Guys,
I learned that you should throw the 5" Senko more than the 4 or 3". I caught 6-4lbers, 2 over 5lbs, 2 over 6 and one 8.8 lber on this size of Senko. The other things you should do are let it fall in 18-20 ft of water for smallies as well as let it fall all the way to the bottom for a dock pattern. And the most important thing of all stretch your arm first before using this bait due to the problem I have been experiencing since early spring, "Senkbo".

Drop shot great on Perch and Smallies deep.

As well as fishing with different partners. Whether you win or not is not important to me as it used to be. Just fishing with new friends and having a good time is most important to me.

Russ

I learned several things,

1) I agree with Larry, Dropshot is a great technique and has caught me some good fish from 2ft deep in Potholes to 60ft plus on Washington, Perch, Largemouth, Smallies and even Trout will all bite a Dropshot.

2) spending this season as a backseater was a great education about boats, techniques and tackle, but most of all the about great company I enjoyed with a whole slew of different people.

3) I really really really love Bass fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wheeeww!......This is a good one,......so lets see.....

1). New boat.....but no real change since I also had......

2). Tournament Director Distractions.....It may seem like a small thing but what these two taught me most was...FOCUS.....no matter what happens to you in or out of the boat the fish are still there and if you can keep focus and think pro-actively you can get to them.

3). There is a specific time for fast and slow baits.

4). Sometimes you cannot fish slow enough.

5). The Drop Shot is a Lethal Pattern in the Northwest!

Now that 2003 is drawing to a close thought it might be interesting to find out what everyone tried different this year and what they learned.
In other words, did you start using a new technique or learn to fish a new lure?
Did you change tackle or get a new boat? Maybe you started fishing tournaments or a new lake? Get the idea?
Interested in hearing from anyone about anything you changed this year.

For me, it was 3 things:

1.  Deepwater structure fishing
This included improving my dropshot skills, as well as learning how to really use and trust my depthfinder.  It also included off-shore structure fishing.

2.  Fishing in the current
The lake Roosevelt tourny really opened my eyes to how current affects fishing, and how to exploit it to find fish.  In addition, although I didn't fish it, researching the tidal-influenced Columbia river for our tournament taught me a TON in regards to how current/tides position fish.

3.  Boat handling
Being a new driver of a 'glass boat introduced a whole new realm of fishing I hadn't encountered before - skillfully driving through rough water.  My previous aluminum boat didn't give me much choice other than to ram-rod straight through the waves. But now I know there's definitely a technique to doing it right when you have the equipment that can do it.

Let's hear it from you - what did you learn this year?