Thread: Fishing Confidence! Ya gotta have it. Who really has it?

All of us get ready with excitement for an upcoming fishing trip. We are headed to catch us some crappie. What I want to know is Do you think each time you go fishing it will be a success? Do you know you will catch fish?
Every trip I know I will catch crappie! That is a bold statement. I am just like anyone. If the fish are not biting I won't catch much? Some trips are just at the EXACT WRONG time. If the fish are feeding at all I know I will put some meat in the livewell.
You can't be thinking," I hope we catch something today". Or "I wonder where and what they are biting"? If you are reading this you should already have a great knowlege of where and what they are feeding on, any season of the year! I had a jump on some of you because I started crappie fishing back as a 12 yr old with a 202 zebco. My family had a place on the river and my parents worked all the time. The Man next door fished for crappie with passion. He has passed years ago but he still fishes with me. He taught me how to find them and how to look for them. We also put out brush piles and baited areas. When I was 14 my dad got me a 14' jon with a 25 mercury. Wasn't a bass boat on the water that could catch me. The monster motors were years away. I had a bag of gravel tied under the front seat so it would plane off. I rigged it just like mr. Hardy's boat. I lived on the lake as much as I could cut grass for gas. Mr. Hardy would always let me in on where they were hitting. But He didn't know they bit in deep water except at night. We never used more than one rod each. During the day we used jigs, at night, minnows under lights.
That was long before Crappie.com and other fishing sites. If you want to know about it, you can find it on your browser. You can find 99.9% of your info on crappie.com. Over the past 6 years I have read every article and fact about crappie I could find using several seach engines. mr.Hardy would give us some strange looks with all those long poles sticking out everywhere. The only long pole he ever held was cane or bamboo.
Read and study maps of your fishing areas. Learn to use the maps and your sonar together for the best spots. Look at the moon phases. Follow the solunar calender. Look at low pressure weather fronts. If you have limited time to fish, go at the best time. Never be negative about your tactics. Have a plan for your next trip. With all this info for us you can know where to look. Crappie are crappie. The are going to be crappie on any lake they swim. They do the same things in Kansas that they do in Georgia. Know where you will catch them and stick to your plan.. oh yeah ya need a back up plan just in case your sure fire plan doesn't produce.

I hope some of you will share with us how confident you are for your next crappie trip. Just do a little homework and plan a crappie catching trip.
Thanks
Smitty

i have a gut feeling everytime i go im gonna catch fish. i guess youd call that gut feeling confidence. some nights it dont work out, but for the most part we usually catch at least a mess. traditionally we dont so so well through the hot summer months nightstalking so thats why we arent doing much right now. my gut feeling tells me we arent gonna fare well if we go so we usually look for other fish we feel more confident about, like striper, brim or catfish.

Good post Smitty! Thanks for sharing. Jimmy S.

There's times I spend alot of time on the water and then theres times I aint able to go for a few months. Whenever I go I know if it's been awhile since I've been fishing I am gonna have to find something worth while to fish or my expectations arent gonna be too high. Most times I'll still get atleast a mess of fish, but not always. But whenever I get some time on the water I expect to catch fish, and usually do. To me it takes time on the water checking (fishing) new places always trying to find fish in other areas. The more places I have to go (and catch fish) the higher my confidence level stays.

Good post Smitty. Fishing at night, I feel confident that I will catch something most every trip. Of course, some trips are better than others. I still consider myself fairly new to crappie fishing and try to learn different areas and new ways to catch them all the time. My problem is having enough time to fish. I have read, what seems like, every crappie article and tip on the internet, but reading can only go so far.

Now, day fishing is something different. I feel better than I used to, but still not very confident about catching fish on a regular basis.

I cant wait to get back on the water. Will next year hurry up and get here. My confidence level is always high. If I dont catch any, I just think I didnt find the right school feeding that day.

Good post Smitty

I feel I can catch Crappie every time I go at night. Like others some nights are just better then others. Also IF I get with it I know I can troll up a mess during the day. Confidence is everything. If you don't have confidence when you go fishing a person may as well stay home.

Gabowman > Time on the water! Nothing beats time on the water. Every trip you can learn something about the fish or lake. Always look for new spots. I have a few places that are really great at different times. Even when I know the crappie are in a certain spot I won't fish it until I have found some other fish. I leave a hole with them still biting all the time because I want to find some more fish, new places and try different tactics.

beagler " Confidence is everything. If you don't have confidence when you go fishing a person may as well stay home.""
Glad to see you and bowman believe this too.
Keeping a log book also helps. Up until this years spring cleaning I could look up trips back to 2004. i don't know who threw them away. I hope they are still here but can't find them. I started over. funny how much I remember because I wrote it down. I always note weather, temps, water temps, wind, water clarity, date, what they bit, how deep they bit, tactic used and how many caught. It doesn't take but a few seconds to jot it down or log it on your computer.

I too im very confident when i fish. Although i do catch crappie about 98% of the time i go, there are some tough days (like all summer) I would say that keeping a log book helps me out a lot. I started a log before i had a boat and done very well catching all species from the bank. I tell this to everyone that asks me about fishing, to keep a log regardless if they catch anything or not. And make it as detailed as you can including the weather the day before and the day after.

I, too, have been keeping a log. I also include the moon phase/ dark or light nights.