So, How long do you wait ….

How long to you wait before you bail out on your fish? Suppose you only have 1 area holding quality fish and they stopped hitting. Do you stick with them or do you ramble.

Hi Dave
Did the wind blow in your part of the state today?

I’m certainly not a bass expert, but I play one on the internet
Okay, seriously…..Big B’s first rule: NEVER leave fish to find fish. Applies to walleye,results may vary with bass

Wind blew big time . It was a good day to sit on the tractor and get some beans planted. Tooo crummy to fish !

If you have really worked the area with a variety of techniques and they still have lockjaw, bail and come back later.

Thats the million dollar question spinner- my personal thought is if you have tried downsizing, changing colors, fishing deeper, and lost confidence then you must leave to get a fresh mental attitude. You never know, you could stay and eek one more 4 lber or get on some fresh fish and do the same. I think this is one of those “instincts” that some people have or develop from time on the water but for me it is a confidence issue- if you dont have it->leave.

After trying different lures and no luck I would try expanding the area fished some as they may have spooked from all the pressure you put on that area. For example maybe moved off of a tree into alittle deeper water or maybe moved alittle off to the left or right. Or even shallower. If still not contacting fish then it might be best to try a few other areas that offer the same kind of structure and then come back to that area to see if you can catch a couple more from there. I’m not much of a bass fisherman but giving them a break has worked for me when fishing for any kind of fish. Tough question but knowing how good of fisherman there are on this forum I think you guys will find alot of good solutions from everyones comments here by them. I have to add that I’m impressed with the quality of bass fisherman who come to this forum. You guys know your stuff and I for one appreciate the talent here as I’m sure the rest do to. Thank you.
Thanks, Bill

I personally will never leave the spot if big fish are present. If you have caught 4lb + fish off of a spot I would believe you haven’t caught them all. Now if your catching limits of 12-15 inch fish reguardless of them shutting off I would leave after a limit is bagged. In the case of a big fish spot that has turned off, first I expand my origanal area I was fishing to about twice the size, in case the fish have moved or shifted. Then for a short period of time I’ll switch up what I was throwing. If that doesn’t work I’ll imediatly switch back to what I caught them on, becuase obviously that worked already and it will be the bait you have your confidence in. I find though in most cases the fish have just stopped feeding for a period of time. Wait them out, becuase if they start feeding again you will win the tournament. So many times from experience and from talking to other tournament anglers that left the honey hole and ended up finishing in the top five instead of winning. Even if you leave the spot and upgrade your fish a couple of pounds more then likely someone else is a on big fish and when they stay they win. I find the key is to find the big fish, not whether to decide to leave or not.

Thank you all for your comments. If you havent had regrets about leaving your fish you either havent fished many tournies or you are not being critical of your descions. Maybe I try to analize my performance to much. I try to learn from my mistakes but at the end of the day it seems I repeat too many of them. . There are times where everything falls togather and it just seems to easy but those days dont come along very often. Thats what draws me to this sport. That tap-tap or crushing top water strike is what its all about.