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

[jimithyashford]

I've heard that you have to hit trout really early to have the best shot at catching them. I was actually camping at Bennet (other than the bad fishing it was an excellent weekend) so I was right there and had every intention of being on the water when the buzzer went off, but a late night of camp fire stories and beer kept me in bed until about 8:30am the next morning. I told myself "There are thousands of fish down there. There will still be plenty, I can sleep in a little." Guess that's a lesson learned.

I will be heading out tonight after work to fish a nice pool near rivercut. I caught one good smallie there a couple weeks ago, and I could see loads of other fish in the water, I just couldn't coax any others to bite. It's been cooler and we've had rain, so I'm hoping they are one fire this afternoon. Wish me luck.

[Mitch f]

Just ground up the trout feed and mix in biscuit dough and an egg and make a sphere about 3/8" diameter around a small treble hook. Fish it with 2-3 pound test about 3' under a small bobber and a tiny split shot about 1' above the hook.

[ozark trout fisher]

I've heard that you have to hit trout really early to have the best shot at catching them. I was actually camping at Bennet (other than the bad fishing it was an excellent weekend) so I was right there and had every intention of being on the water when the buzzer went off, but a late night of camp fire stories and beer kept me in bed until about 8:30am the next morning. I told myself "There are thousands of fish down there. There will still be plenty, I can sleep in a little." Guess that's a lesson learned.

I will be heading out tonight after work to fish a nice pool near rivercut. I caught one good smallie there a couple weeks ago, and I could see loads of other fish in the water, I just couldn't coax any others to bite. It's been cooler and we've had rain, so I'm hoping they are one fire this afternoon. Wish me luck.

Well then you still got to sit around a campfire, tell stories, and get skunked on a nice trout stream in a pretty corner of the world. There are worse ways to spend a weekend.

[jimithyashford]

Yeah, It was a great weekend, just terrible fishing. I am compartmentalizing here. I wont let the bad fishing ruin the whole weekend, but I also wont let everything else being awesome convince me the fishing was good when it wasn't.

[jimithyashford]

Mitch F, is that any different than some of the dough bait out there? Is it cheaper to do it that way than to buy the premade dough bait? Or is that just the secret weapon recipe you swear by? If so, thank you for sharing.

[ozark trout fisher]

If this makes you feel better, this was one of my first posts on OAF (about 6 years ago.)

"I am planning on trying to hit Maramec Springs several times once the catch and keep season begins, and I just have a couple of questions. I've fished here twice before, and each time fished all day and only caught one trout. Based on the number of people I see taking their limits in the first hour or so, I am clearly doing something wrong. I mainly spinfish, but I have a fly rod and will use it if it works better down there. I would just appreciate any advice on tips, baits, lures etc. Thanks a lot."

Trout can be frustrating. In the end the only thing that worked for me was trial and error. Sometimes you have to try every conceivable wrong way before you stumble on what works for you. That's how it ended up for me, but looking back it was as frustrating as hell but I don't regret a single minute of it.

[jimithyashford]

Well, that does make me feel better at least in knowing that I'm not specifically cursed.

[Pat Magee]

I may have been a little harsh about calling you a troll, it is just that I find some of this a little fishy (pun intended) I also don't want to ridicule a hook and line fisherman because I hear that once you strike out enough you start gigging em cause its easier.

I haven't been a fisherman my whole life but I can tell you that everything I learned was because I went fishing with someone who knew what they were doing and they taught me. Every body of water needs to be fished differently and different types of fish like to see bait presented differently. I could drag a turd with a treble across some lakes and rivers and catch fish and then there were others I needed to change things up or try new patterns.

You could save yourself alot of time and money by going with someone who has had success at places you like to fish. If you don't have someone in mind, find someone. It will save you from the embarrassing goose egg or at least make it less likely.

[Kelroy]

Don't give up, Jimithy.

I will not pretend to know all there is to know about fishing. The more I learn, the more I realize how much there is left to figure out.

I will go out on a limb and generalize a bit, and say that based on all my experience, if you tumble a live craw down a riffle and into a pool and something doesn't absolutely hammer it, you are fishing some empty water. Same thing with minnows or worms. If you can't catch something on live bait, consider there is nothing there worth catching, and look for new water. Sounds to me like all the streams around Springfield have been thrashed already. And don't forget, it's been darned hot, the water is low and clear (making them easier to spook), and the bite has been tough everywhere.

Another bait you should try, mentioned earlier, is a white fluke. I like a white or pearl Fluke Jr texas rigged weightless on a 2/0 EWG. Give it the ol' drift and twitch around some cover near a current break. Or drift it down a riffle into a pool. Sometimes they want it skimming fast on the surface. Play around with it, and if they see something they like, they will let you know.

[jimithyashford]

Ok, well, it is forgiven then. I find it fishy myself, or distinctly not fishy as the case may be. I don't always get totally skunked, about half the time I do catch SOMETHING, just never anything even remotely entering the "keeper" range (I don't keep bass, just a general expression for a good fish). I've only caught 2 fish all summer longer than my hand. Maybe 20 fish or so total if you include all of the baby smallies and perch. And way earlier in the year, when it was still cold enough I needed gloves to be out fishing, I caught a bass a little longer than my hand out of the warm water outlet at lake springfield. And that is it! No word of it a lie.