Fishing/Jig Tying Rant

[Pup]

Went fishing last Thursday with my good friend Brian Waldman of Big Indiana Bass. Was a nice day to be out. It was sunny and mild. A gentle breeze blew over the water for most of the day. Very comfortable.

Results? Brian caught a heckuva lot of fish. More than I could count. A couple of his white crappie were around 12 inches long and very fat (large for this reservoir). Other fish included a largemouth better than 14" (tournament keeper) and a few large yellow bass around 9". He's a very good fisherman.

Sorry, no pics. That's the result of my personal fishing frustration. I caught a total of 3 or, maybe, 4 fish all day. At one point we were standing side by side on the boat deck and fishing the same area. :huh:

My point? The bottom line is... get out and fish more than you tie. I spend more time behind a vise than I do fishing. The results for this day spurred on my personal evaluation of the two activities. So, I hope to be stream fishing instead of tying during October. Maybe I can get a better feel for fishing once again.

My tying addiction will be difficult to beat though.

 

[papaperch]

That happens no matter Pup. My wife 7 times out of 10 will outfish me. Sometimes I feel like I am just along for the ride. And of course to tend to all her needs while she is kicking my butt.

Fish being the contrary critters that they are. Somedays they make you look like the next great fishing guru and other days like a complete novice. I have been on both ends of the stick many times over my 65 years. I remember outfishing my Pap and Grandpap one day way back in the 50's. They rode one another about it all the way home. The reason I remember it so well was it very rarely happened.

I think that is what makes fishing/angling so special. Despite all our scientific knowledge and research a creature as instinctive as a fish can still take us to the woodshed for a virtual whooping every now and then. Goes a long way to help maintain our humility. LOL

Tie when you want and fish when you want. But remember you are on their home court .

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Hang in there pup. My last couple of trips haven't been the greatest either but I'm certainly not going to stop trying and tying. Thinking about throwing them a change up and use live bait. Fish more and you'll get in sync with the fish.

 

[Pup]

Thanks for the encouragement Guys. The nice thing about a personal rant is that I usually forget about what precipitated it rather quickly. Got my waders out this evening to check them over. Looking forward to wading the local river beginning in November.

And there are more ties coming later this weekend. :icon14:

 

[Jig Man]

I generally work my tying around my fishing... but I'm not that good at either!

 

[Pup]

I generally work my tying around my fishing... but I'm not that good at either!

JM, I've seen your ties and a couple of your crappie catches. So, I beg to differ.

 

[StumpHunter]

Tying can take up a lot of our time but when on the lake catching fish I'm thinking of more tyes to tie and try. LOL it never ends but I also hope to spend more time on the water this fall.

 

[smalljaw]

I had a rough couple trips on the water myself but the fishing is tough here are the lakes are all in turn over and I haven't got a chance to hit the river yet. That said, there are times like that Pup, sometimes it is something different like line size which affects the rate of fall, just the difference between 6lb and 8lb test is all there is between having a 50 fish day as opposed to a 5 fish day, I even saw days where my buddy had put 3 packs of soft plastic worms, all different colors into one back and they bled together and that funky color was the only thing the fish would hit resulting in me catching 1 fish and my buddy get 14, and he isn't what I would call a good angler, but things like that happen. Anyway, keep the head up and try to get out more but if being behind the vise makes you happy, well then you are already a winner even if you don't always get them on the water.

 

[Pup]

Thanks for your comments SH and SJ.

 

[Hawnjigs]

For whatever reason we have off days. For example, I kept a catch log during my Sept. trip and here are results on two consecutive days in the same area at the same time of the morning with the same shad dart jigs:
Sept. 19 - Bows 14, 16, 18, 20 & browns 18, 20, 22
Sept. 20 - Bows 12, 12, 12
Bout a quarter mile stretch of river so its not like the trout were in a honey hole that I fished out the first day. All were C&R.

No doubt getting outfished by someone close by doesn't help one's mood either. In fact, the second day there was a flyguy on the opposite bank netting one after another while every decent strike I got resulted in a missed hookset or drop off.

 

[Pup]

Hawn,

The funny thing is...I've had "off days" while fishing the last three trips with my friend. This suggests to me that I should be fishing more and making changes to what I'm doing. We may be heading out again soon. I'm bringing along different equipment on that day.

Thanks for your comment.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Well, that's kinda aggravating, almost expecting to be spanked by your buddy. Was me, think I'd be planning more solo outings to rebuild my juju.

My CO grandsons don't care to fish, but the last two outings years ago:
Jackson Res outlet - Eli 14" rainbow, Grampa 0
Seaman Res - Eli 18" rainbow, Grumpa 0