RHuff Posted March 27, 2023 Posted March 27, 2023 So I fished my first tournament of the year on Saturday.... It's a highland Reservoir at winter pool (down 30 ft) with steep banks of bluffs, chunk rock, and slate rock. The lake is narrow and very long and winds through the gorges. Temperature 50s and it was rainy with periods of heavy wind and overcast. Water temp was 47-48 degrees on the main lake with clear greenish water and up river the water was stained up from rain and winds with 2-4 ft of visibility and was roughly 51-52 degrees. I practiced all day on Friday the day before and could see fish schooled up halfway back in the creeks over the river channels in 25-30 of water. There was also fish schooled up somewhat up river over the main channel at the same depths.... So I began halfway up a creek fishing 45 degree banks and bluff walls with crank baits, lipless cranks, wacky rigs, jigs, and jerk baits.... no bites... In the late morning I moved up river a little and targeted pockets where water was running off... Water was 48-49 degrees. Fished the same baits in 3 or 4 of those areas with no bites either..... In the afternoon I hit desperation mode and at around 11am I decided to run way up river about as far as I could go and ran into heavily stained water that was 52-53 degrees where it shallowed up to about 8-10ft. I fished an area where chunk rock jetted out as a pinch point with a Frittside 5. Right past the chunk rock was a flat mud bank. BOOM caught a nice spotted bass up against the bank in 2-4ft of water. Fished the next stretch of chunk rock with no bites... Then the light went on The entire opposite bank was all mud. I fished about 50 yards farther to another flat spot and BOOM a nice keeper largemouth...... I ran on up river a little bit farther and found a stretch of mud bank where a river runs into the main river channel and on the flat where they intersect in 1-2 ft of water I caught two more keepers before running out of time. I finished the day with 4 good bites. I don't understand why those fish were there. I really wish I would have stumbled upon that before tournament day where I wouldn't have wasted so much time targeting rock. All you hear about in early prespawn in cold stained water is vertical structure and rock. In reality good fish were on flat banks with mud.... Would anybody be willing to decipher what I did wrong or if I missed anything and why those fish were there when all of my indications said they should have been on vertical rock?? I'm glad I stumbled upon the pattern even though it was too little too late but better then a day of misery zeroing... 3 Quote
Super User AlabamaSpothunter Posted March 27, 2023 Super User Posted March 27, 2023 Great job, most would have gotten blanked after their first several patterns failed so badly. All that reads like Bass fishing to me ? Half the time I could fish in the exact opposite place I've read, or caught them at before, and kill it I'm sure lol. Quote
Cbump Posted March 27, 2023 Posted March 27, 2023 Imo in the cold water where you found them deep you should have been fishing SLOW with drop shot or moping. I personally would not have used cranks or lipless on them. They were probably still in winter mode. The other fish were up in the river finding the warmest water they could and eating for prespawn. That’s my uneducated opinion 2 Quote
Mbirdsley Posted March 27, 2023 Posted March 27, 2023 12 minutes ago, Cbump said: Imo in the cold water where you found them deep you should have been fishing SLOW with drop shot or moping. I personally would not have used cranks or lipless on them. They were probably still in winter mode. The other fish were up in the river finding the warmest water they could and eating for prespawn. That’s my uneducated opinion Only other thing I would add is maybe a chatter bait. this time of year especially up north I am interested in finding the warmest water I can. Generally speaking that’s where the fish are at. At least the ones that want to eat. Quote
RHuff Posted March 27, 2023 Author Posted March 27, 2023 I did fish some of the 45 degree banks and break lines at 25-30 ft with a dropshot and carolina rig but no takers so I didn’t stick with it very long.. Quote
BustedSwimbait Posted March 27, 2023 Posted March 27, 2023 You did better than I would've. I would've been stuck in my ways and gone home with a big Ol goose egg trying to figure out why the bass suck, I don't suck. Quote
Logan S Posted March 27, 2023 Posted March 27, 2023 It's likely there were fish in both areas, but the ones up on the flat were better suited for you to catch. Early in the prespawn there are probably less fish moved up shallow compared to what's still out on points/bluffs/etc, but the ones that are up there are probably a lot easier to catch than their counterparts still out in wintering areas. So its high percentage, low success -VS- low percentage, high success. Sounds like if you could go back in time and try again, you might have had a pretty good day targeting the shallow fish by running a lot of similar water quickly. With time, the goal would be for these things to stand out to you before the tournament day instead of after . Part of the fun of tournaments and how they help you get better. 1 Quote
RHuff Posted March 28, 2023 Author Posted March 28, 2023 2 hours ago, Logan S said: It's likely there were fish in both areas, but the ones up on the flat were better suited for you to catch. Early in the prespawn there are probably less fish moved up shallow compared to what's still out on points/bluffs/etc, but the ones that are up there are probably a lot easier to catch than their counterparts still out in wintering areas. So its high percentage, low success -VS- low percentage, high success. Sounds like if you could go back in time and try again, you might have had a pretty good day targeting the shallow fish by running a lot of similar water quickly. With time, the goal would be for these things to stand out to you before the tournament day instead of after . Part of the fun of tournaments and how they help you get better. Thanks buddy! 1 Quote
RHuff Posted March 28, 2023 Author Posted March 28, 2023 Do you guys think I was way off heading into the tournament with my plan? Did I miss something that would have indicated they were shallow on flatter mud banks? Quote
Super User gim Posted March 28, 2023 Super User Posted March 28, 2023 14 minutes ago, RHuff said: Do you guys think I was way off heading into the tournament with my plan? Did I miss something that would have indicated they were shallow on flatter mud banks? I didn't read anywhere about your pre-fishing success or lack thereof. Where did you find or not find fish when you were pre-fishing? Maybe you didn't even pre-fish ahead of time? Quote
RHuff Posted March 28, 2023 Author Posted March 28, 2023 1 hour ago, gimruis said: I didn't read anywhere about your pre-fishing success or lack thereof. Where did you find or not find fish when you were pre-fishing? Maybe you didn't even pre-fish ahead of time? I prefished the day before..... on sonar I found fish halfway back in the creeks suspended in 30ft over the creek channels.. My thoughts going in were that they were on the steep rocky banks and had pulled back due to the front.... It never dawned on me to check the shallow flat banks Quote
Super User WIGuide Posted March 30, 2023 Super User Posted March 30, 2023 One thing that stuck out to me about your summary was that you caught fish in the warmest water you found. Early in the year, I've found that even a degree or two difference often times results in more active fish. Maybe not the whole case here, but I'd suspect it's a contributing factor. 1 Quote
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