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How many of you apply a theory, or a method when they are on the lake.   Last year I asked the question "where do you spend your time?".  I got a lot of answers along the lines of, "If you want to be good on lake soso,  fish lake soso a lot!". I am not arguing that if I spend 30 days on soso I will improve there. The hitch in this is that I am limiting my learning to that body of water. This is not going to help at Grande Lake, or the delta.   I find myself showing up and running to the spots that have produced before, and not understanding why they are there.  I understand that, "They are where you find them" and our fish a different then southern strain.   I would like to know how many show up and use a strategy to find fish?  The times that I have applied the percentage triangle help me some.  Is there some checklist that you use that gives you a basis to concentrate on a type of cover and depth?  I'm sure that the seasons play a huge role in this.  Looking forward to hearing your opinions on this.

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I never go into a fishing trip with a set strategy. I target areas that I think will be suitable for the time of year and conditions on that day.  In most situations I like to cover water.  I am not a camper and I even like to fish my slower soft plastics faster if I can still get bit doing so.  I think covering water can be considered a strategy.  I think a pattern is something that can be considered a strategy but in my opinion those are usually developed during the day not beforehand.  Prefishing for a tournament can give you a false sense of having the strategy all figured out going into the actual contest. If you are too rigid in your fishing and you try to structure it too much I think you'll do terrible more than you will do well.  Or you will find yourself throwing all the structure out without even knowing and just going fishing.     

Pj hits it on the head. Fish seasonal patterns. Prepare by looking at google earth and if you have gps, plug in your prospective "spots" in each area that fits the seasonal equation. If that isnt working, then make a big change and go to the other end of the lake... Of which you've done map study on those areas as well.

Obviously understanding the lakes forage and vegetation is a key... If you are talking about southern lakes even more so than in the pnw.

One thing I dont agree on is that "spending 30 days on lake SoSo will only teach you about lake soso." Fishing the ca delta will teach you about the delaware river and the louisiana delta and other tidal fisheries. The columbia river will teach you about clear water smallmouth fisheries, about river system largemouth etc... Potholes teaches an entirely different skillset such as fishing a lake where "everything looks good". Lake Chelan... Different skillset that will translate elsewhere.

I'll jump on with what PJ said about suitable areas and techniques, as well as covering water vs "camping", however I would note that if you prefished, or have experience on a certain body of water or a similar body of water (like Snake said) during a similar time of year with similar conditions (lots of variables that you can add here...) of course you are going in with a strategy - that's how you determine where you're going first, what rods you're rigging up and which one of those you pick up when you get to your first spot. I think the key is not getting locked into that strategy once you are out there and being flexible with the techniques you're using or areas you are fishing. 

For example if you are fishing Lake Washington and you find fish holding on a point with rock on it, your next move once you've fished out the point you're on is to go to the next one - of course keeping in mind depth you were at, bait you used, speed you were fishing and any other variables that may come into play (this could be a very long list). If you are able to repeat your success, then you have a strategy to follow while it continues producing. If you stop catching fish on points with rock on them for any variety of reasons, that's when it's important to start experimenting a bit - this is where it's nice to have a co-angler or fishing partner with you who can do this or keep trying the same thing while you experiment. Maybe you should switch your bait selection, color, retrieve, depth, and if none of that works, try a new area with other features (ie. weedlines, hump, wood, contour change, etc...) 

Of course with this it is also important that you come prepared for just about any circumstance you can think of for a particular time of year within reason. 

To sum it up best, I like to think of it this way: Fast or slow? Deep or shallow? Then go from there adding in variables for the type of lake, structure, forage, etc... until you develop a pattern and thus a strategy for the rest of the day, or at least until it stops working - then you reset. 

John,

There's a comment you made about fishing spots where you caught them in the past, but not really knowing why they are there. 

In my opinion you have to somewhat understand or have a good guess why they are there.  If you don't have any idea why you got em somewhere, then how can you start to imagine where they will be in areas you've never fished?

Read up on seasonal patterns and seasonal movements of bass.  know the difference between structure and cover.  Know what types of structure that smallmouth like.  know what type of structure and cover largemouth prefer.

All Bass do is eat, Make sweet bass love, and try to stay alive.  Just those 3 things.  If you know where they prefer to make "sweet bass love" you can take one look at a lake from satellite and make a pretty good guess where that will happen.  They winter deep on the main lake.  They then go shallow in the bays, coves and backwater to spawn, then they had back out toward the main lake.   In their journey to and from the spawn they stop at places that they feel safe, and places they can eat stuff. 

If you have that basic understanding then you can build a "checklist".  Then you put your head down and fish.  If you catch one, then you go over to where it bit, and you try to guess why that fish was sitting there and why it bit the lure you threw. 

You write that information down in a journal or "fishing log" and a year or two of doing that...you start to develope your own theories, and a checklist of your own will emerge. 

Go back to the basics and just learn basic fish behavior and you can use that in the North or South.  You can use it with any predator fish.  They are all the same.  Not only is a bass a bass.  But a bass is a trout is a catfish is a crappie is a salmon.  Best way to stroke some fish is to figure out their life cycle, and intercept them.  People get wrapped up in Southern Strain vs Northern ,and this lake vs that lake.  Just go hunt down a predator fish knowing they have 3 basic life needs.   Reproduction, Food, and shelter. 

I have practiced your rational for 20 years and it still hasn't helped..

I think you are confused....Jake was talking about how to catch a predator fish. You were probably thinking about that " To catch a predator" episode you were featured in a couple years ago.
 
Mike Bess said:

I have practiced your rational for 20 years and it still hasn't helped..

I hate Chris Hansen...

That was a legit LOL

Josh Potter said:

I think you are confused....Jake was talking about how to catch a predator fish. You were probably thinking about that " To catch a predator" episode you were featured in a couple years ago.
 
Mike Bess said:

I have practiced your rational for 20 years and it still hasn't helped..

Best thread in recent history!

Absolutely



P.J. Koshi said:

Best thread in recent history!


Spoken by a young man! ;-) Solid advice.

I wasn't trying to hijack John's original post. It's a good topic and there were a couple of well thought out responses. But my little buddy Mike threw one over the heart of the plate. We will now resume our previously scheduled fishing discussion.

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