Periods of fast fishing action allow easy comparisons of standard presentations and new techniques.  Say you put down 3 of your “go-to” standards and 3 of something new, even if the new stuff isn’t working; you’re still catching fish on your old stuff.  If the new stuff isn’t working well, trying it out during periods of hot fishing allows tuning the presentation with immediate feedback on whether you made an improvement or not.

If the new stuff is producing about the same as the old, you just added another weapon to your arsenal.  If the new stuff is working even better than the old standbys, well then it was really worth the extra effort required.

Conversely, say you’re having a slow day and switch from proven winners to something new.  Now if the new stuff doesn’t catch anything either, how do you figure out if it’s the new technique or just lack of cooperative fish? 

So next time you’re out on the water banging away on the fish, consider pulling a line or two and putting down something new.  You might just learn something.

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