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Old 06-14-09, 01:52 PM   #1
cassidyta
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Default adaptability equals caught fish

I figured I would pass this on for those who can use the info. I suspect that a good majority of the folks on here already know this and can probably articulate better than myself.

Background:

I was able to participate in a bragging rights tourney yesterday that was a blast. The tourney format was simple, who can catch the most legal sized bass in the day. The lake was lake Barrett located here in Southern Cal. The lake is unlike most of the ones found out this way. The lake requires that all fish be released and all hooks must be barbless. This lake has the northern strain of LMB, so they do not get as big, but are more aggressive in their eating habits. 50 bass days are not uncommon and there have been several days with boats reporting 100 fish.
The lake is only open to fishing from 5:00 am until 7:30 pm on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. They limit it to 100 fishermen a day.

Results:
The winning team had 72 fish boated, 2nd place had 64, 3rd had 51. There was a major drop off following 3rd place, 4th place had 21 and the last place (7th place) team finished with 12 fish.


Lessons Learned:
The reason for the drastic differences in the numbers was simply that the top three teams adapted to the environment and the fish faster than the rest of the field.
It was almost funny to hear the same statements from the bottom 4 teams. "Well, this bait/presentation worked last time" "I stuck to that spot because it just looked like it had to hold fish or it is where I caught fish last time"
The top finishing teams quickly identified that the fish were not where they caught them last time and/or they needed to change their technique to catch them.

I find that I am often guilty of the all of those excuses. I have my confidence baits that have produced for me and I throw them a lot. I will usually fish places that best match my strengths. (Debris covered water for frogs, and protruding structures pitching)
I also have presentations that I just don't like to throw. (For me it is finesse fishing, I just don't have the patience)
I think that we (at least I do) often are very stubborn when we fish. I throw baits that I like and expect the fish to adapt to me. I will stick with a bait or presentation way too long into the day and only really change it up out of desperation.

My team finished 5th with 18 fish boated. 5 of those fish were caught before 4:00 pm using frogs, jigs, and big creature baits tight against the structure. The remaining 13 fish were all caught on 4 inch worms and lizards. T-rigged on 6 lbs test with 1/16th weight and a drop shot style hook. All 13 were caught between 10-15 foot of water.
The stubbornness to go to a technique I and my partner dislike hurt us in this event.
I spent this morning rearranging my tackle box. I put the baits that I don't like to throw towards the front. This will force me to at least look at them and hopefully consider them before passing them up to move to my favorites.
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Old 06-14-09, 02:16 PM   #2
nofearengineer
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Great post, and I totally agree with your principal point. I really need to work on my own personal skill set. When I came to this site, I was pretty much a one-trick pony with "give me a t-rigged worm or give me death" mindset. However, fishermen should not confuse results with skill. Yes, adaptability is great, but how do you know the winners just didn't start out with the right presentation to begin with...and if it wasn't "broken," they didn't have to "fix it." It's like a quarter-flipping tournament. Take 64 people and have them flip quarters in pairs until you only have one person left. Well, that guy must be the best quarter flipper in the world, right? You get the point. Someone out of that hundred fisherman was going to have the right combination, just by the odds. And everyone who didn't have it thinks that guy is a genius. For a day at least.

Ever been to a lake when you picked up the bite right away and just nailed it all day? Hopefully everyone gets to do this once in a while. When it's happened to me, I'd like to think it was skill, but it probably wasn't. Sometimes you just get lucky, and there's no shame in that. It's just random dumb luck.

Once a guy starts knocking them dead day in and day out, or at least more days than not, then he can start saying it was skill and adaptability. Moral of the story? Be adaptable, keep at it, but don't be too tough on yourself if you finish 5th, or even get skunked once in a while. Personally, I fished this weekend with two fishermen I KNOW are both better at fishing than I am, and yet I did "better" than they did. Dumb luck and persistence, mainly.
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Old 06-14-09, 02:22 PM   #3
cassidyta
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Very good point nofear....I only know that they changed it up based on our follow up conversations. They made more location moves early than others and very importantly they fished as a team. Each guy working something different until they found a true pattern.
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Old 06-14-09, 02:41 PM   #4
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You're right about the team thing. I HATE fishing by myself! I think it takes me too long to figure out what they're wanting.
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Old 06-14-09, 07:35 PM   #5
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very interesting cass and nofear. i too am not good at getting away form my "go-to" baits. maybe i willl rearrange my rig like you have cass, it does make you at least LOOK at the none used lures more often. thanks for the info.
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Old 06-14-09, 10:04 PM   #6
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This is a very interresting discussion. I think for most people, a lot simply has to do with experience. The more hours one can spend in persuit of any fish, the better they will get at reading the clues and knowing when and where to change. I find it helps me to have 5 - 7 rods rigged at all times with different lures for various techniques. That way I find it easier to set one down and try another as conditions change. My biggest problem is that I usually am on the water for half a day or so. Sometimes less. Therefore there isn't as much time to experiment and so I feel pressure to go with what has worked for me in the past. Quite often I find myself saying at the end of the outting,"if I were going to come back out here tommorrow morning I'd do this or I'd do that". For the average weekend angler, I think it is important to be aware of the season, the weather the past several days, normal fish location for that time of year, and so on in order to have a good idea of where to start your day. BUT, to also keep an open mind and have some backup plans in mind before ever heading to the lake.
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Old 06-15-09, 01:36 PM   #7
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Wow! Same here. I'll do the same thing, most of the time I start out with a spinnerbait, and if that dose not work, I keep throwing that spinnerbait all day. Towards the end of the trip, I'll switch to a worm up tight to cover , and start catching bass. Once I go home I wish that I had used a worm after I did not catch bass off a spinnerbait for an hour. Some times I'll also be using a worm, and not catch bass on it, so I start throwing something I have a little more confidence in, and still not catch fish, than put the confidence bait down and start using a worm, only this time in a different color, and catch fish. Where as most anglers mays have just used a different color worm in the first place.

Great post cass!
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Old 06-15-09, 02:40 PM   #8
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The game of fishing is like a game of poker, itīs won by those who know how to play with the cards the dealer has dealt them.
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Old 06-21-09, 05:25 AM   #9
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Fun post, fact is never dealt with any of this during my tournament run. Fished what I fished lake in and lake out, they said this, they said that, still I did great. Fishing is just that, if you have it you have it, if not **** um.
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Old 06-21-09, 12:58 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CCbass View Post
Fun post, fact is never dealt with any of this during my tournament run. Fished what I fished lake in and lake out, they said this, they said that, still I did great. Fishing is just that, if you have it you have it, if not **** um.

shouldn't you be out on a ledge somewhere ready to jump
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Old 06-21-09, 01:01 PM   #11
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right on jb, i will build a fire pit for him.
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Old 06-21-09, 01:24 PM   #12
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Some one must have tied one on last night, they are reverting back to old behaviors.
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Old 06-21-09, 04:19 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raul View Post
The game of fishing is like a game of poker, itīs won by those who know how to play with the cards the dealer has dealt them.
Right on, except its darn hard to bluff and still win the pot in fishing
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