Techniques learned in 2010 and goal for 2011

[nuke]

I cut my teeth smallmouth fishing on the Susquehanna river in south central PA where the river is as wide as the Mississippi but also where 8' is considered deep water and the river is chunk rock and boulders from shoreline to shoreline. I became very proficient with tubes, spinnerbaits, jigs and crankbaits and how to deal with bumping rock bottom with all of those.  I'm currently in Mississippi where the lake I usually fish is 90% flooded timber such that you can barely idle around the lake and the trolling motor hits timber even in 40 foot of water. I've lost more BIG fish due to wrap-ups and break offs in the branches but can't seem to find a comfort zone using braid.  So, for 2011, I intend on becoming more proficient with braid.  I may also have to work on removing my feathers and crankin' thru the timber.

[DBrooke]

I learned the Jig this year.  I still ahve a lot to learn, but I can actually fish it with confidence now which I couldn't do until earlier this year.

I want to learn how to fish crank baits and spinner baits better and have started to load up on them for the upcoming spring.  I just get so nervous casting $6-$7 crank baits around brush piles and heavy structure/vegetation.  I'm going have to learn how to get over that and throw them where the big girls are.

Also, I am wanting to learn how to fish a jerk bait this winter, really struggling with jerk baits.

I know the feeling. Thanks to Foggy I'm throwing $15 spinnerbaits around 

[stock28]

I worked a lot on my pitching and flipping and got pretty good at it. It saved be many days from getting skunked!. This year I want to work on my drop shotting and Carolina rig as I think it will help a lot on the lakes I fish. In the past I relied a lot on shaky heads and Texas rigs, but I think the others will make me more productive.

[SkeeterMatt]

i forced myself to learn crank baits last year and i sure am glad i did. this year i plan on learning swim baits and getting more confidence in spinnerbaits.

[tim4081]

My goals in 2010 were to improve my results with jigs, crankbaits and jerkbaits.  By the end of the year I was very comfortable with jerkbaits so I'd give myself a B on those.  With jigs I improved but still not as much as I would have liked so the grade was a C.  As for cranks, I only earned a D....don't feel like I got much better and I tended to go more towards other techniques.  So for 2011 I still want to get better with cranks, continue to improve with jigs and I'd like to learn dropshotting.

[khargis]

In October 2010, I was fishing in a company tournament and we were having no luck. My brother-in-law and I were discussing what the heck we were going to do next. There was tons of grass / hydrilla around the banks so he suggested trying a jig. I'm thinking to myself that if a weedless work is getting hooked up in the grass constantly, then jigs are going to get downright nasty. However, I tried it and was truly amazed. Not only did the jig get snagged less, I caught several keepers on it. I plan on fishing, and learning, a jig more in 2011.

[Nomad]

Last year, I started fishing jigs and I was determined to fish them until I started catching fish on them.  I'd tried them in the past, but after a few casts and no bites, I always went back to what worked before.  But last year, I stuck with jigs even when I didn't get bites, and after a while, I started catching fish.  And I got addicted to jigs to the point where I'd start out with a spinnerbait or plastic but would switch back to a jig - but my flipping & piching techniques were lacking.  This year, I want to learn how to flip and pitch jigs effectively and also gain some confidence with crankbaits.

[willthebad]

I learned the drop shot to complete my finesse arsenal of shaky heading, drop shotting, and flick shaking. 

Hard Swimbaits will be one of my priorities.  Fishing deep football jigs is also up on the list. 

[SenkoSam]

Last fall I designed a simple but effective soft plastic for drop shotting and tandem rigging for crappie, sunfish and yellow perch. I've made new molds increasing the size of the bait from 1 3/4" to 5" for bass and hope to catch more bass using it in deeper water, in summer.

I bought football head jigs in sizes I've never used - 3/4 and 1 oz and hope to fish deeper weed edges and pockets in warm season water. I almost always swim jigs in shallow water (5' or less) like a spinnerbait, but don't seem to have the patience for working one in over 15'.

As much as I'd like to use one of the 300 crankbaits I own, I still get discouraged after the first 50 unproductive casts. Doubt deep divers will leave my basement. X-Raps on the other hand are still fun.

FrankM

[gillrod2728]

In 2010 I tryed learning T rig and pitching soft plastics with no real success I caught most of my fish on crank baits and jerk baits and spinner baits. Spinner Baits was another thing I worked on learning and I got a good hang on it and now am addicted. Most of my fish over the years have been pn cranks but I am no where near able to say I am great at it. My 2011 goal is deffintly soft plastics T rig and pitching.