The fact is that there are no rules of bass fishing! I think we make up rules to fit out situation. If we are catching bass, we decide it was because the wind current had them pushed up against the bank and they were using brush as current breaks. I have to wonder, if many times it’s not simply about the right place at the right time. Yep the wind was blowing, yep the shad were there, yep a front is coming in tomorrow, all great reasons for the bass to be biting. Next week you have the same situation and nothing. What changed? The rules didn’t, but the bass followed the shad off to open water and were scattered elsewhere.
Instead of rules to bass fishing, I like to think about scenarios, to build a pattern for the day. On any given body of water, there can be and probably is several working patterns. Some will be better than others. With the scenario in my first paragraph, you could take this pattern and move around the lake and find fish again. Or you could abandon it completely and try to use the so called “Rules” and build another pattern. The fact is that there is no one rule that is going to catch bass for you. Use your conditions, weather, water, and what season it is to help you build a pattern using past scenarios that have worked for you.
There is no reason that if you found bass last week, and you have the same conditions this week, that you shouldn’t be able to find bass. You may not find them in the same spot, but you will be able to duplicate the pattern and find them somewhere.
Many anglers get hung up on spot fishing. If you’re a weekend angler, and just out to enjoy a day on the water then it’s great to go where you have caught bass before and see if you can use the “rules” to catch bass. However, if you’re a tournament angler you need to be looking at the scenarios that have worked in the past and match them up to your current conditions and get to covering water.
Do you believe there are hard fast rules to bass fishing? Swing by the www.ultimatebass.com forums and let us know what you think. Here is a direct link to the thread where we can discuss things you have learned.
Get the Net it’s a Hawg
Mike Cork
