Brett,

Thanks for your inquiry! Brett, for your age, you sound like a pretty well grounded, young man!

At you age (I'm sorry to have to keep mentioning that; but because of it, you're going to be tremendously disadvantaged for a short while); the best thing for you to do right now, is to continue fishing every chance you get! Having your own boat is always a plus ~ BUT ~ trust me; you'll learn a lot more, a lot faster, by fishing from the back seat of an experienced anglers' boat!

My best advice: LOOK, LISTEN, LEARN!

LEARN how to effectively use EVERY TYPE of lure you have at your disposal! That may sound like an oversimplification; but, it becomes an absolute necessity when you begin fishing competitively!

LEARN when & where & why! Bass "hang-out" in different areas of a body of water, during different times of the year. Knowing why, and where, and when; will increase your chances of continuing to bring in more & larger fish, regularly! There are a lot of ways you can learn this information: reading "trade magazines" (BassMaster, In-Fisherman, BASS, etc) listening to the "old-timers" from the area (they're always willing to help out a young angler), and spending a lot of time on the water, yourself!

LEARN one new fishing technique, from every single person that you fish with.

Everyone has a single "go-to lure" that they're expert at using; and, that they prefer using when the fishing is tough ~ by watching them closely, and picking up on their individual fishing techniques; you're sure to advance your abilities!

Don't just run off on your own, and expect to know everything that there is to know about Bass-fishing! It just doesn't happen that way in the Real World! You can learn an awful lot, by just keeping your eyes & ears open, and your mouth shut! Even a person that doesn't seem to have enough common sense to blow his own nose; can show you how to fish one way, at one time, with one lure; and catch fish! NOW is the very best time in your life to learn ~ the time when your mind is still open to learning new things ~ just BEFORE you become set in your ways!

Let me make one more suggestion to you: Begin keeping a small (loose-leaf) note-book, on what lure & technique did what, when, & where! Divide the notebook, by lake fished, time of year (date(s) fished), water-temps, and weather conditions. No one can remember exactly what worked when & where ~ without a little something to remind them! That "silly" little notebook can one day mean the difference between a first-place tournament finish, and a last-place, "also ran"! Don't ever discard a single page ~ even the ones showing a bad fishing day! You'll find that even THAT information will be valuable to you, at some time in the future! Does it work? Well, in the last fifty years; I've filled a total of eighteen notebooks, that cover the 26 lakes and 10 states, that I used to fish competitively in! You know; I'll bet that I could still use them today; and pull a decent limit on each & every lake in them. Try it! It only takes about five minutes at the end of the fishing day; to log-in all the pertinent information from that day's fishing! In time, you'll begin to see the fishing patterns on that particular lake!

Good Luck & GOOD FISHIN'!

Dennis Bryant The 'Fishin Professor' at BassOnHook.com
Owner ZAP Custom Lure Co. / Parrish Lure Co.
Toledo, OH USA