Just a question for all of you.

Izzy

Because most folks have more time to think than fish. And the only way to get consistently better is to fish a lot.

Because I overthink everything, of course ;)

Put your time in , fish simply , cover depths and it happens

Or....... ask Mocha

thegildedgopher: "Because most folks have more time to think than fish. And the only way to get consistently better is to fish a lot."

Yep, I have more time to think than I do to fish. Me trying to combine the two activities has proved elusive.

There are worse things to think about

From recent posts, I think members are overthinking locators and not thinking enough about fishing!

bobbernumber3: "From recent posts, I think members are overthinking locators and not thinking enough about fishing!"

I use my locator to find the tops of reefs because I think fish should be there. After a couple hours I quit because my arm is tired of fighting fish.

Izzy, do you also overthink fishing? I ask because you used "everyone."

Full disclosure: I overthink thinking about overthinking.

I overthink fishing because clearly I must be smarter than the fish..... then I go fishing and my thoughts are proven wrong so I have to start all over again. It's a vicious cycle I tell ya.

I always start with overthinking as my go-to, but 100% willing to shift to under-thinking if the conditions are favorable.

Answer #2 — it’s better than thinking about work!

You can never overthink fishing!

i dont think i would call it over thinking , just putting together a game plan before i leave the house , wind-water temp-time of year-presentation amongst other details ;)

egknuti: "You can never overthink fishing! "

:)

I think that I do not overthink fishing. I am not very good at fishing, so I keep it real simple. I bring 6 Rapala #11 lures with on each trip and that is it. One of three things happens: I catch fish until I lose all my lures; I catch fish until my trip ends or I do not catch fish. I am happy with all three outcomes.

Lol, I can see where Izzy is coming from. In my case I don’t really think how of fishing and all that. I just put a pretty lure on the line and cast it toward some weeds.

However, after attending a camp Izzy training session, I have learned to use a tried and true method, and it works.





And there were many of this size caught using the Izzy “don’t overthink fishing” method.

Since retiring from up north I’ve taken to the guided fishing out of a motorboat. Some may exclaim, ‘oh that’s awful!’ But it’s best for my ancient joints. The guide actually likes to bait the hook and remove the fish and measure it! And no, this doesn’t reduce the amount of fun I have.

So, if you have spare time to think fishing that great.

Isn't the whole of bwca.com dedicated to overthinking EVERY aspect of traveling in canoe country??? Not just fishing. :)

izzy052: "Put your time in , fish simply , cover depths and it happens"

Except for the days it doesn’t, which can only be fixed by thinking about it more so it doesn’t happen again.

Mocha gets it

Frenchy19: "I think that I do not overthink fishing. I am not very good at fishing, so I keep it real simple. I bring 6 Rapala #11 lures with on each trip and that is it. One of three things happens: I catch fish until I lose all my lures; I catch fish until my trip ends or I do not catch fish. I am happy with all three outcomes."

Are they all original floaters?
Do you bring all one color?
Do you bring one of each, 6 colors?
Do you pinch the barbs?
Do you tie on directly or use a snap or swivel?
Do you try a different one if you aren't catching?
...
Oh, am I overthinking?

schweady: "

Frenchy19: "I think that I do not overthink fishing. I am not very good at fishing, so I keep it real simple. I bring 6 Rapala #11 lures with on each trip and that is it. One of three things happens: I catch fish until I lose all my lures; I catch fish until my trip ends or I do not catch fish. I am happy with all three outcomes."

Are they all original floaters?
Do you bring all one color?
Do you bring one of each, 6 colors?
Do you pinch the barbs?
Do you tie on directly or use a snap or swivel?
Do you try a different one if you aren't catching?
...
Oh, am I overthinking?
"

Hah that's hilarious. For me, a large part of why I love fishing is "the chase". I love the puzzle and mystery of fishing at times. Sometimes you can do no wrong and the fish are jumping in the boat. but other times it can be a grind. I love trying to piece it together and figure out patterns to come back to on future trips and scenarios. There are just so many variables and that is a lot of fun for me personally.

Because it's fun

Because when you get skunked you start questioning your tactics. Is it you or the fish, ya never know...

