After more than two decades as a professional fisherman, Larry Nixon hasn't lost a step. He keeps winning with a consistency many aspire to, but few attain. BassFan recently sat down with Nixon to find out his secret.
"It still boils down to being a complete fisherman over three or four days," he says. "So many times during the year one pattern won't hold up day in and day out. So I always stress to fishermen to learn how to fish daily patterns."
A Recent Example
A good example of how this works is what Nixon did at the FLW Tour's Forrest Wood Open on Lake St. Clair in June 2001. Each day was different, he says.
"On days 1 and 2, 175 boats were on the water so fishing pressure was tough, and it also was windy and cloudy. I had to fish a tube on 10-pound test extremely slowly. If you moved the tube fast you just didn't catch fish.
"On day 3 the wind blew really hard and the smallmouths wouldn't bite at all. I had an area that had black spots on it -- beds or ambush spots. I had to make long casts with a spinning rod and let the tube lay on those black spots. So I had to totally abandon what I did on the first 2 days.
"On the last day the wind laid down somewhat and we had some sun," Nixon says. "I caught few big ones on a topwater, then switched to a Berkley Jerk Shad (soft plastic jerkbait) and caught 8 to 10 more before they quit. Then I went to a deeper area and fished a tube, but I didn't get a bite. So I picked up a 3/4-ounce spinnerbait and caught a few more.
"That was three lure changes to come up with bass," he notes. "And on that day I never caught a bass like I did on days 1, 2 and 3."
Nixon acknowledges that in some tournaments one lure can be fished the whole time. "But to be a complete fisherman a guy has to know how to use a lot of baits and when to pull them out of the bag," he says.
Instinct or Planning?
Is it instinct or planning that allows him to make those decisions?
"I had a game plan laid out before I started the tournament based on what happened during practice. So many times we think some pattern just went away, but Mother Nature just took it away -- and she might bring it back.
"But with daily or weather patterns, a lot of it is instinctive. You go by what you feel. And if you can do everything in quick succession, can catch a lot more fish."
By that he means that "if you prolong your decision -- if you throw that topwater bait for just 30 more minutes -- you may totally miss out on that other lure. And the bite on that might be over just as quick as it was on the topwater.
"We think the bass moved or we got out of them, but that's the time to make that decision and grab another bait. Usually it's something close to what you've been doing, or you have to totally reverse your strategy -- maybe go from the upper feeding zone to the lower one. Usually the answer is one of those two. The bass are still feeding, but they might not be looking in that other zone."
No Shortcuts
To recognize these patterns and to be a complete fisherman, "there are no shortcuts," Nixon says. "You can watch videos and TV and read magazines, but the only way to learn to fish daily patterns and daily conditions is by spending lots of time on the water. I got it from guiding all those years on Toledo Bend.
"You need to be out there when it's hot and dead calm and get a feel for why it isn't good, or why it is good. You need to have that experience to be confident in making decisions.
"Having confidence in what you're doing is the most important part," he notes. "If you make a change without confidence or a reason for it, you'll always doubt it a little. And to be a good bass fisherman you always have to feel like you're going to catch something."
