"Expert" anglers

[Mitch f]

 

This may be off topic here, and I may get some argument from the lake fisherman, but i truly believe if you grow up fishing streams and become good at it, you will be a better fisherman then someone who grew up fishing lakes or none moving water. To be a good river fisherman you have to learn quickly how the fish relate to current and also learn how to cast to a spot accurately. And feeling a bite in current was also was a skill that had to be learned.

I started on the Meramec and when i started fishing LOZ with my buddies, casting to specific spots around docks seemed easy. Casting a jig and letting it fall and feeling the thump of a crappie was super cool and amazed me as to how easy it seemed. Same with casting a spinner bait or crankbait along side a dock and getting hammer by a bass.

I know lakes and rivers are apples and oranges and I am not saying when fishing lakes i always catch fish, What i am saying is it did not seem as complicated as fishing a river. And also if you grew up fishing a river, the skills learned while river fishing will make you a better fisherman on any other body of water. 

But in both cases you have to find the fish to catch them and that has always been the hardest part.

 

Fishing a river makes you realize where fish usually reside, which is fairly predicable. Lake fishing however is much harder IMHO, the fish have an additional 3D effect (suspending) that river fish don't have. River fish are only about 2 1/2D at best. There aren't many rivers I fish over 10-12 ft deep. 

Have never had my butt kicked so bad on a river, but in a lake it happens often.

[Chief Grey Bear]

 

CHIEF I have sort of disagree with you about this. As I read the post it meant fisherman. It would be nice if fishermen always understod conservation but I have seen and personally know some that who pay no attention to conservation. About all of them are crappie fisherman. But they are still expert fishermen at what they do I can be assured of it. 

Most really truly expert fishermen ( not just somebody with a lot of fishing savy.)  I know got started fishing at a early age and fishing was a driving compulsion at the center of their life. And by that I mean they would eat it sleep it and live  fishing every moment they could. You can tell a expert by the way he can tell where the fsh are and how they will react 99% of the time just by the feel of the enviorment that surrounds him. I am not including myself in that group by any means. Bit have have fished with a few like that. 

 

I was just making a funny about a Seinfeld episode.

[Coosa]

On Thursday, April 06, 2017 at 9:21 AM, Seth said:

Depends on what metrics you use to determine if your day on the water was a success. Some people just like to go out, relax, have a beer and catching anything is just a bonus. Others, such as myself,  go out with the sole purpose of catching fish. The quantity and/or quality of the fish we catch is the metric that we use for judging the success of a trip. There is nothing wrong with either method. Just don't be the first guy I described and then complain to the second one about how the fishing stinks, even though the other guy caught plenty.

Spot on seth. I fish with a few guys that are perfectly happy catching 50 small fish. I on the other hand would much more prefer to catch  a few pigs.

If I fish all day and catch lets just say fir example 50 fish but none are at least 17-18" then I was unsuccessful.

[Old plug]

Only Thing about lakes is the situation can change in mimutes. Take following the shade in the evening. All shade is  not the best shade. Here close to  the house I know that  a soft evening sun will beat a full shade most of the summer.  So I try hard to be in those place where the shade is just starting to take effect. I feel it puts me in the spot at the right time. It seem to trigger a major feeding time around here. If your in the right place. 

[Mitch f]

[Al Agnew]

Best fishing compliment I ever got was from my best fly fishing buddy and former guide in Montana, when he didn't know I could hear him say it.  He said, "Al may not be a great fly caster, but he's just a pure fish predator."  Kind of a back-handed compliment, since I thought my casting was okay.

I find lake fishing to be far more difficult than river fishing, simply because, as others have said, it's got that added dimension of depth.  River fish are seldom too deep to come up to something close to the surface, so you know you're attracting their attention at least no matter what you're throwing, as long as it's somewhere close to where they are.  With lake fish, you might be fishing over fish, but if you're using something that runs two feet deep and the fish are 20 feet deep, you ain't gonna catch any of them.  So you not only have to figure out where the fish are in relation to structure and cover, but how deep they are.  And we all know there is a lot of more or less fishless water in a reservoir, even a lot of places that look fishy.  

