The Bass Pros - Rick Clunn Tips Explain Them To Me ...

[Felix77]

In the latest episode of The Bass Pros Rick Clunn gave two tips which seemed very simple yet for some reason left me a bit confused.

 

Tip #1 - Finding fish without GPS.  He refers to Seasonal Patterns and then goes on to say that he breaks up the water into 4 zones.  Zone 1 the bottom of the lake all the way to zone 4 which is the top of the lake.  For each connecting creek channel he does the same.  Zone 4 towards the mouth of the creek and Zone 1 towards the end.

 

Did anyone get this tip and how he applies it to Seasonal Pattern information?  I have my theories but I am curious what you thought?

 

 

Tip #2 - At any time of the day you can determine the depth you should focus your efforts on by dropping a lure in the water and seeing how deep it goes before it disappears.  Multiply that by 3 and 4 to determine the ideal range for the bass to be in and the max depth you should focus your efforts on.  He uses a white lipless crankbait and it goes down about 4 feet.  Multiples by 3 (12) and by 4 (16).  So the deepest he would fish that day is 15/16 feet and he would concentrate his efforts in that 12-16 foot range.

 

This one is pretty clear in concept.  Has anyone else used a "rule of thumb" like this?  How helpful has it been for you?

 

 

[A-Jay]

Interesting ~ Rick Clunn, known to many as The Zen Master, often expresses his approach to bass fishing in a very deep and transcendental manner.  I believe this may be one of those cases.

 

Additionally, though I like and respect the man,  lately I have no clue what the heck his taking about.

 

A-Jay

[OkeechobeeAngler]

Tip 1. Remeber when he said he kept a journal ? He breaks down a body of water into sections. Section 1 he may have caught the fish on a deep crank, chartruese in color, 10# mono, 80 degrees with 3mph winds out of the north, water clarity and depth.

Then on to sections 2,3,4 and repeat. So now when he goes back to that lake he has knowledge on that lake.

[Nice_Bass]

seasonal patterns as in you have to know what the fish aer doing seasonally then relate that to the different parts of a lake. for instance if you look at section 1 then you know the water is deeper and more clear by the Dam without the use of waypoints. For winter fishing I would focus on this area and eliminate sections two three and four. additionally I know that section 4 the river will be darker and therefore warm up sooner in the spring and I will have pre spawn and spawn behavior soonest there and I would know how to target those fish. It would be a completely different pattern towards the dam or at Midlake where I still may be fishing a bit cooler deeper water. knowing the seasonal patterns of fish and combining that with a different characteristics of the body water at different locations eliminates less productive water or at the very least pinpoints the desired pattern was his point. this all makes a lot more sense on very large reservoirs, what size lakes are you fishin?

[ClackerBuzz]

didn't see the show but i like how Shaw Grigsby explains it (actually Gary Klein via Shaw). basically he thoroughly fishes a small snap shot of the entire lake: from one main lake point, to it's secondary points, all the way into the back creek channel.  if he has success/ identifies a pattern catching fish on secondary points only then does he start jumping around the lake to cover all secondary pts.

[RoLo]

Based on an ESPN poll, Rick Clunn was voted the greatest professional angler of all-time, just nosing out Roland Martin.

Rick relied heavily on crankbaits to post his incredible stats, Poe cedar plugs to be exact.

Just as Roland Martin introduced 'pattern fishing', I believe it was Rick Clunn who introduced 'zone fishing'.

 

However, I'm afraid that Rick cannot claim the 'white plug caper' as his, which I read about in "Lucas on Bass",

published in the 1940s by Jason Lucas. All the same, secchi depth is a valid approach to ballparking the strike zone,

but it's not the Holy Grail. For instance, bass that live in perennially turbid water become acclimatized

to feeding through sound & vibration (via inner ear & lateral line)

 

Roger

[Darren.]

Interesting ~ Rick Clunn, known to many as The Zen Master, often expresses his approach to bass fishing in a very deep and transcendental manner.  I believe this may be one of those cases.

 

Additionally, though I like and respect the man,  lately I have no clue what the heck his taking about.

 

A-Jay

 

LOL, sometimes when I watched Clunn talk, my eyes slowly started to cross. He just lost me, and I consider myself someone who gets a lot of the esoteric stuff. 

[Felix77]

didn't see the show but i like how Shaw Grigsby explains it (actually Gary Klein via Shaw). basically he thoroughly fishes a small snap shot of the entire lake: from one main lake point, to it's secondary points, all the way into the back creek channel.  if he has success/ identifies a pattern catching fish on secondary points only then does he start jumping around the lake to cover all secondary pts.

 

That was a great video.  Thanks for sharing.