Pattern vs. Junk fishing

[Brad in Texas]

I see the points made here about how different anglers see pattern fishing and junk fishing, or looking for what the fish are looking for, then giving it to them.

 

I'd have to review the most recent Classic, but I believe Kevin VanDam stuck with a pre-conceived plan, some of which surely was based on his pre-fishing experience, then, too, his preference for power fishing. He didn't make it beyond Day 2 as I recall. He might have done better mixing it up. The weather changed, the bite he was looking for never showed up for him. Then, and perhaps it was the eventual winner, and several others, stayed glued to the docks/boat houses based on the weather conditions. Lots of spinning tackle was used, finesse stuff.

 

In 2017 at the Classic on Lake Conroe, the home-lake favorite sealed his fate early on and fell way back out of contention by considering all he knew about the lake, sticking to it . . . and it didn't work those days.

 

You hear a lot of "I should have left and changed spots" or "Maybe, I should have changed presentations." But, you also hear "I should have stayed where I was" and "I should have stuck with my plan." 

 

With some of the exceptions mentioned and more, it seems to me that the pro bass anglers often live or die with ideas they develop about the day's plan before they get on the water.

 

Brad 

[OCdockskipper]

I am junk fishing while trying to figure out a pattern.  If I am able to figure out a pattern, I am junk fishing between hitting the pattern locations or to test if the pattern can be expanded.

[Scarborough817]

48 minutes ago, Brad in Texas said:

I see the points made here about how different anglers see pattern fishing and junk fishing, or looking for what the fish are looking for, then giving it to them.

 

I'd have to review the most recent Classic, but I believe Kevin VanDam stuck with a pre-conceived plan, some of which surely was based on his pre-fishing experience, then, too, his preference for power fishing. He didn't make it beyond Day 2 as I recall. He might have done better mixing it up. The weather changed, the bite he was looking for never showed up for him. Then, and perhaps it was the eventual winner, and several others, stayed glued to the docks/boat houses based on the weather conditions. Lots of spinning tackle was used, finesse stuff.

 

In 2017 at the Classic on Lake Conroe, the home-lake favorite sealed his fate early on and fell way back out of contention by considering all he knew about the lake, sticking to it . . . and it didn't work those days.

 

You hear a lot of "I should have left and changed spots" or "Maybe, I should have changed presentations." But, you also hear "I should have stayed where I was" and "I should have stuck with my plan." 

 

With some of the exceptions mentioned and more, it seems to me that the pro bass anglers often live or die with ideas they develop about the day's plan before they get on the water.

 

Brad 

yes but pros are normally working on patterns that they have already developed in a practice period they don't just show up to a lake the day of a tournament and think i'll throw a crankbait because the water is 85 degrees and stable.

 

the most successful pros are the ones who can best adapt to changing conditions

[Brad in Texas]

55 minutes ago, Scarborough817 said:

yes but pros are normally working on patterns that they have already developed in a practice period they don't just show up to a lake the day of a tournament and think i'll throw a crankbait because the water is 85 degrees and stable.

 

the most successful pros are the ones who can best adapt to changing conditions

For sure, and this is the reason I mentioned that KVD likely developed his tournament strategy partly "on his pre-fishing experience" and surely also expectations for the weather and water conditions the first day of the tournament. And, though he is arguably the greatest bass angler of all time, he didn't show a lot of adaptation on this occasion. He might have helped himself junk fishing a bit more!   Brad

[Bankbeater]

I junk fish until I catch a bass. Then I start putting together a pattern. How deep, what structure was near, what kind of cover is present?  If that pattern doesn’t produce then I go back to junk fishing until the next bass is caught. 

[greentrout]

How To Develop A Pattern

By Carlton "Doc" Holliday

 

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/patterns.html

[Ratherbfishing]

Even when I'm ON a pattern a really good fisherman would probably think I was junk fishing.

[J Francho]

33 minutes ago, Ratherbfishing said:

Even when I'm ON a pattern a really good fisherman would probably think I was junk fishing.