The other day on upper Big River, all I had to do was keep casting.  Yes, the fish were pickier than usual about what they wanted, and there were those periods when they didn't want anything I was throwing.  But I KNEW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I was fishing where the fish were, and that they knew my lures were there.  They just weren't active enough to take them.  Had I been fishing a reservoir during those same dead periods, there would have been no way to know whether I was fishing where the fish were or not.  

[Griffster]

I had a terrible "fish day" on the river Sat.  But I still enjoyed every minute of it.    Best part was it was a Sat and did not see another angler or person the entire float.    That's a good day.  

[Crooked Creek Angler]

Lots of opinions on what make an expert, or what makes a good fishing day and I would guess just about every one of them are correct.  Your perception is your reality in many cases. 

Been fishing for smallmouth on many creeks and streams, mostly in north central Arkansas and south central Missouri, for many years.  For most of those years I've enjoyed one of the biggest blessings that a creek fisherman can have and that is a good fishing partner to enjoy it with.  We are like minded in how we like to fish and our enjoyment of the experience.  Never any competition, but lots of encouragement and occasionally some good natured kidding.  I am genuinely tickled when he catches an 18+ and it goes both ways. 

While we really enjoy the whole experience, we do have a standard for how well the fish are biting, (you notice I did not say how well we are catching them).  Our proficiency has probably gotten a little better over the years, but generally it's the conditions and the fish that dictate how many we catch.  Fishing-wise we hold about 10 fish per hour to be the standard for above average biting (counting bass only).  This doesn't mean that if we catch 3 fish per hour it's a bad day, it's never a bad day on the creek, but they're not feeding at an above average rate.  I will emphasize that we are not typically fishing for numbers, but rather decent-sized to large fish.  That's not saying that we won't downsize lures on a tough day to hopefully get a few bites.  Also, like Al has mentioned, we like to stay in the canoe and keep moving, fishing for active fish and rarely getting out of the canoe to fish.  I will say however, that as we are getting older we tend to lose count of our FPH (fish per hour) rate a lot more than we used to and end up having to make a swag at it at the end of the day.

Our record rate by the way was 23 FPH.  That day beat anything I've ever seen and was our best day by a wide margin.  Be interested to know if anyone else keeps track of their catch rate per hour?

Like about everyone else has said it's all about what YOU enjoy and doing it YOUR way.  I do know that we are blessed to live and fish in a wonderful part of God's creation.

[Old plug]

I cut my teeth on the uper merimac and wappapelo at the same time. I really believe that they two are about equal. It is all about reconizing the the right time,place amd way. If you have the concentration amd your sout is about 1/2 fisherman you will do this. 

[DADAKOTA]

Best thing about fishing is anyone can do it.  Folks can fish as often as they can or as little as they want.  They can become as good a fisherman as they choose to be whether on a lake, river, or stream.  So many folks out there who have all the equipment, know the various techniques, and have the physical tools of casting, working a bait, etc. equal to or better than the next guy.  What separates a true "stick" in my book is the ability to find fish and catch fish year round on any body of water.  Paying attention not only to patterns but patterns inside of patterns.  Putting the pieces of the puzzle together as quickly as possible.  Knowing the time of year, wind, weather, water temp, clarity, time of day, and a host of other things.  Anticipating changes in the wind, weather, time of day, etc. and how that will affect the fish.  Trusting your gut instincts.  Some are blessed with a certain sense that others are not blessed with.  They also are open to gaining knowledge from whatever sources they can and are not afraid to try something new or think outside the box.  Being able to recall similar situations from fishing trips past and combine them with experience and current conditions in the computer we call a brain to lead one to the fish is definitely a gift some have that others do not.