contributed by Richard Ziert
If you don't have your head together for any reason, you will fair poorly in just about anything you do. Getting your head together in picking a lake to fish starts one or more days before you make the trip. A short road or two ago I learned to pick the best lake for forecasted weather conditions. With poor weather, shallow lakes with poor fisheries should be avoided. It's far better to drive another hour or so to get to a more productive lake, than spending all day kicking yourself because you didn't. Sometimes that better lake can be just across the road from a poor one. Contrary to some pretty much standard comments about fishing not being a job, I go fishing to catch fish, and therefore it is a job in a way. I try not to shackle myself before I start.
Regardless of the lake, certain aspects of attitude come to the fore.
Make an A.S.S. out of yourself! Accuracy - Subtlety - Sensitivity.
Not all fish are turned off because of poor weather. You need to pick your spots wisely, and be almost pin point accurate fishing those spots and angles to spots. You have to get as near to the fish as possible without spooking them with the splash of your bait. You need to pick the right angle of approach to keep your bait "in the zone" longest.
Subtlety is largely the degree of fineness while finesse fishing. Reaction bites will work sometimes during poor weather, but a finesse approach will work more often. Anatomically accurate colors, action, and features to baits, live bait, small baits, slow to slower moving baits, jiggled in place baits, stopped baits, and so on is what is needed.
Sensitivity can be practiced. Poor weather conditions often say not only do you have to be both of the first two items to my list, but it says the fish are more sensitive, more subtle, and they are likely in places - physically and mentally - they wouldn't be under better conditions. Knowing this alone makes you more sensitive to the situation.
Then there's other feely things. None of us know what clods, how uncoordinated, how insensitive we really are until we try to switch hit. Something to make you more sensitive is to take that computer mouse and operate it with your week side hand. Unless you are exceptional, you'll see immediately you just don't have it together. This and other switch hit practice will get better after a while, but it likely will never get as good as you think you are on your strong hand side. However, that practice will make you think about how sensitive you need to be on your strong/dominant hand side. . . and, you will become more sensitive. Regardless of play on meaning, realizing the acronym used above is there to help us become better fishermen, wear the badge with honor.
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