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

[Tim Smith]

I caught a fish! I was out for 4 hours and I only caught one fish, but it was a good fish. A big smallmouth. Well I dunno if it was atually "big" or not, but it seemed like a monster to me.

I was wade fishing down near river cut golf course.

Now here's the thing. I saw the reference to the Ned rig, so I fished the Ned rig the whole time. I only got the one bite, and that bite landed me the nice big fish. But it was only 1 bite in about 3-3.5 hours. I was pretty much casting it out at all of the likely spot, letting it sit for a few seconds, reeling it in with a few little hops, letting it sit, repeat. That wasn't getting anything.

In fact, the fish I finally caught took the bite when I was just fast-reeling to get the lure back in cause I thought my cast was bad.

Now it was late in the day, and since the sun was low and hitting he water at an angle, I could see the water was absolutely full of fish, and there were several nice fat bass swimming around. So I continued to fish that hole for another 30 minutes or so, putting that jig right in front of their noses, and nobody else was biting.

So at least I now know a hole with fish, but I dunno why I couldn't get them to bite.

And ozark trout fisher, I appreciate the advice and the positive attitude, but I am way past fisherman zen on this. If I wanted to go enjoy playing in the river and not catching fish, then I would just go play in the river. And I think if I usually caught fish and only occasionally got skunked I could be happy with an afternoon outside and call it good, but I am a long way from that kinda equilibrium.

But hey! After about 20 trips over the course of 2 months... I finally caught a respectable fish!

Nice. Congratulations!

[Quillback]

Yes, congrats!

[Blazerman]

I caught a fish! I was out for 4 hours and I only caught one fish, but it was a good fish. A big smallmouth. Well I dunno if it was atually "big" or not, but it seemed like a monster to me.

I was wade fishing down near river cut golf course.

Now here's the thing. I saw the reference to the Ned rig, so I fished the Ned rig the whole time. I only got the one bite, and that bite landed me the nice big fish. But it was only 1 bite in about 3-3.5 hours. I was pretty much casting it out at all of the likely spot, letting it sit for a few seconds, reeling it in with a few little hops, letting it sit, repeat. That wasn't getting anything.

In fact, the fish I finally caught took the bite when I was just fast-reeling to get the lure back in cause I thought my cast was bad.

Now it was late in the day, and since the sun was low and hitting he water at an angle, I could see the water was absolutely full of fish, and there were several nice fat bass swimming around. So I continued to fish that hole for another 30 minutes or so, putting that jig right in front of their noses, and nobody else was biting.

So at least I now know a hole with fish, but I dunno why I couldn't get them to bite.

And ozark trout fisher, I appreciate the advice and the positive attitude, but I am way past fisherman zen on this. If I wanted to go enjoy playing in the river and not catching fish, then I would just go play in the river. And I think if I usually caught fish and only occasionally got skunked I could be happy with an afternoon outside and call it good, but I am a long way from that kinda equilibrium.

But hey! After about 20 trips over the course of 2 months... I finally caught a respectable fish!

Glad to hear you got one. You persistence finally paid off at least for one fish.

But like the others were saying, after you caught that one reeling fast, did you try reeling fast again in front of the fish you could see? If you caught that one that way hopefully you tried doing the same thing a bunch more times. That first fish can tell you what they want action wise and you should listen to what they are telling you.

Many times if you reel quickly with your bait just under the surface and even break the surface sometimes the bait looks like a minnow fleeing from prey and gets bass excited enough to chase and swipe at it and you can catch fish on the reaction bite. Also,a fish being caught and reeled in will sometimes get the school active.

[Flysmallie]

Many times if you reel quickly with your bait just under the surface and even break the surface sometimes the bait looks like a minnow fleeing from prey and gets bass excited enough to chase and swipe at it and you can catch fish on the reaction bite. Also,a fish being caught and reeled in will sometimes get the school active.

True, and reaction bites are always the most fun. you would think if the fish really wanted to eat it, it would have done so while it was hopping along the bottom. But that's not always the case. Sometimes the sight of a fleeing or "injured" bait creates that reaction to kill and eat it. Figure that out and you can have a lot of fun in a short amount of time.

[jimithyashford]

Yeah, after I got that surface strike I cast out and retrieved quickly with the same lure several more times in kinda a fan pattern. When that wasn't getting anything I switched to a crankbait and did the samething. After that is was starting to get dark so I packed it up.

[Quillback]

Basspro in Springfield has weekly seminars starting September 2nd, 6:30 PM. Local guys talking about different bass techniques. They are free. If I lived in Springfield, I'd probably check a few out. September 16, Eric Prey will be talking about fall jig fishing, I might make the trek and attend that one.

[Kee sims]

Rent a kayak

[Ham]

Man, it's been really hard for me to stay out of this one.

[jimithyashford]

Why would it be hard to stay out? Any good advice would be welcome.

So, I haven't had a chance to go fishing again since that one fish I did catch, but I did float the Jack's Fork from Alley to Eminence last weekend. I got a chance to snorkel and dive in some of the deeper spots and I was happen to see lots of nice fat bass just sitting there, tucked down into holes or behind rocks out of the current. Visual confirmation of lots of bass in the water, but I was with friends and we weren't fishing, so I just enjoyed the diving and went on past.

Maybe I'll float that again and fish it.

[ozark trout fisher]

Why would it be hard to stay out? Any good advice would be welcome.

So, I haven't had a chance to go fishing again since that one fish I did catch, but I did float the Jack's Fork from Alley to Eminence last weekend. I got a chance to snorkel and dive in some of the deeper spots and I was happen to see lots of nice fat bass just sitting there, tucked down into holes or behind rocks out of the current. Visual confirmation of lots of bass in the water, but I was with friends and we weren't fishing, so I just enjoyed the diving and went on past.

Maybe I'll float that again and fish it.

Nice, I plan to chase smallmouth on that stretch of the Jacks next weekend. Scenery's always nice there, if nothing else.