Me too, probably.  As I move across an area, I'm not switching baits willy-nilly.  Say I'm hitting a productive strip of docks near a quick ledge to deep water.  In between, I might be punching the slop, or frogging, out in front, on the ledge, I might be deep cranking or drop shotting, I might be skipping senkos under the docks.  That's four or five rod changes as a pass a dock.

[Dirtyeggroll]

22 hours ago, Scarborough817 said:

junk fishing is not having a set pattern and fishing whatever comes up in front of you on the water. for example: seeing a laydown and throwing a spinnerbait or squarebill, seeing fish school and throwing a spook or fluke.

I really like this description of junk fishing.

 

This an example of how I currently perceive pattern and junk fishing.

 

Pattern fishing example: Fishing an type of structure/cover pattern with the same bait. Fishing windblown rocky banks with a crankbait. Skipping all of the laydowns and ledges in an area to get to the next windblown rocky bank or hammering the same bank over and over with ONLY with the crankbait and ignoring the other presentations.

 

Junk fishing example: Thoroughly fishing an entire area with multiple structure/cover and presentations. Pulling up to an area and picking every aspect of cover/structure apart with every bait tied on. Ripping blade/spinner baits through grass and timber, sliding a jig or worm into every laydown or pocket, running a squarebill over all of the chunk rock and timber, tossing swimbaits at fishing breaking the surface.

 

In other words, I perceive pattern fishing as choosing and sticking with one option/presentation on one condition of structure/cover. A pattern could consist of a couple different structure cover/presentations (45 degree banks near docks and under docks), but in general it is very focused.

 

I tend try to find a pattern by junk fishing. In other words, I will find an area that would seem to hold fish and run that area thoroughly with one presentation at a time until I get bit. Once I get bit on something I force myself to hold that rod as long as possible. Usually, I will stay at the same spot for a while, because I have found in the past, that many times there is more than one fish there. Then I will go find a couple different areas of that body of water that present similarly and cast the same bait at what looks like similar structure/cover. Eventually, I will return to the place I caught the first fish to see if it is "loading up" and make a high number of casts. Sometimes I will throw a different type of presentation near the similar structure/cover just to keep myself interested, but I know I will return to whatever presentation I caught the first fish.

 

A specific example of this "pattern" fishing occurred for me last weekend. At the lake I was fishing, there is a channel swing that comes very near a bank with lots of timber and some nearby chunk rock. The channel is 11-14 ft deep and the nearby bank is 0-6 ft deep. Most of the timber is in the 0-6 ft water. There were also 30-40 mph winds. In past experience I have caught fish from this area and many others report that this area holds fish. The question of the day was what were they relating to and what was an effective way to get those fish from the water and into the boat? They could be relating to the timber and want a jig or worm, or being on the timber, they could want a crankbait or spinnerbait bounced off of the wood. They could also be hanging out near the chunk rock waiting for some kind of crawfish (imitation) to get stunned of the rocks. It is very possible that fish could be caught from all of the described cover, and fishing such, I would consider, 'junk fishing'. However, on this particular day, I got bit on a crankbait on the windblown rocks. After catching a fish, I made hundreds of casts with the crankbait and eventually caught 4 nice ones on the same small stretch of bank (I would have sought out other rock banks but a tracker TXW 175 with a 45-lb Minn Kota doesn't do so well in 40 mph winds). I was fishing a pattern. Could I have caught more fish had I thrown different presentations (flipped the timber) in the same area? Maybe. In fact, last fall I caught a fish flipping a beaver in the same timber (and my partner caught one on a T-rigged worm), but instead of wearing those baits out last fall, we threw everything we had tied on (junk fishing) into the little channel swing bank and didn't catch another one.

 

Of course, all of the fish on a lake are not going to be doing the same thing and can probably be caught with multiple presentations on any given day. Personally, however, I subscribe to the thought that if I catch one on a bait, if I cast that bait enough times near similar structure/cover, I will be more likely to catch another than if I were to turret through my rods on the deck.

