Why Fishing Resolutions Usually Fail
"Fish more" is not a resolution. Neither is "catch bigger bass" or "learn new techniques." These are wishes, not plans.
The resolutions that stick are specific enough to act on immediately and connected to something you'll actually measure. Here are five that meet that bar.
1. Learn to Read Your Sonar, Not Just Look at It
Most anglers turn on their fish finder and look for arches. That's surface-level sonar use.
The anglers who consistently find fish learn to read bottom composition, identify suspended fish vs. bottom fish, distinguish rock from mud, and locate baitfish schools before they see any bass. That's a different skill — and it's learnable.
The resolution: Pick one sonar feature you don't currently use — down imaging, side imaging, or contour mapping — and commit to understanding it by April. Watch YouTube tutorials for your specific unit model. Then go out and practice reading it before you fish, not while you're fishing.
This skill matters more than any lure. Finding fish is 80% of the battle.
See How to Use Your Fish Finder to Locate Winter Bass for a starting point.
2. Fish One Season's Pattern Through to the End
Anglers learn patterns in fragments. They catch fish on a Carolina rig for a few days, then switch to something else before they truly understand why it was working.
The resolution: Choose one seasonal pattern — pre-spawn cranking, summer offshore, fall shad — and commit to it until you understand it completely. Fish it through good days and bad. Figure out why the bite improves and why it dies. By the end of that window, you'll own that pattern.
Patterns worth owning:
- Pre-spawn jig fishing on points (February–April)
- Summer offshore drop shot or Carolina rig (June–August)
- Fall lipless crankbait on flats (September–November)
The Seasonal Fishing Calendar shows when each pattern is prime and how long the windows typically last.
3. Catch Fish in a Water Temperature You've Avoided
Most anglers have a comfort zone. For many, it's 60–75°F — spring through early summer. They fish less when water is cold or very warm because the fishing is harder.
Hard fishing teaches more than easy fishing.
The resolution: Deliberately fish when water temps are below 48°F at least twice this year. Approach it as a learning exercise, not a numbers game. Figure out where bass go, what they'll eat, and how slow is slow enough.
Cold-water technique primers: Winter Jerkbait Fishing, Drop Shot in Cold Water, Cold-Water Finesse Fishing.
4. Stop Changing Lures Before You Change Locations
This is the most common angler mistake. A spot isn't producing, so the lure gets swapped. The new lure doesn't produce, so another swap. By the time you've tried five baits, you've wasted 45 minutes on a spot that simply doesn't hold fish right now.
The resolution: When fishing is slow, change location before you change lure. Commit to a two-step check before swapping:
If the answer to #2 is no, move. If yes, adjust presentation — retrieve speed, depth, pause length — before swapping to a different lure.
This habit alone will make you more efficient. It also forces you to think about where bass actually are, rather than treating the whole lake like a grab bag.
5. Build a Lure System Instead of a Random Collection
Most tackle boxes are accumulated randomly. Lures from sales, tournament giveaways, gifts, impulse buys. The result is a box with 200 lures and no coherent system.
The resolution: For the next season, build toward a system. For each forage type in your home lake — shad, bluegill, crawfish — have a complete presentation chain: search bait, reaction bait, finesse option, and specific cover option.
A system looks like this for a shad-dominated reservoir:
- Search: Strike King Red Eye Shad (/products/red-eye-shad) — cover water fast
- Reaction: 6th Sense Cloud 9 C10 (/products/cloud-9-c10) — trigger suspended fish
- Cover: 6th Sense Divine Swim Jig (/products/divine-swim-jig) — work through grass or wood
- Finesse: Drop shot with finesse worm — for pressured or inactive fish
The Fish Finder Tool helps match your lake's forage and conditions to the right lures. For bundled systems already built around specific patterns, browse the Shop.
Making Resolutions Stick
Write them down. Vague intentions stay vague. A note on your phone, a card in your tackle bag, a sticky note on the boat — anything that forces you to look at them again in March.
Check in at mid-season. Have you actually fished winter? Have you stuck with your pattern? Have you moved locations instead of switching lures?
More strategy for becoming a better angler from Wired2Fish and Bassmaster.