The amount of time I spend thinking about fishing is always the right amount of thinking :)

Because for me thinking and learning about it is literally the funnest part. I've been a fishaholic for over 50 years and have always fished every chance I get and am constantly learning and refining. I have caught many thousands of fish of many species and many trophys. I have realized that life isn't long enough to learn it all, but I'm going to try lol. Your over simplified idea of fishing works just fine in the BW and other lightly pressured lakes, but to fish all across the country in various kinds of water for many different species in whatever conditions there are, definitely takes time, practice, study, and lots of thinking and planning. I've never met anyone that was truly good at it without a huge investment of time and education. Once you master the simple part, the part you mentioned, you can definitely take it up many more notches and often astound the simple fishermen. The great thing about fishing is that you can make it whatever YOU want it to be, and success can be measured by YOUR standards. It can be simple, cheap, expensive, complicated or anything in between. But who can deny the joy in thinking about it and refining your techniques?

mgraber: "The great thing about fishing is that you can make it whatever YOU want it to be, and success can be measured by YOUR standards."

^This. Well said.

mgraber: "Because for me thinking and learning about it is literally the funnest part. I've been a fishaholic for over 50 years and have always fished every chance I get and am constantly learning and refining. I have caught many thousands of fish of many species and many trophys. I have realized that life isn't long enough to learn it all, but I'm going to try lol. Your over simplified idea of fishing works just fine in the BW and other lightly pressured lakes, but to fish all across the country in various kinds of water for many different species in whatever conditions there are, definitely takes time, practice, study, and lots of thinking and planning. I've never met anyone that was truly good at it without a huge investment of time and education. Once you master the simple part, the part you mentioned, you can definitely take it up many more notches and often astound the simple fishermen. The great thing about fishing is that you can make it whatever YOU want it to be, and success can be measured by YOUR standards. It can be simple, cheap, expensive, complicated or anything in between. But who can deny the joy in thinking about it and refining your techniques?"

That is well said……

Well, if you don't use live bait, you kind of _have_ to think about how to effectively catch fish. Otherwise I can totally see how some people have a "fire and forget" mentality. ;)

Fishing consists of many variables, some linked, some not, that determine where fish are likely to be, what they'll want to eat/attack if they're in the mood to eat/attack at all, the cadence/pattern of behavior of the thing you present to them, etc... getting all of these variables right is very rewarding for me. I'll be happy to catch fish all day that don't care what you put in front of them - but when you are struggling, make a switch, and start catching, it's a great feeling.

Fishing is a very cerebral experience for me, and usually leads to skipping meals, and finding out I blinked and 6 hours went by. I am always in the moment, testing theories, trying different baits, different colors, working them differently, trying to learn from my mistakes. All for a tug on the end of the line........ good stuff. Gets me pumped for spring fishing.

izzy052: "Just a question for all of you.

Izzy"

Many go fishing all of their lives without knowing it’s not fish that they’re after

Basspro69: "

izzy052: "Just a question for all of you.


Izzy"

Many go fishing all of their lives without knowing it’s not fish that they’re after "

Well said.

When a person is not good at something they believe the solution is to "over-think" it. The general rule in doing any task is that if you know how to do something it is quite easy and, conversely, if you do not know how to do something it is, at best, difficult and, at worst, impossible.

I’m going to have to get back to you on this, got some thinking to do.

outsidethebox: "When a person is not good at something they believe the solution is to "over-think" it. The general rule in doing any task is that if you know how to do something it is quite easy and, conversely, if you do not know how to do something it is, at best, difficult and, at worst, impossible. "

True, but in this case "over-thinking" and "thinking about it all the time" are two very different things that the OP and subsequent posters seem to have muddled simply by word choice. I think many people in this thread (myself included) fall into the 2nd category on purpose.

outsidethebox: "When a person is not good at something they believe the solution is to "over-think" it. The general rule in doing any task is that if you know how to do something it is quite easy and, conversely, if you do not know how to do something it is, at best, difficult and, at worst, impossible. "

Interesting take. The things that I am best at are the things that I am always thinking about, modifying techniques, tweaking, experimenting, always trying to improve. The things I tend to not be very good at are things that I give very little thought to.

I was just thinking that if I had a fishing method that would catch 100 target fish per day every day with a few trophies mixed in no matter the conditions no matter the species, I would probably give up the sport. I can't think of anything more boring. I have over 50 years experience and thousands of days on the water and although I'm fairly confident in my abilities I know that I have just barely scratched the surface of fishing knowledge. Knowing that makes me very happy because I know I won't live long enough to become bored with it or good enough to become arrogant about it.

mgraber: "

outsidethebox: "When a person is not good at something they believe the solution is to "over-think" it. The general rule in doing any task is that if you know how to do something it is quite easy and, conversely, if you do not know how to do something it is, at best, difficult and, at worst, impossible. "

Interesting take. The things that I am best at are the things that I am always thinking about, modifying techniques, tweaking, experimenting, always trying to improve. The things I tend to not be very good at are things that I give very little thought to.


