Are My Expectations Just Off? What Is "good" Fishing?

[vonreed]

Use as small a split shot as possible, with light line. I use 4-6 pound test. Let the crawdad sit on the bottom, reel in slowly if you're getting no bites. Another good way is to throw a crawdad or minnow right at the edge of the current without a sinker on and let it float around naturally. It just kills the bigger bass which tend to be smarter than average.

[Gavin]

Vonreed's suggestions are solid, small plastics like the little varmit (Ned rig) work great when fished in a similar manner. The smallmouth were all over my Case Jacks Worm on one if the rivers I floated last week. Had a banner day on Tuesday. Well over 50 to hand. The Ned did better on the other river . Fishing was kinda slow. Maybe 30-50 fish between the 3 of us. Mostly smallmouth, maybe 30 percent LMB and one 5lb Channel Cat that we fried for dinner with some Onion Rings.

[Al Agnew]

To follow up on Vonreed's crawdad advice...get some light wire (thin) hooks, bronze or black in color, not gold. About size 4s. Get some BB split shot. Put one or two BB split shot on the line about a foot above the hook. Catch your crawdads...easy enough to do just about anywhere on Ozark streams by turning over rocks in shallow water, but a little tropical fish type net works well. Turn over the rock, look for a crawdad, watch it until it stops, gently put the net behind it a few inches, then move your other hand toward it from the front. It should scoot back and into the net. 1 inch crawdads will catch sunfish and goggle-eye, 1.5-2.5 inchers will catch better smallies. Carry something to hold the crawdads in and keep them alive.

Hook the crawdad from underneath through the meat of the tail just forward of the tail fin, exposing the point of the hook on the top of the tail. Cast it anywhere there is cover and some current with enough depth to hold fish, which may not be more than 18 inches, though nice 3-5 foot deep areas around cover are most likely to hold good fish. In slow current, the crawdad will go to the bottom and start crawling to look for a place to hide, and you will want to move it a foot or so if you don't get a bite within 30 seconds. Keep moving it every 30 seconds until you've moved it out of the fishy-looking water. Don't bother casting it again into the same place if you didn't get a bite the first cast, make your next cast 4 feet or so away or to the next piece of cover.

In faster current, the current will carry the crawdad downstream as it crawls and tumbles along the bottom. If it stops drifting along, lift the rod tip to dislodge it from whatever it's hung on, but be ready because it might be a fish! Again, you're not retrieving it, just moving it slightly to keep it in sight of the potential fish.

Goggle-eye and bass will pick it up and you'll feel a fairly steady pull. Small sunfish will nibble at smaller crawdads and you're more likely to feel a tap-tap-tap-tap... Lift the rod tip to pull it away if you feel the sunfish taps, but if you lift and feel weight and a steadier pull, set the hook. On the steady pull, lower your rod tip, wait for the line to come tight, and set the hook hard.

[Al Agnew]

And as for what constitutes good fishing on Ozark streams, an experienced angler should be able to catch a minimum of 3 bass per hour, and on a good day, 5 or more bass per hour.

[Kcdangler]

Don't keep the smallies keep the goggle eye and green bass and cats the 12 to 15 grow up to be18 to 20 s trophies

[bfishn]

...SO! How do you define "good" fishing?

Enjoying myself with a fishing pole in hand.

That's a pretty easy goal if you let it be. Muck that up with further expectations and you set yourself up for eventual failure.

Failing at something you're supposed to be having fun at sucks. Some give up, others join fishing forums.

[Haris122]

jimithyasford, I echo your experiences. It took me at least a month if not two of pretty much constantly going fishing every other evening in summer for a couple hours, to even get my first ever fish. But once that one got caught, it only fed the addiction. I'm definitely getting better at it, but it still tends to take me hours to catch something, and that's on the days that I do catch something, which are still only maybe 1 out of 2 to 2 out of 3 trips. I actually seem to be slowly cutting my time per fish caught down from 3 hours, to 2, and hopefully onwards.

I will say this though, my luck varies considerably between species. Bass (especially smaller ones it seems), I definitely have an easier time getting than most panfish that just mildly nibble and spit out your bait or lure before you can set the hook, and the trout, well those almost always make me just want to jump in the water and punch them in the face for making me feel like the biggest fool on earth. It also varies a lot between where you fish. I've gone to private ponds a few times, and though you still put some work in, fish do tend to get caught easier there, than on a local river or small lake heavily fished by all. I haven't figured out any solid ways to frequently catch big fish, but my frequent go-to lures so far are roostertails, smallish crankbaits, troutworms, and those pre-made stinkbait nuggets (for catfish). Though in general, nightcrawlers put all of that to shame as far as frequent bites are concerned. That being said, knowing where to throw them is the more important part. And one I'm still learning through trial and error.

But like bfishn said, it starts taking away from the enjoyment of it, if you start feeling like you have to be constantly doing better than last time, or at least staying steady, in regards to how many, what kind, or how big ones you catch.I keep being guilty of that too, and I need to cut it out. Some ambition is a good thing, but not to that point.

[Tim Smith]

What is a good trip?

Once I understand where the fish are and how to find them, then I settle down and am usually satisfied with whatever comes my way. Once I reach that point, that's a "good" trip for me. But I hate to get skunked and work like a dog to avoid it. Screw that fishing zen crap. I'm willing to take the bad days when they come, but I'm not going to be happy about it.

I would second the advice to pay attention to what you read here. I would add, however, that you have to spend enough time to understand the "why" of that advice you receive before it's going to do you much good.

Information just focused on where to fish is a dead end in the long run. Sure, you may be fishing a spot that had fish...2 weeks ago...but you don't know WHY you're standing there, or if you should be still. Similarly, depending on advice to use a particular bait may not do you any good if you don't know where the fish are holding. You may also know that a particular river holds smallmouth, but if you don't know the kind of habitat they're using or the kinds of prey they want, or the times of day they're active, or whether something is spooking the fish, you'll go home disappointed more often than not. Quite a few people never manage to integrate all the different kinds of information you need to succeed consistently at fishing. That's why we have golf.

Even mediocre water produces fish if you know how to read it properly. Even rich water can be a disappointment if you don't know how to tap into what's happening there. Consistent success takes time and patience...a patient teacher doesn't hurt either.

I will say too that fishing for just an hour is a pretty short trip. I usually catch, but I also usually catch most of my fish in the back half of the trip after I've tried a few different things and made a few observations that reveal what's going to succeed.

[Terrierman]

Some people won't ever be good fishermen. You might be one of them.

[jimithyashford]

To those who offered practical advice on techiques and locations to help catch fish. Thanks a lot, I will try those things.