The Dean : Fishing Forum Posts

The quickest way to excel is to find a mentor in your club. This was key in my development as an angler. Learn from them and practice what you learn. Some other keys to early success are to identify your strengths as an angler. What do you like to do or what do you do better than other guys. Try to develop your best techniques and build from there.

Focus on the fishing and not the result. I like to set my goals this way. "I want to find the primary pattern or I want to find an early morning bite and an afternoon bite." If you concentrate on the fish, the result will take care of themself. I agree with Jason about Gerald. Also listen to his PMA. It will change everything!

https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/original-positive-mental-attitude-class-gerald-swindle

I've been using Mustang Survival for a long time.
John Crews always using a standard life jacket for operating a high-performance bass boat.  https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/driving-a-bass-boat-safely-efficiently-john-crews.  He feels more secure with this style.  

Congrats on your new boat and good luck!!!

Great advice DrewFlu33. Seth Feider is also from that area, Minnesota. He teaches a great seminar on fishing milfoil as well as a bunch of smallmouth seminars. I have only fished the Mississippi River in the LaCross area. That river is full of largemouth and smallies and is a shallow water anglers paradise. Frogs, jigs, chatterbaits, and flipping are always a good bet. There is no better tool than a Senko on most of that shallow habitat.

https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/flipping-milfoil-spring-summer-fall-seth-feider

Here is another great video on skipping from the master, Brian Thrift. https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/art-of-skipping-baits-bryan-thrift-remastered.

My best advice for skipping is to use a roll cast to build speed. As you release the cast, slowly raise your rod tip as the jig skips away from you. The point of this is to keep your line from touching the water surface during the cast as best as you can. If the line lays on the water, it will drag and stop the skipping action. Good luck!

9.5 on a Snagless Sally!!!! That's amazing. I haven't used that lure in years. Great to see it still catches them.

Check out this seminar I did on Old School Lures.

https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/old-school-lures-and-fishing-techniques-pete-gluszek

Great question Bassintn.
I know exactly how you feel. When I started out on tour, I had a used pickup with 100k on it and a used Nitro with a pile of hours. I was intimidated too. I learned that it doesn't matter. Most of fishing is mental.
A great example of this right now is John Cox. He fishes out of an aluminum boat that can only do 40 or 50mph. He doesn't focus much on his electronics. He is one of the most dominant anglers in the world of professional fishing today.

In my opinion, all you need are a dependable outboard and trolling motor, and modern electronics. You don't need a giant screen on your sonar, the smaller screens all offer the same technology at a much lower cost.

Here is an exercise that has helped me a lot. Go over all your top fishes and wins over the years. Try to identify the techniques and patterns that are your strengths. The techniques that you have used consistently to get you at the top or near the top of the tournament. These are your strengths. Focus in on these strengths in your future tournaments and it can help you get into the winner's circle more often.

I found my mentor in a bass club, Daniel. Thats definitely a great place to start. Social media is a good place these days to introduce yourself to someone in your area and start to talk fishing. Where are you in your fishing? Co-angler, team tournament competitor, aspiring pro? Where are you located?

Another great way to get out there is to enter as a co-angler in BFL's, Bassmaster Opens, MLF Toyota series tournaments. The BFL's are really good at connecting with guys in your area. The larger tournaments will pair you with guys that are strong anglers and there is a lot to learn there. One of the best tournaments to enter is the Bassmaster Elites as a Marshall. You will be paired with top-level guys and there is a lot to learn. I also really like this program, because it takes the rod and real out of your hand. This is good because it really intensifies the learning process without the distraction of competing in your own tournament. You get to see guys struggle with changing conditions, solve problems, learn new techniques, and a lot more.

You got this! I love it. Good luck this year!