I was just thinking that if I had a fishing method that would catch 100 target fish per day every day with a few trophies mixed in no matter the conditions no matter the species, I would probably give up the sport. I can't think of anything more boring. I have over 50 years experience and thousands of days on the water and although I'm fairly confident in my abilities I know that I have just barely scratched the surface of fishing knowledge. Knowing that makes me very happy because I know I won't live long enough to become bored with it or good enough to become arrogant about it."

I agree with you 100%. Very, very true for me as well. I enjoy the chase and figuring out the puzzle and being stumped some days makes it all the sweeter other days. I tend to think a lot about things I love as well, even things I am good at. I never want to be content or complacent in life with fishing or otherwise. I should try to devote more time to things I am not as good at to improve in those areas but I suppose it depends.

When it comes to fishing walleye, I love my old LC-10 Vexilar Boundary Waters Edition fish finder. It is simple, but if it shows fish on the bottom it is a good indication walleye are there. Otherwise, I just stick with the Great Outdoors method: a red #8 hook, split shot 18 inches up or so, and a leech or minnow if late season.

TuscaroraBorealis: "Isn't the whole of bwca.com dedicated to overthinking EVERY aspect of traveling in canoe country??? Not just fishing. :)"

Ha! Think you nailed it TB!

mgraber: "

outsidethebox: "When a person is not good at something they believe the solution is to "over-think" it. The general rule in doing any task is that if you know how to do something it is quite easy and, conversely, if you do not know how to do something it is, at best, difficult and, at worst, impossible. "

Interesting take. The things that I am best at are the things that I am always thinking about, modifying techniques, tweaking, experimenting, always trying to improve. The things I tend to not be very good at are things that I give very little thought to.


I was just thinking that if I had a fishing method that would catch 100 target fish per day every day with a few trophies mixed in no matter the conditions no matter the species, I would probably give up the sport. I can't think of anything more boring. I have over 50 years experience and thousands of days on the water and although I'm fairly confident in my abilities I know that I have just barely scratched the surface of fishing knowledge. Knowing that makes me very happy because I know I won't live long enough to become bored with it or good enough to become arrogant about it."

mgraber: "

outsidethebox: "When a person is not good at something they believe the solution is to "over-think" it. The general rule in doing any task is that if you know how to do something it is quite easy and, conversely, if you do not know how to do something it is, at best, difficult and, at worst, impossible. "

Interesting take. The things that I am best at are the things that I am always thinking about, modifying techniques, tweaking, experimenting, always trying to improve. The things I tend to not be very good at are things that I give very little thought to.


I was just thinking that if I had a fishing method that would catch 100 target fish per day every day with a few trophies mixed in no matter the conditions no matter the species, I would probably give up the sport. I can't think of anything more boring. I have over 50 years experience and thousands of days on the water and although I'm fairly confident in my abilities I know that I have just barely scratched the surface of fishing knowledge. Knowing that makes me very happy because I know I won't live long enough to become bored with it or good enough to become arrogant about it."

That is not the way fishing or life works. What you are describing is ignorance and stupidity-even insanity. There is a saying: "Perfection is the enemy of good." We have a small pond out our back yard. Fish are not completely stupid-over time, I have taught the fish in our pond not to hit my bait. Some times the fish win-give them some credit too. Perseverating over something is not good practice by any account.

As I do with most topics, I see both sides of it. I spend a lot of time at a dedicated fishing site and quickly learned there that my knowledge of fishing lures and techniques is dated. I can identify a Creek Chub Pikie Minnow and a South Bend Spin-I-Diddee, but I am pert near clueless about the thousands of new lures and hundreds of fishing techniques developed in the last half century. Part of me wants to get up-to-date and part of me wants to simply keep chucking my familiar lures in my tried-and-true ways.

I did catch a 5.5 lb. largemouth bass a couple days ago using a new lure (a Rage Swimmer on a shaft-weighted hook) with a new technique (casting again and again to wood, plumbing every crack), but then I left that big bass bog and went to a numbers pond where I fished with familiar lures and caught a bunch of smaller, but still fine bass. I'm going fishing again on Thursday and am waffling between using my old knowledge to likely catch a lot of bass or using my new knowledge to catch MAYBE one or two big fish.

