Thursday, April 24, 2008 9:16 PM CDT
How to improve your fishing success in '08 by using your head
By DAVE SHADOW, Hunting and fishing columnist
With fishing season upon us and fishing for most all species improving by the day, it will be easy to catch a “limit” of whatever species we’re looking for, right?
Not likely.
I’m sure you’ve cleaned and tuned all of your tackle and other fishing gear. But have your prepared your mind for the coming season?
If you’re going to catch fish regularly, the condition of your mind is just as important as your tackle. Probably moreso! Fishing for any species is a “head game” with bass fishing being even moreso than for most other species.
The reason this is more prevalent on bass is that many other fish are “schoolers,” and large numbers can be caught when the group is located. Not so of the bass. He is a loner, an opportunist and a predator.
You must stay alert to be ready when he strikes. You must expect to get a bite and catch a fish on every cast. If it doesn’t happen, then it must be going to happen on the next cast.
Bass fishing is at least 75 percent a “head game” and the remaining 25 percent is a combination of equipment and your ability to use it properly. It’s been said many times that “ol’ Joe” is the luckiest fisherman in your hometown! He always seems to catch fish. He always has the right lure and knows the location of all the “honey holes.”
In my many years of tournament fishing, I’ve been fortunate to fish a lot of different waters and pretty much coast to coast. I’ve bought at least one of every “secret lure” and subscribed to enough get rich quick articles to sink a good sized bass boat. I’ve attended and presented hundreds of seminars and have taught bass fishing techniques at Lakeland College and other locations to some anglers that had the potential to be better bass fishermen than I. In most cases, the failure to digest just one basic “secret” was their downfall.
We are fortunate to live in an area that provides us with the potential for many differing angling experiences. We have power plant lakes to provide year-around angling and hundreds of ponds and “borrow pits” that provide great angling for the bank fisherman. We have some fine relatively large impoundments and some good river fishing. All this diversity should provide the experience necessary to fish all across the country, in any conditions. All we need is the secret that enables the top pros to catch fish consistently.
Most importantly, don’t fish where there are no fish! That’s not as silly as it sounds. Most anglers go back to the same areas and spots (where they once caught a fish), time after time, no matter what current seasonal patterns or conditions dictate. Remember, 90 percent of the fish occupy 10 percent of the water! The problem is that this is not always the same 10 percent or same areas. While we were swapping stories last weekend, Joe Fitzpatrick pointed out that even on our home lake (Mattoon) a given cove or area or technique, may produce regularly one year and be barren the next. These areas change with seasonal movements and changing conditions. Even fishing and boating pressure dictates the placement and depth where the fish will be caught on a given day. Be aware of these primary variables and change your starting spot and techniques accordingly.
Try to fish in the 10 percent of the water that holds the majority of the fish.
Don’t get frustrated if you don’t find fish immediately. Even old Roland (Martin) doesn’t get it right every time, you know. If you’re in the right place, the place that seasonal patterns dictate, try different presentations and other lures. If that doesn’t work, experiment by moving to a pattern that should be a bit earlier or later. The fish don’t always read the right articles, and they sometimes fool us a bit. Some of them haven’t even been to one of my classes.
Once you locate the fish on your favorite lake, stick with them. They are going to move as seasonal patterns or pressures dictate, but they will still eat somewhere. If you can be aware of these variables that cause fish movement, you may follow the same bunch of fish through the whole season.
Once you’ve determined where the fish should be, the hard stuff starts. A good golfer doesn’t start out on the hardest course; he practices on a driving range for a while, right? The angler should learn from this, but many don’t. In order to consistently present a lure to the bass in a way that will draw a strike, it takes some preparation. Proper presentation is key to success in most Midwest fishing situations. Even if you’ve found the fish, they must bite before you can catch them.
Ol’ Joe may be the luckiest fisherman in your hometown or mine, but he makes his own luck. Anyone can have a good day and win once, but the guys who win consistently, practice continuously. Every time you flip, pitch or cast, have a target in mind. Even if it’s just a ripple on the water. We sometimes fall into bad habits in our levels of concentration and presentation practices. Be careful not to practice bad habits. If you practice your bad habits, you will only get better at doing those things that don’t work. Practice doesn’t make perfect; only “perfect practice makes perfect.” When something works and you catch fish, ask yourself, what triggered the strike, why were these fish here and where are other similar places? The big secret to luck is that “THE MORE YOU PRACTICE, THE LUCKIER YOU WILL GET” and the best “secret lure” in all your vast menagerie of tackle is CONFIDENCE. You can’t get this at the tackle shop, you build it yourself with more time on the water learning better presentations and the basics of good angling.
It’s faith, family and fishin’.
Dave Shadow is the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier’s hunting and fishing columnist.
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