What was so special about that particular cast that made a bass hit? Paying attention and analyzing the cast, surroundings, presentation, and any other specifics can give you good information for putting more bass in the boat. Occasionally a bass will strike for no reason, but most of the time you can figure out a pattern. Sometimes it is easy to see a pattern, while other times it really takes some analyzing.
Several years ago I was fishing with a friend in Turtle Bayou in south Louisiana. We fished most of the morning with very little luck. In the late morning, a well positioned cast with a worm in the shade of a small bush hanging over the water produced a bass. Just a few minutes later, another cast into the shade of another small bush put another bass in the boat. So we began to cruise the banklines concentrating on the shady areas under the small bushes. Any cast outside of the shady areas didn’t work, but a cast in the shade was very likely to result in a strike. We ended up having a very successful day.
On other trips, patterns that I have discovered to be successful were: casting a topwater lure in shady areas of banklines; working single cypress trees; working cypress trees on points; pitching soft plastics to concrete steps in the water; working ladders on docks; working spinnerbaits along grasslines, stumps or laydowns, and walkways of docks. Also, be attentive to how you are retrieving the lure – slow, fast, intermitent; as that might also be the key that unlocks the door to catching more fish on that trip. Each fish you catch might fill in a piece to the puzzle of what works for catching bass on that particular outing. It might give you good information for future trips to that same body of water.
Checking out the area you are fishing can provide very useful information. Is there a channel nearby, presence of grass or trees, laydowns, dropoff, or some other distinguishing factor that sets this area apart from other areas? Determining what factors played into a strike by a bass and then targeting similar areas could turn a mediocare trip into a great trip. The pattern you figure out will most likely work all over that particular body of water. However, it is possible that different areas might have different patterns. While fishing the Red River last year, I found two patterns. One was fishing grass while the other was fishing laydowns. While there was grass present in both areas, the spot where the laydowns were producing the fish; a bass could not be caught in the grass anywhere in that area.
You have to pay close attention and see what the bass are telling you with their strikes. What is in the area that brought the bass to that area and also caused him to srike. Determine the pattern can turn your fishing trip from okay to great.
Mike Noble