In the end, I think I'll mostly stick with what I know and enjoy, which is surface fishing in the foggy gloaming, when nearly everyone else, save the beavers and the loons, is still sleeping.

outsidethebox: "
That is not the way fishing or life works. What you are describing is ignorance and stupidity-even insanity. There is a saying: "Perfection is the enemy of good." We have a small pond out our back yard. Fish are not completely stupid-over time, I have taught the fish in our pond not to hit my bait. Some times the fish win-give them some credit too. Perseverating over something is not good practice by any account."

Not sure what to make of the entirety of your post???

But, I've got your backyard pond trick trumped! As, with minimal effort, I seem to have unwittingly trained all species of fish in the Quetico/Superior area not to hit my lure regardless of what I throw at them. ;-)

Because I have been obsessively overthinking the fishing on my Q trip in early July, I have avoided reading this thread. I figured it would be altruistic or comical and not really practical in terms of technique and tactics. I am an avid fisherman and know the struggle. I’m comfortable here in Florida and typically Target inshore and offshore salt water species. That said, I’m in love with Q and extremely ignorant of the fishing. This is my third trip and it’s been 20 years since my last trip.

The resources now available, this thread, map marking services, articles etc have all provided venues to pour over all components of my trip especially fishing, and I have done just that. Every idle moment my thoughts go straight to the Canadian wilderness.

After hours and hours of researching and purchasing and preparation I’m near ready. My trip is still two months away! So I finally clicked on this thread, it was altruistic and comical!! I got to know you guys a little more, beyond which bait, technique or species you target. We fishermen have so much in common. I predict I will continue to obsess (“overthink”) well beyond my 2 weeks in the woods. I’ll need to pass on my trip report. More importantly I’ll pour through yours, and start thinking about my next trip! It’s a vicious cycle, but one I dearly love.

Tight lines!

Flcracker: "Because I have been obsessively overthinking the fishing on my Q trip in early July,..."

Where in Q? Dates? How long? Where in FL? What species are you after in Q?

Start a new thread and fill us in on details. Someone will have advice, I'm sure.

bobbernumber3: "

Flcracker: "Because I have been obsessively overthinking the fishing on my Q trip in early July,..."

Where in Q? Dates? How long? Where in FL? What species are you after in Q?


Start a new thread and fill us in on details. Someone will have advice, I'm sure."

Toothmeister and others have helped me far beyond any expectations I had. This forum has been amazing. I have started a thread too.
July 5 -19
Flyin to Clay - exit at Beaverhouse. Walleye, Lakers, Northerns, Bass

Jacksonville, Fl

I am so excited for you, Jere. Just remember that you're 63 and 20 years ago, when you were last there, you were 43. That's a big difference, so leverage your two weeks to your advantage, with rest days and going slowly. It's all granite up there and granite doesn't forgive falls. I was paddling and fishing the last three days. I'm nearly 67. And I've discovered that three days is about my limit. When I was young, I'd go paddling for months. Now, on the fourth day, I rest. So, build some rest days into your trip and think about where you plant each foot.

Frenchy19: "I think that I do not overthink fishing. I am not very good at fishing, so I keep it real simple. I bring 6 Rapala #11 lures with on each trip and that is it. One of three things happens: I catch fish until I lose all my lures; I catch fish until my trip ends or I do not catch fish. I am happy with all three outcomes."

Getting the fishing boat ready for Spring (in case it ever shows up) I sorted through my boxes kept floating raps, deep diving raps, and shad raps everything else, 102 lures, was given away. No more overthinking for me...

missmolly: "I am so excited for you, Jere. Just remember that you're 63 and 20 years ago, when you were last there, you were 43. That's a big difference, so leverage your two weeks to your advantage, with rest days and going slowly. It's all granite up there and granite doesn't forgive falls. I was paddling and fishing the last three days. I'm nearly 67. And I've discovered that three days is about my limit. When I was young, I'd go paddling for months. Now, on the fourth day, I rest. So, build some rest days into your trip and think about where you plant each foot. "

Thanks Miss Molly, good advice! I figure I have 5 layover days built in to the trip. I’m planning layovers at Kawnipi, Sturgeon and Jean with 2 wild cards. I’m paddling with 5 others 28 -32. If they push me too hard, they’ll be carrying me out! Sorry if I have high jacked the thread - my last post here!!

The TGO method - can't believe no one has brought it up yet. It's simplicity defined.

Between your rest days and all that young muscle, you'll do fine, Jere. You'll be the brains to all their brawn!