post on general patternig of fish

Patterning Stategies

Date: May 07, 2006 at 18:02:03
From: ken, [pool-70-109-217-38.prvdri.east.verizon.net]
Subject: post on general patternig of fish

Flats Fishing
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Date: July 04, 2004 at 01:28:38
From: ken, [pool-64-222-40-193.prov.east.verizon.net]
Subject: Re: Re: post on general patterning of fish

Subject: How to Pattern 101 Oct. 2002
Note to the flats fishermen. Depth is a prime factor in patterning fish on the flats. When you find fish at a depth then go back to that depth (not the location but the depth) if you lose them. It is "flow," not spots.
That is a basic in flats patterning.

First there are points. Then there are coves. Everything can be described as what it is. A cove is a cove and a point is a point. Similar points are similar in relation to the direction they are facing and the side that the wind is coming in on and/or the bottom structure and on and on. The similarities become apparant as you think about them. If you find fish on a point that is similar to another point that you know about and you are catching fish on this point then the odds are that both of those points are holding fish at the same time. The old expression don't leave fish to find fish is not operational if you want to learn how to pattern fish. Leaving fish to find fish is the method that you do use. That is how you establish patterns. Don't leave a point and go to a cove if you are catching fish there, go to a similar point and another and another. Try several and try to establish a pattern. If you do then go to a cove and see if there is a pattern there too.
Then if you find one (a pattern) try to refine it by noticing things about the point that are not apparent at first glance -like- does the current come to the point from the same direction? Is the wind hitting the same shore or is it coming from a different quarter? Is the depth and the shelf and the bottom structure the same? Is the bait the same? Try to refine the similarities and patterns will emerge.
Do it as an observation project at first not as a way of catching fish. The fish will come but they will not just be fish that you caught they will be signals that you are becoming a bit more educated in using strategies to find them.
How long do you stay in one place searching for them? That depends on you. I do not stay in one place and fish it to exhaustion. If there are fish there you will find out pretty quickly. You might not catch them but you may get a hit or a boil or anything that tells you that they are there. That is the information you are looking for. If you see a fisherman there who is catching that is the information you need. There are fish there. It is about gathering knowledge not about catching fish per se. That comes later. If you ask someone how they are doing learn how to listen to him clearly. That can be a source of good information For instance. Hi catching anything? No! the fishing stinks! I've been here for six hours and haven't caught anything. I've been using this here popper and and I can't catch anything on it. Did you try anthing else? Naw! I've always caught fish on this
and I caught a bunch of them yesterday morning right here. But today they won't hit and the fishing stinks.
That's too bad anybody else catch anything? Yea those guys over there did but they fish stupid and are always losing fish cause they don't use plugs with big enough hooks like me. They use them expensive Japanese plugs -I make my own and they work good. They got some earlier but yesterday I did real good but not today I had to work this morning so I didn't get here till late. I like to fish the top I'm a topwater man but they are bottom fishermen and they lose them plugs on the rocks boy they are dumb. I never lose plugs on the rocks I'm a topwater man. Sure was rough
yesterday I got all wet but the fish were biting good. Today is nice I didn't even get wet yet. See any fish at all? Oh yea there are lots of them but they won't eat anything they are just playing with the bait they aren't eating it just chasing it and it sure is small and funny looking. I keep catching it on my hooks. I was thinking I might stick it on a hook and throw it out there but I like fishing on the top.

Learn to edit what people say -not- the emotions they express or their opinions about what their experience means. Listen to what they say about what they saw not what they say about how the fishing is. See any fish jumping? That is a good question to ask. Where did they start jumping? When did that happen. Any little fish around? People are good sources of good information but not usually because they know what they are telling you. They think their opinions are what is important so let them tell you their opinions and get to the meat by asking and hearing clearly what they observed by asking them questions directly related to events. They will tell you everything they saw if you listen to their opinions and don't disagree with the interpretations that go along with them. Smile and listen - that is the price of admission.

Add talking to people to actual fishing for yourself. Pay more attention to hits and fish that come to your flies than to the numbers of fish you catch. Finding fish is not the same as catching them and finding them comes first in terms of priority. Noticing the information that is right in front of you (there are fish there) is the necessary ingredient to recognize the basic pattern to find more fish in similar environments. It works and the more actual similarities not counterfeit similarities you can recognize as real the better fisherman you will become for the simple reason that you can find fish better this way than by roaming around hoping for good luck.
The knowledge of patterns grows as you use it to search for similar areas that agree with the areas that you are finding fish in. Fish on the left on the right and in the front. Edit the water and move on. When you find a single fish you can deduce a pattern and explore with it. That is the beginning of every pattern so observing and noticing everything you can about that one fish can start you on the trail. How deep was the water where he came from? What direction was the current coming? Every detail you can notice will help you discover the pattern and there is always one there. If you do not want to believe there is a pattern then there will never be one to find. Fishermen disregard lots of information because it is not absolute. That wasn't a fish. That was just a wave splash. I don't think that was anything. All the time I hear people dismiss what they see because they cannot see it as absolute proof that what they think they might have seen maybe isn't real. They disregard what they saw as not important enough to believe it is worth taking a chance on. I notice everything that flicks, tweeks, flashes, creases, clips, sort of kind of might be a fish maybe, perhaps that was a piece of bait and that weed maybe wasn't a weed but a tail and I act on those tiny clues. I don't need others to verify it for me and neither do you. Act as if it is a fish and often it is. Never act as if it is a fish and it never will be. The only certainty comes from acting as if it is. The same is true with patterns. If you think you have a pattern than act as if you do and you will find out quickly and you will be a more knowledgeable fisherman for the effort. "Cast on the left hand side of the rocks just when the wave breaks." That is a pattern and some are as small as that and they can put many many fish on the end of your line with a whole lot less wasted fishing time.

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