esoxaddict - 4/18/2013 1:37 PM

I think it all comes down to paying attention to what's going on out there, and taking something away from your day on the water. Over time you develop instincts, a lot of which I believe are subconscious. Some people just go out and cast and either catch fish or not. Other go out and cast and try to figure out why they caught fish that day, what they did, where the fish were and why they might have been there. It becomes automatic after so many years. When you hit the water, you may not be thinking "hmm, it was a day just like this three years ago when we caught a fish over there!' But there's still something in the back of your mind that tells you "go fish over there!"

I can't tell you how many times we've pulled up to a spot and before I even threw a cast I thought "#*#*. Not feeling it"... I've been stupid enough to still fish those areas anyway because I don't trust my instincts, but when I feel like that before I even cast, I always come up empty. Couldn't tell you what doesn't look right or why, but sometimes a spot where I've seen and caught fish just doesn't feel right. The other side of the coin is when you pull up to a spot, and as you're getting ready to cast you're just... buzzing. Like you KNOW there's a fish in there and you're going to catch it. More often than not? There's one there.

I'm sure it sounds crazy to most. It sounds crazy to me, but I've experienced it too many times for it to be total BS.