Don't shoot the messenger just sharing and making us think.

[fishinwrench]

35 minutes ago, Seth said:

I love listening to guys tell me how they sat on a big school of crappie for hours and only managed to catch a few. They can't grasp the concept of leaving inactive fish to find active fish because they can see them on the graph. If I'm not getting bit every few casts then it's time to roll out. There are way too many other crappie around to deal with inactive fish.

Yep, or just go have lunch and come back a bit later👍.  Eventually, sometime during the day, those fish will decide to turn-on, and you'll catch one every cast.   Remember what time it was.....and if conditions don't change the next day, come back at the same time.  

I'm not a fan of FFS at all.....but I am definitely a fan of what I have learned by using it.   

I spent a lot of years thinking that the old saying "They just ain't biting" was a cop out......but nope, it's REAL !   

[snagged in outlet 3]

Watch this guy on YouTube called pigpatrol tv hammer catfish through the ice using FFS.  Crazy!  
 

 

[Al Agnew]

2 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Yep, or just go have lunch and come back a bit later👍.  Eventually, sometime during the day, those fish will decide to turn-on, and you'll catch one every cast.   Remember what time it was.....and if conditions don't change the next day, come back at the same time.  

I'm not a fan of FFS at all.....but I am definitely a fan of what I have learned by using it.   

I spent a lot of years thinking that the old saying "They just ain't biting" was a cop out......but nope, it's REAL !   

Yup, definitely true that sometimes the fish just aren't going to bite.  I relearned this a few years ago while winter fishing one of those spring holes where it's usually like shooting fish in a barrel.  The water was low and very clear, but I'd caught fish there before in low, clear, winter water.  But this time I fished this one stretch of bank where they should have been for a good hour without a bite, trying several different lures that always work.  Finally I gave up, thinking the fish had moved.  There was a high mud bank along that little stretch, and I crossed the river and climbed up on that bank to see if there were any fish to be seen.  Welp, there were probably 200 smallmouth of all sizes hanging out right where I'd been doing all that fishing.  Very few of them were even moving.

[Seth]

16 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Yep, or just go have lunch and come back a bit later👍.  Eventually, sometime during the day, those fish will decide to turn-on, and you'll catch one every cast.   Remember what time it was.....and if conditions don't change the next day, come back at the same time.  

I'm not a fan of FFS at all.....but I am definitely a fan of what I have learned by using it.   

I spent a lot of years thinking that the old saying "They just ain't biting" was a cop out......but nope, it's REAL !   

That has been the biggest eye opener for me as well. In the past I'd have just thought I wasn't around the fish, but that's rarely not the case. Good spots always hold fish, they just ain't always biting!

[grizwilson]

On 1/12/2025 at 10:45 PM, fishinwrench said:

I quit keeping full limits of White bass and Crappie because I don't like spending that much time filleting fish !     

It only takes 6 of them to feed my family 👍 and I don't have a church group to try to impress every month. 

[dan hufferd]

On 1/13/2025 at 11:56 AM, fishinwrench said:

The Float & Fly guides on Dale Hollow are absolutely tearing up the big smallmouth using FFS right now.  20-60 per day, all over 4lbs. 😲

Is anybody doing that on TR or Beaver ?

You don't need as many of those to make a meal.