I believe I am fishing TOOOOO FAAAAST!

[Texas Transplant]

Man, it is really started to sink in, that most of the time, I am fishing way too fast.



I spent some time in the last week or two, really trying to go back over some of the tourneys/fish that I've caught over the past year. In most cases, the better fish have come when I'm really patient or fishing very throughly.



I was watching our friend Bill Dance last night (one of this years shows), where he is fishing a spinnerbait - deep and slow. Man, it really made me think. He was hardly moving that thing. He even talked about the slow gear ratio that he was using (4.3 to 1).



Trep recently talked about fishing the senko on his dude trip, and that he really had to slow down.



Greg Hackney, in an interview, talked about how slow that he fishes. He talked about taking 2-3 hours to fish one 100 yard stretch of good bank.



Reactions/comments?



Tex

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Most all of my biggest smallies have come from slooooow rollin' a spinnerbait and puttin'it right in their face. Gets them fish that guys like you miss BTW...Don't learn it...it'll save em' for meeeeee!

 

[Jim B]

I think you have to let the fish dictate the speed. How you work a lure can make a big difference if they strike it or not. Sometimes a slow retrieve or even deadsticking it is best sometimes you have to really be burning a bait. You need to let the fish tell you what they want. I have had days when fishinga spinner bait for instance when i tried my normal method of slow rolling it and not getting a strike, a simple changee in speed from slow to burning it they start hitting it time and time again. If they arent biting if when you move it fast slow it down and the same goes the other way.



I can give you a great example of this, i had been fishing a weedy reef on champlain in 25' of water with a carolina rig a few years ago. After fishing this spot for 2 hours without a bite i finally figured out what i needed to do to get them in. I knew the fish were there i just needed to do the right thing to catch them. I was doing the old drag/pause with the c-rig and wasnt getting bit. I ended up moving the bait constantly with the reel instead of dragging, never letting it stop. I ended up loading the boat with 15# and my partner had 16# in a matter of an hour after we both made the switch.



I think what Greg Hackney was saying may have been how long he fishes and area not necessarily how fast he is moving the bait. If im in an area that i know is holding fish i may try a bunch of dofferent baits and retreive speeds until i get into them and sometimes that takes a lot of time.

 

[Michael Snow]

If you are where the fish are (how in the horsecrap you KNOW that is beyond me), and you're not catching anything, you're doing something that isn't enticing them. Whether it's too fast, too slow, too soft, too loud, wrong color, wrong size, whatever.



I think an EXCELLENT example is Takahiro's last 5 minutes. He was fishing that area all day and had I think two fish. He pulled in 3 or 4 just by changing to a crankbait. Noise, vibration, color, whatever, something definitely changed the fish' way of thinking. I do suspect that he was in a school of sorts and the first one hitting it made all the difference -- it excited the fish.

 

[Greg Duggan]

i let the fish tell me how they want it. i tend to start all my tournys fishing with a texas rigged senko. if don't get any bites i will slow down to a very boring rate of cast and let it just sink and sit in place for a long couple off minutes. this is how i learned to fish back 18 yrs ago with a red shad culprit worm.

it is my way of old school fishing.

in my last tourny my partner is very green. i tried to explain to him to slow it way down, i boated 16 fish and he cought 2. he just coud'nl get the feel for the light bite. they were just baerly picking it up.

i also like to go to a drop shot when the fish want it slow. i will cast it anywhere, deep or shallow. i slow down the retrieve to a dead stop and just let it jiggle for a few minutes in one place. i have good luck with this during some tough fishing days.



GregD

 

[Pat Goff]

I didn't beg the old lady to marry me, I'm not gonna beg a fish to bite...

 

[Larry Harp]

I know that fishing slow certianly has it's place...just not in my boat. Hard as I try I cannot seem to slow way down. When I T-rig a worm or creature I may let it sit for a few seconds then hop it a time or two, then in it comes...same with J&P. Tubes are always working. Bought all the stuff to do dropshotting.....never got it wet. I'm not saying this is the correct method cause I ain't catching all that much latley.



I know in clear water speed can be your best friend. If the bass get too good a look at the bait they just might reject it while on the other hand they will react to some unidentified flying object.



Harpo

 

[Texas Transplant]

I probably should have been a little clearer. Generally, I fish slowly. However, I have found myself doing exactly what Harpo indicates above. Just barely giving the bait time to get down good once; one or two hops then bring it back.



I really need to go out by myself, and just practice somemore. Really concentrate on what I'm doing.



Tex

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

I have never burned a senko.....it is just not what the bait is designed for. Throw a fluke if you are nervous!! Throw a senko if you are semi comatose......Sometimes I actually make clients put the rod on the deck after they cast. It accomplishes 2 things...



1. It slows them down, they can't reel!!



2. Makes them watch the line.



Sometimes they have sensory overload trying to cast, reel, feel the bite, see the bite, set the hook, etc.



TOXIC

 

[John Foster2]

Dion Hibdon says the worst thing about reels is the handle....He says as soon as you put you hands on the handle all you want to do is reel it. So he puts his hand in his pocket to help him slow down. Like many have said already, the fish will tell you how they want it.



Recently we had a night tournament and everyone was throwing jitterbugs and buzzbaits. The bigger fish would only his the faster buzzbaits and a really fast jitterbug. The slow bloop bloop of the jitterbug was just not getting it down, but other nights the slow bloop bloop works. Wish I would have listened to what the fish were telling me........

 

[Bob G.]

I just wish that the fish would come up to the boat and give me a hint on what they want. I could lay my tackle out like a smorgasbord for them and they could pick out a few selections!!! LOL!!!



Bob G.