nuthinlikeacat
09-14-2005, 04:10 AM
Hey Larry, from swapping messages back and forth I get the feeling you are a true Die-hard ;)
That got me to thinking about when I first started doing my first serious catfishing. I used to just go out and pick a spot and hope for the best. As time gradually went on, I began trying more and more spots. In theory that was a great thing, but in reality, it really wasnt. It seemed like I was going from one place to another all the time, and I spent more time getting lines out than I did fishing. After about my fist year of die-hard fishing, (and I mean every night for almost 6 months), I decided to try something. I took all the spots I had tried, and all the spots I thought of trying, and put them in a spreadsheet.
By now you are probably thinking I am nuts, but heres the rest of the story. That following year, I kept track of everything, and I mean everything in that spreadsheet. I kept track of the place I fished, water level, the bait and size I used, The temp outside, the water temp, exact time of night I had the runs, size and types of fish, phase of the moon, sky conditions(cloudy,clear) wind speed and direction, and even if rain had fallen recently. I also noted if the water level was rising from a previous rain.
I then took this spreadsheet and studied it hard over the winter months. By time Spring had arrived I pretty much had a chart to go by on where I should be heading out that night. It worked great. Now I pretty much know where to go no matter what the conditions.
Being I just moved up towards the cities this past year and just started fishing up this way, I get to do the learning process all over again :eek:
Anyway, There are so many great posts on this site, and so many options, I just thought I'd give you another option. If your willing to take the steps I did above, I can almost guarantee you it will pay many benefits for many years to come :)
That got me to thinking about when I first started doing my first serious catfishing. I used to just go out and pick a spot and hope for the best. As time gradually went on, I began trying more and more spots. In theory that was a great thing, but in reality, it really wasnt. It seemed like I was going from one place to another all the time, and I spent more time getting lines out than I did fishing. After about my fist year of die-hard fishing, (and I mean every night for almost 6 months), I decided to try something. I took all the spots I had tried, and all the spots I thought of trying, and put them in a spreadsheet.
By now you are probably thinking I am nuts, but heres the rest of the story. That following year, I kept track of everything, and I mean everything in that spreadsheet. I kept track of the place I fished, water level, the bait and size I used, The temp outside, the water temp, exact time of night I had the runs, size and types of fish, phase of the moon, sky conditions(cloudy,clear) wind speed and direction, and even if rain had fallen recently. I also noted if the water level was rising from a previous rain.
I then took this spreadsheet and studied it hard over the winter months. By time Spring had arrived I pretty much had a chart to go by on where I should be heading out that night. It worked great. Now I pretty much know where to go no matter what the conditions.
Being I just moved up towards the cities this past year and just started fishing up this way, I get to do the learning process all over again :eek:
Anyway, There are so many great posts on this site, and so many options, I just thought I'd give you another option. If your willing to take the steps I did above, I can almost guarantee you it will pay many benefits for many years to come :)