Sunday, May 7, 2023
I Like To Fish Slower Than Most People
I like to fish slower than most people, and this is sometimes a problem.
I like to fish slower in a lot of ways. For crank baits I don’t just turn the handle slower. I use lower gear ratio reels. My favorite popper presentation is to drop it in a prime spot and make a slow count to ten before making just the first slight disturbance with the popper. Even baits you think would be relatively fast I tend to fish slower than other people. For buzzbaits I use large diameter line and hold the rod high so I can burble it along the surface or across a point a little slower. Even a buzz frog. I went so far as to invent my own buzz frog that would swim and kick a little slower than any other buzz frog I knew of at the time. When I am flipping I don’t just slap the bait from spot to spot. I like to let it soak a little while, give it a slight shake, and let it soak a little longer before I pull it out and flip it to the next spot. I’m more apt to yo yo a lipless than to burn one.
My favorite frogs
https://www.cncmolds … /webstore/frogs.html
Oh, there are times when a fast retrieve produces for me and I am not afraid to fish faster if its working, but I generally tend to fish slower and move the boat slower than a lot of other people do. This causes problems.
When I am in the back of the boat with somebody else I often have to skip a lot of spots I would ordinarily fish in order to fish some spots the way I want. When I am in the front of the boat with someone else I often find them climbing all over me and fishing on top of me because they are anxious to fish faster. Sometimes with the aggressiveness of some other anglers this seems to invite them to cut their boat in front of mine. Trust me. I never invite somebody to cut in front of me unless you hear me actually say those words. Sure, some of the big name pros have made a name for themselves by power fishing, but that’s just not my jam.
Anytime I am having a tough day or a slow bite I tend to slow down and concentrate on trying to get the bites I do get in the boat more than flailing the water like a runaway windmill hoping to catch fish by shear numbers of presentations.
Once I spent and entire day with nothing in the boat. I was not fond of the back seater I drew in that tournament, but I was being polite and civil. With about twenty or thirty minutes left until weigh he belted out in a loud obnoxious bellow, “Well! YOU GOT ABOUT 20 MINUTES TO SHOW ME SOMETHING BOB!” I was already flipping kinda slow. I slowed down. I took my time and picked apart every single tulie stem. Flip in front, soak, shake, soak some more. Then on the left side. Then on the right side. One last flip to hook around behind the same tulie stem and soak, shake, and soak before moving on to the next tulie stem. With a few minutes left to fish I stuck a 4+ pounder. It puts us on the board, and kept us in the points for the season. Is that some great lesson in tournament angling? No of course not. It was a small lesson. Don’t let time, pressure, or obnoxiousness force you out of your zone.
Now there is another lesson to learn. Don’t waste time either. Some folks who have fished with me might know I have high speed reels in my flipping sticks. I see no reason to spend one more second than I have to with my bait out of position. I may be fishing slow, but I want to be very fast in between presentations. When I fish stick worms most of my bites come on a slow weightless fall, but when I decide I’m done with that spot I burn it back to the boat, and already have my next cast picked out. In almost one motion I finish my retrieve and go into the next cast. My buddy Dave Willhide calls it fishing slow… fast.
My favorite stick worms.
https://www.cncmolds … c60b76892dc10ccc4b51
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