I was reflecting on how my approach to bass fishing has changed over the last several years and how it has increased my success rate. I thought maybe I would post it and someone else might benefit.
Over the last 30 plus years I found myself being driven more by technique. Techniques and equipment seemed to be the focus and they were evolving at a pretty rapid rate. Flipping, pitching, jigs, deep cranking, drop shot, finesse, frogs, long rods and so on. I also like the "stuff."
The techniques I enjoyed the most seemed to dictate the water and cover types I fished. I found myself become a " spot " fisherman and returned to the same spots and found myself force feeding the lure type and techniques I enjoyed the most. I was able to fish frequently during that period so my success rate was acceptable. I had become a narrow focused angler and created a rut for myself.
About six years ago I changed my approach. I had to. It was not because I was intelligent or had some special insite. I started fishing with a guy I've known for years and he showed me something simple that changed my perspective. Look for ZONES. The application is kind of like pattern fishing but we don't have the huge bodies of water to truly apply pattern fishing so zone fishing is what we attempt to do.
Honestly, smallmouth fishing drove me to appreciate the zone concept. I read the recent thread on SEARCH BAITS and noticed there was a trend of shallow baits. I thought, that's exactly what I used to focus on. What if the fish are not in a shallow zone? Your searching may lead you to move to a new area, still shallow and the zone where the fish are has not been searched.
My approach is now to find the zone, then area and then refine it to spots if they exist. The seasonal pattern dicated what zone I started on, shallow, mid depth or deep. Then I looked for zones with specific characteristics such as cover types, contours, structure or lack there of and so on. Then I would start my search to establish a zone and focus the technique that most effectively covered that zone and refine it further if a spot within the area within the zone was discovered. I quit searching spots and began to search zones. This became more effective way to locate fish, select and apply a technique and lure type.
This is nothing new. Successful anglers have applied this practice for years. I just needed to learn it for myself. I don't get the opportunity to fish near as often as I used to so this concept has really paid off. This is an example. I fished the end of a small resavoir a few years ago. I looked for the zone and found a long creek. I searched the shallow zone within the creek which was a zone within that end of the lake. I caught some fish shallow but the bite slowed. The fish I found searching the shallow zone was a false positive. I came back the following day and again caught a few fish shallow as I searched the one mile of creek that held fish. The bite slowed. I backed way out and began to search the deep zone within that one mile and found the real population of fish. As I continued to fish that zone I found there were saddles within the contour and the fish seemed to hold in the saddles. I found some stumps within the saddles. They were the spots that held the larger bass. Then I refined it further with a bait choice and even further with the type of retrieve. IT wasn't the fish that made it one of the best days I have ever had, it was the process that got me on them.
I will not take credit for my learning this. It took someone to get me to open my eyes and continue to learn. I hope this helps someone. If it does, let me know, I will tell my buddy who shared it with me.