I fished Vermillion before and it's full of rock just like you described. I have never used lead core line, but that's an interesting idea. Some things I've learned about fishing in the rocks are that longer casts are the worst and handing up lures. I try to shorten my casting distance and this helps a lot. I also lighten up on the weight. This will keep you moving better through the cover. I have used the lindy weights below to help me in really rocky situations. They were designed for drifting in rocky areas for walleye, but I have used them on my drop shot and Carolina rig with things that are really rocky for bass.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/lindy-walking-sinker-20linuwlkngsnkr14ter/20linuwlkngsnkr14ter?sku=13555914&camp=CSE:DSG_92700048924971584_pla_pla-362413401277&segment=&gclid=CjwKCAiAjp6BBhAIEiwAkO9Wug815Sl2acmYkypv35ueVjNZMXiPAQE1wuZ16G479ygo6asqTgIXfBoCAEEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.amazon.com/Lindy-No-Snagg-Slip-Sinker-oz/dp/B003FYO2SY/ref=asc_df_B003FYO2SY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=314068911321&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8753905227709775059&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003814&hvtargid=pla-629804541309&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=62344781957&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=314068911321&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8753905227709775059&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003814&hvtargid=pla-629804541309

Hi Douglas, I use Humminbird Solix units on my boat this year. I haven't tested them in water any deeper than 60' so far. I could identify bait extremely well on the St. Lawrence River in 50-60ft this summer. In some cases, I have increased my sensitivity to help get better readings down deep. Another feature I like to use in very deep water is dropping my upper range down to within 20 feet of the bottom. This really blows up the images on the screen in deep water. Below are a couple of good deep water seminars worth watching that will be useful.

https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/locate-catch-winter-bass-on-a-jigging-spoon-brian-latimer
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/spotted-bass-fishing-in-clear-lake-ditches-rob-jordan

Rich, That's crummy news about Lake Gaston. I love fishing there. I have heard of the DNR lifting all restrictions on keeping spotted bass in lakes that were getting taken over. They wanted people to take them home and eat them in an effort to reduce the population. It's a very polarizing topic. I hope the DNR can get things under control there. In the meantime, enjoy catching all those spots. Below are some tutorials on Bass U about spotted bass techniques. Good luck and keep us posted.

https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/spotted-bass-in-rivers-lakes-matt-herren
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/prespawn-cranking-for-spotted-bass-latimer

Blake, I use braid to fluoro on almost all of my spinning rod applications. For most applications on baitcasting gear, I'm using straight fluoro, braid, or mono.

Here are some things I've learned in this area. You need a double silver willow blade combo with a white skirt in 3/8 and 1/2 ounce. I use this combo when there is an abundance of shad or herring around.

When the water is stained I use a double colorado combination or colorado/willow with gold and silver blades and a chartreuse/white skirt. There are times when I have been successful with painted white blades and a variety of combinations, but make sure you have the first two combinations I mentioned in this area. I like to use Terminator and you get a pretty strong discount as a subscriber. Use the links below to check them out.

https://www.rapala.com/terminator/spinnerbaits/super-stainless-spinnerbaits/super-stainless-spinnerbaits-/Super+Stainless+Spinnerbaits.html?brandname=terminator
https://www.rapala.com/terminator/spinnerbaits/super-stainless-spinnerbaits/super-stainless-spinnerbaits-/Super+Stainless+Spinnerbaits.html?brandname=terminator

What is BFS?

I love all the ideas, Jason. I strongly recommend the fishing plyers from Rapala too. This is my go-to scale from Rapala. I've been caught too many times without a scale and landed a big fish. This scale is small and can fit anywhere, even a bank angling bag.

https://www.rapala.com/rapala/pro-picks/50-lb.-high-contrast-digital-scale-/RHCDS50.html?start=1&cgid=rapala-propicks#start=1&cgid=rapala-propicks

Great question and really requires a complicated answer. Below are a couple of important seminars on the topic from JT Kenney and Aaron Martins.

