LOOKING BACK

This time of year we look back at our past year of fishing, making a review of our fishing log and reflecting on the great fishing trips we took this year.
As multi species anglers, we love to experiment, try new stuff, fish new waters and learn new techniques while growing as anglers, and we agree it can be more fun while catching more fish. We are sure there are many other anglers making some comparisons of their success, but do not make the mistake of just comparing the number of fish you caught each year. What we do is ask each other at the end of every day fishing what we learned today and what mistakes did we make.
Our point is this, if you are keeping a fishing log, you will discover there are many factors effecting the fish you catch each year other than your skills or abilities. The most notable is the ever-changing weather conditions and high water or low water levels.
As a good example or what we are talking about are the past couple years, the spring of 2004 seemed to never come and the cold fronts caused low water temps into summer and a delay or an on and off of the spawn. This past spring again brought the never ending cold fronts but ok spawn and than blasted right into hot summer temps early followed by the bad drought and low lake levels.
Other factors that influence your fishing success could be fishing unfamiliar water, the use of new lures, barometric pressures, fishing pressure and the effects of moon times along with the amount of time you spend on the water.
The important issues are how did you handle different fishing situations and did you adjust your approach or presentation. This is where a fishing log will shine in helping us learn from our mistakes, in looking back at what you did right or not so right and what worked or did not work during different conditions. This review can be expanded into several years of past fishing trips and is an important factor in our learning process. While making this review, look to see if maybe you are not changing baits or approach when you should, I know I had in the past found lures in my tackle box saying “Try Me”.
Things we learned in past years were how to fish deeper submerged weeds, dealing with seasonal movements of walleye and how to handle cold fronts and other weather situations.
We now know that no two fishing outings will be the same, which is another reason we may never fully become fishing experts, but our satisfaction comes from how well we do under the weather and water conditions handed us each time out. So this past year we were determined to make an effort to experiment with some new baits and presentations or tricks while keeping an open mind and we feel we learned more from these experiences.
Because we are looking back does not mean we are done, fishing is a big part of our lives, we fished a walleye tournament on Nov. 26th and we have even set up spring trips to Bull Shoals already and are looking forward to trying new locations next year.
We hope you too had a great year, learned more about fishing and gained some confidence in other lures so you can take what you learned from this year and put it to use next time out.
Looking for that special Christmas gift for your favorite fisherman or fisherwoman? Well we have a couple to suggest: - Our 2006 Fishing Calendar listing the Better Fishing Days and Better Times along with New Fishing Tips for each month and Money Saving Coupons Each Month including Gander Mountain, Speed Lube, various Fishing Guide discounts, Charlie Brewer's Slider samples and more. Just go to www.larrysfishinghole.com to order yours. - Jimbo’s Jigs is offering several gift packages that include a variety of your favorite jigs. Your order will come with a gift bag and a gift card to save you the hassle of last minute wrapping or if you prefer, you can get a gift certificate so that lucky angler can pick out their own jigs. They are also offering FREE shipping on all gift packages. So check out their Christmas gift page at www.jimbosjigs.com/christmasgifts.html
Check our Fishing Show Schedule, Product Reviews, Tips, Classified section or more at www.larrysfishinghole.com

Till Next Time GOD BLESS & GOOD FISHING