(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
The hardest part of fishing is not necessarily choosing the right tackle or presentation – although those factors are important, decision-making is tougher and perhaps more critical. That’s complicated by the fact that bass don’t often play by a rulebook.
“The fish are always changing and you’ve got to know when to change with them,” said Elite Series champion Bryan New. Whether it’s the period between practice and a tournament, or over the course of a single day, what seemed to be a rock-solid pattern or location can suddenly end up barren.
“I know every one of us has been there,” he added. The first stop in solving this puzzle is to figure out why the bite has been reduced or has gone away altogether. During the period in and around the spawn, it may be a matter of movement. Fish may leave staging areas and move to the shallows. At other times, weather takes certain patterns or areas out of play. Finally, fishing pressure can have a substantial impact, too. Bass that were eating an aggressive presentation like a topwater or a ChatterBait may now only swipe at it, or ignore it altogether. That’s one reason he keeps a finesse soft plastic with him at all times, to keep them honest. “The wacky worm is a fish-catcher. Some people don’t like to fish it, but it catches them.”
Of course, the frequency with which an angler moves, and the times to pull the trigger, are a matter of personal preference and comfort. “There’s no exact science to it,” he said. “It’s all just in your head.” In Florida, for example, he noted that areas often tend to be more critical than patterns, so sometimes it pays just to hunker down in a known fish-holding zone and grind it out. In other places, or at times outside of the spawn, the better strategy might be to make multiple moves. That’s often New’s strategy. He feels like he only needs to make a few really good decisions each day to be in the hunt for a big blue trophy. Making a series of smaller decisions, even if some or most of them turn out to be duds or disappointments, can lead to some good decisions and belated success. The key thing is to keep your mind open to new possibilities, new tactics and new areas, and then use past history to figure out how to implement a game plan.
Sometimes it is even just a matter of a slight positioning change. During one Florida tournament he found good numbers of aggressive fish living under lily-pad fields in calm conditions. When the wind started to howl during the event, the fish seemed to have disappeared, but it turned out that they’d just moved outside the edge. They didn’t want the pads to “smack ‘em around,” he surmised, and with a ChatterBait and a Speed Worm he filled out his limit.
If you want to learn some other aspects of New’s strategies for changing gears mid-day, including information on some of his favorite Fitzgerald rods, check out his full video filmed live on the Elite Series stage, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
