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Posts: 1286
Location: Stevens Point, Wi. | You pull into a boat lannding around 3PM, and while getting ready to launch, a boat pulls up to the dock. You notice it is an old friend, so you go over and help him load his boat. After catching up on the latest news, you ask him how his day went on the water. His reply, 99% of my day was spent fruitlessly washing lures in a variety of locations. The other 1% resulted in 2 boated fish.
He then tells you that you have a choice. You can get a detailed report of the 1% successful time or a detailed report of the 99% unsuccessful time.
With the thought in mind that both of you are very familiar with the lake, which would you choose?
What is more important to your next 8 hours on the water? |
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Posts: 32935
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I bet the 1% had more to do with timing than anything else, most cases. If not, the guy has a secret he should pass on... |
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Posts: 76
| The 1% for sure. Assuming your definition of detailed. That 1% is a sure thing, the other 99% will still leave you guessing. |
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| 1% was the magic window when they turned on, which happens every 24 to 72 hours |
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Posts: 1168
| Give me the 99% side of it. If I know the water that well I can take that and figure out the 1%. Easier to figure out 1% of a problem than it is 99% of a problem. |
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| Give me the 1%. Not only do you know the lure and location/structure but you also get the confidence in knowing fish can be caught that way. |
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| I would take the 99% for sure. As with anything in life I feel there is a lot more that can be learned from failure than brief moments of success. |
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| I'll take the 1% every time...who's to say that he didn't do what he was doing in that 1% at all in the other 99% of the time, that doesn't mean it was some magic window, it could mean he found the pattern but only did it for 1% of the time...
don't try and reinvent the wheel ...always find out what works over what didn't...
imo. |
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Posts: 3508
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Give me the 99% as well. I would want to know what was tried, where it was tried, did anything react to it (follows). If both know the water well, knowing what didn't work is a clue to do something different. It gives me an idea that I need to think "out of the box" a little more and maybe try some different techniques from what the friend did, but it can also give clues as to where to search as well. If he was shallow...move off, etc.
As has been stated countless times, those who consistently get fish and can consistently contact and catch big fish seem to do things a touch differently. It is that little difference in what is done that can make or break a day.
This would be an interesting topic to see as a poll just for the raw numbers to see how people feel about gathering information.
Steve |
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| Actually I wouldn't be all that excited to get either nugget of info, but I guess I'd go w/ the 1% since it's a little more specific. The 99% is everything else. |
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Posts: 785
| I'd say "forget IT", then I'd say, "I thought you were my friend, loser, I'll just figure it out on my own!"
No actually I'd go with the one percent, I like fish stories a lot more than nofish stories. |
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Posts: 688
Location: Northern IL | Any information from a "reliable" source is valuable, unfortunately the only info your going to get from most casters is what was happening in the shallows. Your only getting part of the story.
If the friend said he made contact early in the day (before 10:00am) and it's summer time, the guide line says if we have not experienced a weather or water change then we CAN expect another movement later in that same day.
If it was during the colder times of the season and he said he made contact in the mid day then it may be a good day to learn some new things about the lake. 
Jerry Borst
Spoonplugger/Instructor |
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Posts: 17
Location: Puyallup, WA | Neat question. Either way, it would be valuable info. I do think the 1% might be handy if you new the water cuz you could apply it to your "known" spots and maybe cut to the chase. |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | I would like the detailed report of the 1% successful time. With a detailed report I can figure out if it was just the time, the spot or pattern used. Detailed report--thats the key words here. |
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Posts: 284
Location: Fishing the weeds | I'll take the 99%. If you know the lake that well, it shouldn't take to long to figure the rest out. This is where good record keeping is important. And not just your successes but, the tough days also. Pat |
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Posts: 3913
| Cool question. I'll take door #1, Monte. |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | If he was my friend, he'd tell me everything - not one part or the other. 
I tell all my friends what has been working where and what hasn't. I think they would give me a strange look if I ever told them the 1% or 99% thing.
Either way, I doubt I'd change my game plan on what someone else found at a different time of the day. Fish move a lot and just because they were hitting on a certain lure on a certain time at a certain place doesn't mean they will be later in the day. The fish could have moved by then and be on totally different structure that requires a totally different approach. A likely scenerio is the fish moving from shallow water early out to open water later in the day. Just because they were in three ft of water early doesn't mean they aren't in 30 ft now.
Come to think of it, I can count on one hand the number of times someone gave me specific information that paid off exactly as it did for them. Something is always different - the weather, the mood of the fish, time of day, something.
Besides, the friend may have just caught the only two fish in the lake that would bite that one particular lure. Trying what he did might be worth a try, but something different might be much better.... |
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Posts: 688
Location: Northern IL | Correct!
The days where fish activity lasts more than "minutes" in a 24 hour period is a rarity not the rule. Ever hear it from the resort owner "should have been here last week?"
On an average day fish "may" become active once or twice. The majority of the time they have moved either so deep or become so dormant or inactive they are almost impossible to catch.
The reason we don't "see" fish is because they are not there. A fish can become active at any time, and at any depth but he dose "NOT" stay that way long! The challenge is to take a bait past em at the "time" activity takes place.
If the "school" of fish became active at 8:00am and moved no farther than 20' and we spent the last 9 hours casting across the weed tops how many fish are we likely to catch? However if they became active and some moved all the way to the shallows then we may have had our chance. Breaks or cover can hold fish for a longer periods of time. 1 or 2 smaller fish may indicate a movement or they could just be a straggler.
So we talk to our "reliable" source at 3:00pm he says he hasn't seen any activity for the last 6-8 hours and he hit the best areas. If the weather hasn't changed, That tells us that our chances are good.
Jerry Borst
Spoonplugger/Instructor |
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What's more important?