The writer went so far as to say "these two factors, above all others, will separate the bad angler from the good angler, and the good angler from those who have been fortunate enough to figure out how to fish for a living. These two elements are so important to your bass-fishing success that every angler should take time to analyze each day you spend on the water.
"Look at all the factors, the water conditions, the weather, your actions, your successes, your failures, and so on. Analyze your tactics, your habits, your planning, your equipment, and your skill sets, and then make a determination on how to improve that particular aspect of your fishing. And keep in mind that even the things you do well can and likely need to be improved upon. If you determine that a particular aspect of your fishing involves bad habits or mistakes, develop an exercise that will help you fix the problem the next time you go to a lake or other body of water."
The writer then delved into what would be considered a mistake, citing that forgetting to check your knot or not retying often enough as a couple of examples.
"Other possible mistakes could include not using the proper line size, the wrong amount of flex in your rod, horsing a fish to the boat instead of playing it, handling fish improperly while landing them, and poor netting skills. Ask yourself these questions: Did you choose the wrong bait for the fishing conditions? Did you spend enough time studying the map? Another mistake could be leaving biting fish to go to another spot.
"The best part about making mistakes is that you don't have to make them the next time you go to the lake," the writer continued. "Concentration will take care of most of them. The biggest problem with mistakes is that very few anglers take the time to figure out if they actually have made one. And granted, there are many bass anglers who may not be serious enough to care whether a mistake has been made or not. But what if you could have caught one more fish, or landed that huge greenback that had to be at least six pounds?"
Smart pro anglers make very detailed notes about everything. They keep huge logbooks on each different lake, tournament, or simple fishing trip for every day, month and year they have been fishing. Some even have been known to carry mini-tape recorders in their pockets to keep track of everything that happens, everything they see, or even the things they feel. It doesn't take much time before you can find simple ways to make fewer mistakes and catch more fish.
And then there are the bad habits, which are more about methods, tactics, skills, and planning. Obviously, they are harder to break and may require repetition of exercises and practice to do so.
The writer started the list of bad habits with setting the hook too hard.
In some cases, though, he said, "Anglers try to lead a fish all the way to the boat without ever setting the hook. That, too, is a problem. When a bass takes a soft-plastic bait, it's normally done out of hunger or a feeding action but normally not a reaction. That means the fish wants a meal and really doesn't intend on letting the bait go. Letting a fish have a bait too long generally happens when you haven't fully developed your ability to feel a bite. If you wait until the fish moves enough to confirm a bump was actually a fish, you often will lose it.
"To feel the bite better," he continued, "make sure you move the bait with the rod tip. When you move the bait, picture in your mind what your bait is contacting as it moves and tell yourself what's underwater as your bait makes contact. Tell yourself that your bait is bumping a stump, tugging through grass, popping across a gravel bed, pulling over a rock, or being whacked by a fish. You'll learn the difference, and when you set the hook, remember three things: quick, precise and steady pressure. Never confuse quick with hard. Replace hard with steady pressure, and a quick, smooth, precise stroke."
Continuing, the writer said, "The shoreline is probably the most widely implemented bad habit. When you go to the lake, where are most of the boats? If you said 'slamming the bank', you're right. The bank is the easiest place to find fish. The bank has the most visible cover. The fish there are the easiest to locate, but they also receive the most fishing pressure. While using the bank to get a feel for what the fishing conditions will be like for the day, don't let it become too habitual. There are plenty of targets offshore...hidden structure, like ledges and break lines; or edges of cover, like submerged timber, beds of vegetation, or stump fields. Expand your horizons for a ditch, ridge or underwater hump, or maybe a hidden rock pile in a structurally vacant cove, which leads us to yet another bad habit: spending too much time at your honey hole.
"Too many anglers go to the same spot on the same lake, time after time, because they had a few good days on that spot during a previous trip. Or similarly, they bank on an area where they had success in a tournament they fished on a less familiar lake. Remember, however, that fish don't always locate in the same areas all the time, because different factors are at play. Maybe the baitfish no longer are at the same depth, maybe the water quality has changed, or maybe the lake level has changed since your last visit. It's perfectly natural to go with what you know, but plan on fishing where the fish should be, based on the current conditions, not those that existed way back when. You'll have far greater successes. Spend a day on your home water, exploring the bottom and contours, instead of fishing. You may be surprised what you'll learn."
"It's true nobody should know a spot better than the local anglers, but take their advice at face value," said the writer. "For example, they may tell you about a person who had a great day two days ago...but then got skunked for the next two days. And in tournaments, anglers more often than not will tell you anything but the truth about what they've been doing, so be confident in your own abilities, do your homework, fish hard and constant, and find your own fish. Few things equal the satisfaction that comes from proving to yourself that you can have success all by yourself, and the more you do it, the more it will happen."
Another bad habit is wasting time on the water, especially when fishing a tournament.
Advised the writer, "Learn the lake and how to run it. You're wasting time if your boat is at idle speed. Rig all your gear before you get on the water. Keep your line wet, and a hook in the water. Make sure your boat is organized so that you don't have to stop fishing to look for anything. Eat your lunch while casting, or when running to your next area. Any time wasted could mean not catching one or more keeper fish."
In conclusion, the writer noted that "mistakes and bad habits are controllable factors, meaning that these things happen because you let them happen. While the fish is an uncontrollable factor, the wise angler offers the fish what they want, not what he/she wants. Do what you know how to do, not what everyone else is doing. You will have greater success in locating and catching bass if you set your mind to controlling all the factors you can control, and then concentrate on them relentlessly. We will always learn from our mistakes, because we always will make them. We also always will develop bad habits, but we can break them."
More times than not, however, we'll remember the bubblegum worms for fishing but then forget something we promised to do around the house before going fishing." Bet we all know why that happens, huh?
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