Your strategy to "dial 'em" in

[Lals]

Over the last 30 days, the fish seem to be very selective. It seems that unless you find the right "menu item", action is very limited. I had a few outings where I fished an area that I knew there were fish but went through the area a few different times with different baits and then all of the sudden I try something new and they start going for me. Also the funny thing is that not only were there fish in the spot, there were a lot of 'em. Of course, there are times that I just come up empty.

What is your strategy to dial in the fish faster?

[st.crioxfishin]

Lals,

Goofy how that works, isn't it? Couple thoughts that may or may not answer your question...

If I'm in an area where I know there are fish (offshore schools of fish), I'll go in having about 4 to 5 different baits on the deck that I have the utmost confidence in. If I can't get them to bite on those baits then I generally move on and circle back later. I'm not one to wait them out unless it's a tournament and I know that spot will be gobbled up soon as I move.

I've seen too many times where you pull up to a spot where you know they live, don't get a bite, and then circle back later in the day and they are on fire. It's a situation that I've never been able to explain, except for claiming that "it's a timing deal". If your timing is right, it's great. If your timing is wrong, it's not great.

Getting a little off topic, but if I ever sense a weather front moving in (happens a lot here in mid-afternoon on hot summer days), then I make it a point to get to my best areas. That's the one situation where you can almost predict that your timing is going to be 'right'.

[RumRiverRat]

No substitute for time on the water.

Keeping a detailed log of my time on the water and being able to look back at a couple years of notes allows me to see the seasonal patterns and gives me a good idea where and what to start with.

To get the fish dialed in faster on any given day I fish spots with baits that have worked in the past. At the same time you cannot fish memories, you need to fish in the moment.

If the usual search baits do not work or the usual dragging a jig on a rock point or throwing a frog in the predawn hours does not pan out you need to pay attention to things like the presence of forage.

I have witnessed on numerous occasions bluegills jumping out of the water because bass are chasing them. I have seen bass breach the surface like a whale when chasing bluegills in matted vegetation. Visual cues like that can help you select the proper bait to throw. In the case of the bass breaching up shallow made me move in shallow off a deep rock point and start throwing a frog during the middle of the day when the sun was at its brightest.

Docks are a productive structure to fish, they hold fish all summer and into the fall.

If you are fishing docks on metro waters a good strategy is do something different than what the typical bass fisherman would do. Weightless senkos, flukes and wacky rigged senkos are typical dock baits, try something heavy a 1/2 to 3/4oz tungsten weight pegged in front of a Pit Boss or other beaver style bait bump the support poles and make a lot of commotion with the bait.

[EBass]

Nice post RRR

[Lals]

Thanks guys really helpful information. Here are a couple of comments and a question.

RRR, I get what you are saying that nothing replaces time on the water, you couple that with being very observant and you increase your chances. It reminds me of something Cjac told a few years ago when he fished with RK. That was RK noticed EVERYTHING, from a single weed moving to bird activity....

I was fishing a metro lake last week for a couple of hours and basically struck out. So, this week when I had more time, I went back out on the lake and for the first 3 hours I continue to struggle pretty badly, then I went to good weedline (again) change the bait (again) so I was fishing the mid depths -- 5-7' down in 10-12' of water and then caught 7 in an hour with a 20.5" as the biggest. I am pretty sure the technique I was using was unusual for that lake (another success factor that you mentioned.)

St Croix fishing made some great points as well. I agree there are so many factors that go into it -- feeding windows, fish locations/movements including depth, bait selections, etc.... I agree that this is what makes it so much fun. My feeling is that this time of year the fish will feed all day and what makes catching fish difficult is that the fish have some many natural options to feed on that compete with our baits and they have seen a lot of artificial baits. So the key is how to move up your bait to higher priority on the fish's menu.

The good news is that you can catch them all day and the challenge is to compete with their natural food and the fact they have been educated by the various baits they have seen. So, you can fish good areas but come up empty without the right bait selection and the margin of error/success on the right bait selection is very narrow at this time of year -- this is my opinion.

This time of year is an interesting conundrum.. versus other seasons like the spring and fall when it seems you catch 'em with many different types of baits very consistently.

Any opinions on what is most important (Bait selection, location, feeding windows, etc..) this time of year?

[RumRiverRat]

Any time of year location, location and location are the most important things.

Couple a great location with the moon directly overhead or directly underfoot and the right bait and good things will happen.

Fish with a purpose, visualize what the bait is doing underwater. Visualize the structure/cover you are fishing. Visualize how the fish are relating to that cover.

All the clues you get from the way the fish bites, where is was in relation to the location you are fishing. The details and keeping track of them may seem tedious and seem to take the fun out of fishing. But I want to put fish......big fish in the boat every time out, sometimes in does not happen.

When things are not going well you need to have the mental toughness to stay focused on the task at hand. Some days can be a real grind, it makes the few bites you get all the more satisfying.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

visualize what the bait is doing underwater. Visualize the structure/cover you are fishing. Visualize how the fish are relating to that cover.

I think this is the best thing one can do. When I started fishing tournaments I really forced myself to try to pay attention to everything. I dont think it takes the fun out of fishing at all, especially when you really zero in on them and start catching fish cast after cast. I also get panicky if I cant watch a depth finder especially in deep water. I need to see the depth, weedline, bottom content, baitfish, gamefish...

[RK]

Lots of good info here.

First off, for me, everything starts and ends with F + L + P. It's not so much a formula you plug things into as it is a way to organize your thoughts and the information you have at hand in a rational way. It's such a habit for me to think this way it's not even a conscious thing anymore - it's just how my head works when I pick up a rod. But if you've never thought of it in those terms, start. Amazing what it will do for you.

One thing to add to what's already been said, which I know I've mentioned a lot is that how fish bite can tell you an awful lot if you're paying attention. Short hits, missed fish, tentative bites, or how fish are hooked (lip hooked or even outside the mouth with a crankbait vs. having to stick your finger down their throat because they engulfed it) are all clues.

Example from this past weekend - I fished through a very good deep weedline spot with a jig and pig and had two bites. Missed one, caught the other, and the bites were very very tentative...mushy, jig fell into a bowl of oatmeal bites. The conditions didn't really make me expect a weak bite (not post frontal) so I kind of suspected something was off with my lure choice. Switched to a jigworm, went back into the middle of the weedline, and caught 6 without moving the boat. All solid bites where the fish inhaled the jig. Was wishing I could have switched back to a jig and gone lighter and with a bulkier trailer, or changed to a finesse jig to see if it was drop speed or size/profile that made the difference but was out of time.

If I don't think I have things quite dialed in I start playing with the variables that are easy to manipulate - horizontal vs vertical, speed, drop speed, then fine tune with things like profile, etc. Color is usually pretty far down on the list. (Except sometimes with smallmouths, which I think can be 10x more color selective than LMB ever are.)

The main thing is to have a thought process behind it. A few bites in an area where there should be a lot of fish, or tentative bites and short hits are kind of clues that something isn't quite right. If you're deliberate about trying alternatives and pay attention to how fish respond you can dial stuff in pretty thoroughly and hopefully quickly.

[RuddyDuck]

I guess one simple thing I do is set a time limit for my first few spots that I have picked out for the day. I use to find myself staying at a spot way too long, just cause I caught them there last time. This has made me cover more water and usually helps me put a few more fish in the boat. It also forced me to try new spots on a lake that I always would just brush off, cause I wanted to concentrate on my Hotspot.