[Brad in Texas]

Well, no, the originator of the concept of pattern fishing is attributed to fishing great and legend, Roland Martin, all the way back to 1969. In one article on Martin's concept, it reads: 

 

"A "pattern" is the exact set of water conditions such as depth, cover, structure, temperature, clarity, currents, etc., which have produced bass at similar locations all over the same body of water. It was first defined by the legendary Roland Martin in 1969."

 

So, here, pattern just refers to the spot alone, nothing at all about being limited to a single lure or presentation once you are on that spot ("pattern"). I think I recall Martin covering patterns in a seminar and he said that if they are biting on a lake on, say, windy points, 5 feet deep, holding tight to structure, at a certain water temperature . . . that he interpreted that as a "pattern" that would be holding fish at similar conditions . . . all over the lake. Once the pattern was found, he'd surely throw whatever it took that got them to bite. But, Martin fishing a pattern meant that he fished a particular place, reproduced it all over a lake, not a particular presentation or lure.

 

Tough to define, no doubt. Swindle's contemporary definition and approach to junk fishing, for example, is totally different than Iaconelli's and others.

 

Brad

 

 

[BCline]

Junk Fishing typically works best for me.

[Boomstick]

I try to find a pattern by junk fishing. Often, it's reading conditions and figuring out what to throw and adjusting from there.

[IgotWood]

I'd say that the most consistent pattern I get into is on standing trees. I fish a small lake loaded with cypress. Most of it is 2'-6', with a few trees going down to 10'. The bass seem to relate to the wind or sun in regards to their position on the trees. For example, right now, I seem to be getting more bites on the sunny side of the tree. It makes perfect sense...the fish are staying in the sunlight because it feels warmer. So obviously, I am going to fish the sunny side of the trees first, and more thoroughly.

 

The pattern changes with the season. During the heat of the summer, they prefer the shady side of the tree. And in the evenings around dusk, they often appear to come near the surface and patrol around the trees. Maybe they're surveying their "house" before dark, or perhaps looking for something to eat because the panfish are usually eating insects off the surface at this time. On a breezy day, they seem to set up on the lee side of the tree, which also makes sense to me.

 

To be honest, this is the only consistent pattern that I've dialed in on. On other lakes, I'll usually "junk" fish until I get a bite or two, then I'll stick with that bait, color, depth, cover, etc.  

[optimator]

I just fish 

[Bassun]

I think some are getting caught up with a plan vs a pattern.

 

To me, a plan is just that --- where and what you plan to fish (based on XYZ).  You fish that plan to hopefully establish a pattern.  Say you plan on fishing Cove X because you think fish will be there, you have docks, laydowns, ledges, etc.  You may start by fishing whatever you think they are on, but check out other targets along the way.  If you notice they are ALL being caught on the docs, but none are hanging out on the ledges, your plan lead to the start of a pattern.

 

If I'm just fun fishing, I often spend way too long in one area and "junk fish" everything.  "That log just looks too good to pass up!".  If I'm fishing for money (which, I don't do anymore to be candid), I'll start skipping what has been unproductive, and focus on the pattern of where they have been and how they were caught to increase catch rates.  Then I will try to fish other places which have the same or similar features.

 

I do, however, feel that lures and colors are in fact part of the pattern.  If you notice they are hitting white spinnerbaits, but not black -- why would you throw black?  If they are hitting jigs on the fall, but not bounced on the bottom, why would you spend time bouncing them?  I think everything you can duplicate falls into the pattern.  Lure type, size, color, retrieve, as well as location is part of the pattern IMO.

 

I think we all fish to find a pattern, if we are fishing to be successful - whether we acknowledge it as pattern fishing or not (probably as much semantics as anything).  Sometimes we get lucky and the pattern happens to be what we like to do - or what we got lucky and stumbled onto --- sometimes its taken a lot of trial and error to find it.  Fishing topwater, late evening, near those docks where you catch them every summer is a pattern.  When you catch them there, that is the right pattern.