. The idea that all the fish are somewhere else or are in one or two spots is silly. Most times they’re right in front of you. Maybe they aren’t the winning fish, but they are quality fish and if you catch enough of them you’ll come out pretty good in the end.
Rethinking your approach isn’t a sign of weakness or failure, at least that’s not the way I see it. Somebody smarter than me once said that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result isn’t real smart. I think he had it right.