Some of the Biggest "No-No's"

[wolfe]

As we get nearer to opening season for walleye, pike, bass, etc...

What are some of the biggest mistakes you think the average angler might make in his or her outfitting and outings that might cost them an exceptional fish or good #'s of fish...?

...any thing from tackle/gear preparation & choice...to landing a big fish incorrectly...line choice, drag set, lure retrieve, whatever comes to mind.

For example, I don't sharpen my hooks. Maybe at some future point when I've got more time on my hands... I know some would say I'm skipping an important step in trying to successfully land a good fish.

Just thought it would be interesting to see what people here have in the way of opinions on big "no-no's" when fishing. Maybe I can correct a few bad habits I never knew I had.

W.

[Moosebunk]

If I was an average angler.....

But being below, wolfe.... I don't only NOT sharpen my hooks, I don't even use them. Guess I've been lucky at times.


Impatience on the light bite costs me fish at times. Not being willing to try something new and just sticking with my usual methods at times costs me numbers I think.

[jsdx]

Wolfe ! You don't sharpen your hooks ? <gasp, clutch heart>

oh my ! that's the worst one

you probably also don't

- check your line for frays
- test your knots
- watch your line as the jig is falling
- keep quiet in the boat (you probably bang the bottom to "wake em up")
- set your drag properly
- read a map before you go out on a new lake
- switch lures or techniques when your favourite is not working
- try new spots
- fish with fish-hawkers enough

and 100 other things I don't do either

[BBRich]

The biggest one I do as seen in my videos:

I Don't bring pliers with me!

Another one that has been happening lately, I try to pack light and only bring what I need.. but end up wanting other tackle. So here it is:

Don't bring enough tackle

[Wallyboss]

Me the worst thing that I forget is " I forget to tell JOCO no $%@#$ bananas in the boat. hehe

The second thing I always forget is to bring my camera to take pictures of all the Personal Bests I caught last year.

[ady]

Probably forgetting to add trailer plastic/hooks when the bite is light.

[Seaweed]

I don't fish slow enough... and I move when I am catching fish thinking that there are no more fish there and I better move on to my next good spot.

I hardly ever use leaders anymore... and toothy critters run off with good baits.

I don't use tasty stuff enough for walleye... be it worms, minnows, gulp ... tasty stuff.

[Carl]

Not getting out often enough to figure out the no no's

[wolfe]

Not being willing to try something new and just sticking with my usual methods at times costs me numbers I think.

Been guilty of that for years, but am trying to break out of the mold the past year or so. And it's worked.

You might want to actually look into some hooks, 'Bunk.


jsdx, you and I are fishing sinners, eh?!


BBR, even I don't forget the pliers!


Here's one more I am guilty of, and even Brian razzes me on this one. I hate fishing deep. I don't know how to do so properly & I never get hits, and so I avoid depths of over, say, 20 feet. Now I KNOW that is costing me plenty of fish. Almost as bad as not using hooks....

W.

[orrsey]

Wolfe,
As much as you fish Wolfe lake I would have thought you fish fairly deep. Wolfe lake has a really good day time bite for walleye, but you have to get to the 30ft range to get them to bite. It takes time to find them most days (for me anyway) but once you do it usually pays off.

[DaveH]

Well i dunno if anyone else has this exact problem.. *L*

I'm in a very creative line of work, so I tend to be a creative sort of person... and then ends up enevitably working it's way into my fishing.

If the bite is slow, or non-existent... Or if I'm fishing for a species I have no idea how to catch...MY biggest problem is that I get TOO creative...

For instance I remember walley fishing in a very small but deep lake. Supposed to be double digit walleye in there even though you can troll across it in less than 10 minutes *L*. Well nothing was biting and I didn't have any electronics or maps or anything to show me what the structure was so...I decided to get creative *L*

Line - swivel - spoon (no hook) - flouro leader - swivel - another soon but willow leafs (no hook) - flouro leader - swivel - big trout flasher thing with about 7 blades on it *lol* - longer leader - swivel - jig head with plastic trailer - leader - stinger.


OK?? It took me an hour to put that thing together!!! What the heck was I thinking???!!!???

Oddly it didn't work *LOL*

And let's not get into some of my more interesting bottom-bouncing experiments...


So yeah... I need to learn how to:

KEEP IT SIMPLE

LEARN HOW TO THE BAITS YOU GOT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FISHED!!

DON'T GET CREATIVE, UNTIL YOU KNOW THE RULES AND HOW TO BREAK EM!

[edit: I used all caps to keep yelling at myself to DO this this year *LOL*]

[orrsey]

Dave I wouldnt stop creating new things, thats how your going to come across something that will eventually produce. Once you figure out how to use baits in traditional methods its good to expand I think a problem for a lot of people is not being creatice enough....

[DaveH]

Oh yeah, I totally agree...creativity leads to success in fishing for sure...

MY problem is that since I don't really know how the baits are supposed to work, I just start playing around...

I think the general thing is if you KNOW how to fish your... stick baits, spoons, spinners, plastics.. etc. AND you are still not getting any bites...then start being creative and playing around with your presentation ... trying new things...

but if you DON'T know how to fish a stick bait, spoon, spinner, or plastic ... learn HOW to fish them properly before getting creative *L*

[Bender]

My biggest no-no would definitely be not changing my lures when the bite is slow.
I have a tackle box full of walleye lures and 95% of the time it's old faithful on the other end .... even if they're not biting.... 5 more minutes... 1 more pass .... before you know it the day's over and I have a big goose egg to show for my "hard work"

Bender

[fatluke]

My biggest no-no would definitely be not changing my lures when the bite is slow.
I have a tackle box full of walleye lures and 95% of the time it's old faithful on the other end .... even if they're not biting.... 5 more minutes... 1 more pass .... before you know it the day's over and I have a big goose egg to show for my "hard work"

Bender

Exact same here!!!..... "One more pass"