Shoop05 Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 This is a pretty popular question around fishing groups. How many bites in a given situation do you like to have in order to start trying to pattern bass? I usually like 2 or 3. 3 gives me good confidence that Im on to something consistent, while 2 tells me Im headed in the right direction. How about you guys? Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 1st fish is the stupidest fish in the lake 2nd fish is the hungriest fish 3rd fish is a pattern Jeff 9 Quote
mg4u2nv Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 1st fish is the stupidest fish in the lake 2nd fish is the hungriest fish 3rd fish is a pattern Jeff Quote
kanasbassfisher08 Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 well i like to catch three or so and go to a identicle place and fish it the same way and if it works there i call it a pattern but 00 mod is pretty good lol Quote
Megastink Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 Two fish and I start to think I'm onto something. The third fish confirms the pattern. I'll shake off the third bite if pre fishing. Quote
Shoop05 Posted April 23, 2013 Author Posted April 23, 2013 1st fish is the stupidest fish in the lake 2nd fish is the hungriest fish Jeff That's perfect! Quote
Super User ww2farmer Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 Pattern...scmattern, give me a boat deck with a dozen rods on it that I am tripping over, a GPS trail that looks like I have hit every dock or laydown on the bank, every piece of junk or rock in 20 feet of water, cranked every deep weed line, frogged and punched every mat, and pitched 100's of holes in every good weed bed on the lake and I am a happy man. Rare are the days around here where you can pick up one rod and fish a pattern for more than an hour. I love to junk fish, and usually have my best days when I don't get locked into doing one thing. 3 Quote
Super User WRB Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 Jeff nailed it, the stupid hungry bass pattern, we all are looking for one. Some lakes don't pattern, it's a spot lake or a scratch lake, 10 bass on 10 very different lures or conditions doesn't make a pattern, it's a good day on the water. Tom Quote
Shoop05 Posted April 23, 2013 Author Posted April 23, 2013 Pattern...scmattern, give me a boat deck with a dozen rods on it that I am tripping over, a GPS trail that looks like I have hit every dock or laydown on the bank, every piece of junk or rock in 20 feet of water, cranked every deep weed line, frogged and punched every mat, and pitched 100's of holes in every good weed bed on the lake and I am a happy man. Rare are the days around here where you can pick up one rod and fish a pattern for more than an hour. I love to junk fish, and usually have my best days when I don't get locked into doing one thing. Great point there. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 I think "patterns" are VERY important. The best example occurred the last time we were at Pickwick for the RoadTrip during the Great Flood. Big O and our two Army Sargents caught 144 smallmouth the first day! Some were caught on the Red Eye Shad, but the vast majority on Rage Tail Baby Craws. EVERY fish was suspending at 15'. Quote
Super User Felix77 Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 1st fish is the stupidest fish in the lake 2nd fish is the hungriest fish 3rd fish is a pattern Jeff This is great! Fuzed in my brain now because it was so funny ... yet true! Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 If I catch a bass in the weeds, or in timber, I tend to fish that area thoroughly just to see if there are more or if the one I caught was by itself. If I don't get anymore bites then I move on. If I keep catching then I start putting a patten together. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 I don't assume anything until about a dozen or so. And even then, I assume I've figured out the dink pattern. Quote
Super User flyfisher Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 Is it even possible to have a pattern when you are fishing shoreline cover? I mean really they are relating to whatever cover is nearby and provides shade, food etc... I always think of patterns as where to look away from the shore and looking at certain depths, ledges humps etc... Quote
CPBassFishing Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 1st fish is the stupidest fish in the lake2nd fish is the hungriest fish3rd fish is a patternJeff stupidest? Quote
SissySticks Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 I usually start to think I'm on to something when I catch a 4 or 5 doing basically the same thing in different places, AND have eliminated other options. I think patterns are more important the larger the fisher you're on. For example, last summer, I was on a ~1000 acre lake that has a mix of bass (smallmouth, spots, largies), and it was July. I started fishing rod and had a couple bites in an hour, but when I moved offshore to fishing brushpiles in 15-20 feet, I caught 2 fish in about 5 minutes on a wacky drop shot. Ran to another brushpile in 15-20 feet, caught 2 more fish in 5 minutes on a wacky drop shot. Fished some more rock, nada. Back to brushpiles, now fishing a drop shot creature and a finesse jig. Nothing. Switched to the wacky worm shot on that same brushpile, caught 4 fish in about the next 10 minutes. At that point, I knew I was on to a pattern, and I spent the rest of the day just running brushpiles with the wacky worm, and caught about 50 that day. The active fish weren't on points or rock banks or channel swings or even other brushpiles, they were on brushpiles in a very specific depth range. The bigger the water, the more important I think this type of process-of-elimination becomes. But yea, once I've caught 4 or 5 in consistent places and DIFFERENT places, and I've eliminated other options, then I'm on a pattern. Quote
Koofy Smacker Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 Is it even possible to have a pattern when you are fishing shoreline cover? I mean really they are relating to whatever cover is nearby and provides shade, food etc... I always think of patterns as where to look away from the shore and looking at certain depths, ledges humps etc... Yes it is. Example, going down the shoreline throwing at everything. Stumps, trees, weeds, ledges, points. But your only catching them right under trees. Eliminate the water between trees. Then while fishing the trees you notice that they are only on the north side and get very few bites on other trees on the south side. Eliminate that. Then once again while fishing these North side trees your only catching them on trees next to deeper water, with the fish right behind the shade line. There you go. Every single bite gives feedback as to what they are doing. Yes, you may catch a few off that pattern, however eliminating the water in an area where you arent getting lots of bites can really increase your time fishing water that is holding fish. Saves an awful lot of time. They ALWAYS relate to SOMETHING. However, and this is the big however. Day to day this changes. Prefishing and getting stuck on one pattern like this can hurt you dramatically if something changes and they move even if it is 10 ft into deeper water. That's where the adjustments come into play. Quote
Super User K_Mac Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 It really depends on the lake and conditions. A friend and I coach a local high school bass team. We fished our regional tourney yesterday. It was scheduled for last Friday, but postponed due to high winds. It was held at Rend lake in So. Illinois. Dave and I spent 5 days trying to find a pattern. Only 2 fish were caught in shallow water in the backs of creeks, deep in the brush. Dave is the shallow water specialist and concentrated on this while I spent much of my time exploring other options. Those 2 fish were all we caught leading up to yesterday. Was that a pattern? You bet it was. 5 boats caught fish yesterday and every one them were caught in similar spots (some of this conclusion is based on hear-say and conjecture, but I would bet the egg money I'm right even knowing that fishermen are notorious liars) Dave's team caught one of 7 fish brought to the scales from 18 boats. When the bite is really tough, 1 fish might be as good as it gets. I'll take 1 stupid fish every time... Quote
mjseverson24 Posted April 23, 2013 Posted April 23, 2013 I only try and pattern large fish 4+ lbs. If I can figure out what the kicker fish are doing then I have a good pattern but if all I am catching are 1.5-3 lb fish I will probabily move on untill I find the big ones. patterns can be the biggest downfall for anglers especially if they found the pattern in prefishing a tournament. the tournament is a new day with new conditions figure out the new pattern or as I like to call it "crack the code" for that day and you are in for a good time. Mitch Quote
Super User Ratherbfishing Posted April 23, 2013 Super User Posted April 23, 2013 Depends on how desperate I am to get bit. If it's been a long day with few results, even two fish caught in the same way is good enough for me. Quote
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