Tag: bass fishing in illinois

This year my fishing season started off earlier than ever before… and was extremely frustrating. I learned very quickly that when it comes to fishing, there is no “forcing it”. There is no “participation award”. You can’t make things happen no matter how hard you try – but what you can do…

… is pay your dues.

Put in the time. Get in your reps. Make sure you are learning even if you’re not catching fish.

If you do this… the fish will show up…

By making multiple trips to the bodies of water that you are able to fish you can monitor the changes that take place. You can see when the baitfish population comes to life, when the algae starts to grow and turn the bottom from brown to green. You’ll notice when the water clarity changes, when it begins to warm…

When everything comes to life!

It really is a beautiful thing, and this was the first time in my life that I made an effort to be out while these changes were taking place – even though it was causing a massive amount of self doubt due to the fact that the 3 nice fish I caught in this video were the result of 12 trips to multiple lakes and ponds between March and April in Illinois.

This is ok though – because the fish were not the sole purpose. I wanted to explore, to be by the water, to try different presentations at different times, to experiment and throughout it all – to log my success and failure so that I could learn.

And learn I did.

Chew on this. It is a worthwhile endeavor, and I want you to experience the benefits as well.

Tight Lines & Godspeed, Patriots.

QUICK NOTE: this is the longer version of “Quarantine Fishing“, which was edited for Facebook and meant to be all fun and games with no actual fishing information or much substance.