I think the seasons play a big role in how much weather change affects bass. In the early season, weather changes seem to have the largest effect. Warming trends can significantly move fish shallow and if a severe cold front comes in, fish will leave the spawning flats. I feel like in the summer and early fall, weather changes have the least effect on bass. I have learned that the most important thing to pay attention to is the rising, falling, or stable nature of water temps. If the weather pattern is severe enough to move water temps you will likely see a change in bass behavior.

https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/water-temperature-trends-jt-kenney
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/seasonal-water-temperature-aaron-martens-remastered

Timber is excellent habitat and the timber you found that tops out at 25' below the surface can definitely hold fish. Brandon's seminar is a great one. I've found that bait fish will use the timber almost like grass lines. They will suspend in the treetops as well as use the base of the trees. This time of year I've had my best success fishing timber in the pockets/creeks off the main lake. The bait seems to pile up in these places and the bass follow. The really great thing about bass this time of year is that they tend to pile up together in small areas so the fishing can be amazing once you locate them.

I recommend this video for fizzing fish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w1DMIL0b6E

This is the Bryan Thrift cranking video.

https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/cranking-all-depth-ranges-bryan-thrift

You are welcome and good luck!

Great question. I hope you were able to sit in on our virtual classes these past two days. If not, no big deal. All the seminars will be released shortly. I gave a seminar on how to become a better angler and a key topic was addressing your weakness. Below are some of the highlights.

Strengths and weakness

- Strengths – Build on these every day. Always look for this bite.
- Weakness’ – make peace with things that give you trouble or hurt your confidence. A great way to attack your weakness is to lock that rod in your hand for a day.
- Another tool I use to work on a weakness is to bring out that technique when you locate a school of fish. This will allow you to catch some bass on your weakness technique. You can get comfortable with what strikes feel like, how to pressure and land the fish.
- Goal should be to have equal confidence in each rod/tool you pick up.

Take it to the Bank!

Find a place to fish that is convenient and has a few bass in it. A place you
can hit on your way to or from work or school. Ideally, a place that you can cover
In a short period of time. I love for my training customers to use farm ponds.

Think of this like practicing your jump shot. Learn to detect strikes, get your baits
through cover, practice hooks sets, and keeping pressure during the fight.

Taking notes is key and below is an example of how I take notes for my On Water Training customers.

Chesapeake Bay OWT notes 5-21-21

Weather - 70-85 degrees mostly sunny. East winds AM-calm, PM 10-15mph
Water - 60-70 degrees, clear to stained
Depth Fish Caught - 1-3 feet
Most Productive Lure - Senko(Green Weenie)5”, Biffle Bug
Pattern – Blind fishing for spawning Largemouth and Smallmouth

Found LM spawning in marinas and smallmouth on gravel banks. Worked on blind fishing for bedding fish in marinas, rocky banks and grass flats. Focused on how to keep the bait low and slow to keep the bait near the bottom/beds. Setting the hook to the strong side across the body.

Things to work on;

Casting - work toward minimizing spool and magnet controls. When pitching flipping reduce controls to near zero.
Develop a confidence box/high percentage tools.

Sorry for the late response on this one, Matt. I love Okeechobee! I would choose Feb or March. So much of Florida fishing is based on weather conditions. If you get a cold front, the fishing will be tough. So late Feb and March, the weather is warmer and less likely to get crushed by a cold front. Best of luck.

You should also look into a place called Headwaters Lake which is nest to the Stick Marsh. This is really putting out some serious catches as it recently opened. Good luck and keep us posted.

I use the Cashion Chatterbait rod with a Lew's reel and 20# Gamma Fluorocarbon. https://cashionrods.com/product/icon-chatterbait-rod/. Cashion does offer a $25 off coupon for our subscribers and a bunch more offers too. https://bassu.tv/special-offers

I love chatterbait fishing. That season will get started around April for me. Good luck!

I hope the reservoir has filled up some. If I was looking for smallies, it's all about finding the bait. I have never fished for smallies on a reservoir that has dropped that low, but here is how I would approach it. I'd look for that bait. The smallies don't seem to care as much about the habitat in the water as they do the bait. I wish I could be more helpful and hope the reservoir fills up.