Other than the prospect that I am headed to the Bassmaster Classic on Thursday, I am bursting at the seems to get out of cabin. The weather here can't seem to figure out what it wants to do. Last week we saw temps into the 60's on Saturday, and by Thursday the wind was blowing at 60 mph and it was like 39 degrees. I know with rising temps and sunny skies, the water warms up here around 5 to 8 degrees per day. So what are the fish doing? My guess is the temp rise has sent them into their pre-spawn locations and very soon, the males will move up onto the beds. When? I have not a clue. With the movement though, I can bet they are feeding on the nice days. I have the sneaking suspicion that there are guys out there right now catching fish even though the weather has thrown us a cold front. The temps are not in freezing range, so the water temps are probably not changing drastically. Like I mentioned before, I think they are reacting, but not like they do when water begins to freeze (moving deep). So come March in my next tournament, everything will have changed. I have a general idea of what I [should] look for. Having never fished a tournament during pre-spawn seasons puts me at a disadvantage to the other guys I am fishing against. Expanding on what I was speculating about earlier, I will have my best chances by knowing what is normal for the season and then making small adjustments during the tournament and sticking to it. There are too many changing variables to be able to keep track of. I will just have to get to the spot I have already chosen [in my mind where fish will be concentrated] and stick with it during the whole day. That way, I eliminate variables that will affect the rest of the Lake. I am thinking five bites will win this tournament.
I won't go into too much detail about what changes I am bringing to the water after the break this year. What I will say is that I have learned what my strong points are on different venues and what will catch fish at these places. I have taken that knowledge and modified to what others [I know] are not doing. I have always thought that spots should not be held as much of a secret as the lures they are throwing. If you are on pressured fish or as some will say "burned fish" you will want to be throwing something they have never seen before or have not seen in a long time. Because of that fact, I keep what I am throwing that day split up into 2 groups. The first group is my general population or "given baits". These are the lures that are usually among general knowledge to anglers, that they will catch fish. I will keep these presented on the deck of my boat in plain view. The other category are the "unpopular hots''. These are the lures that I have taken a chance with, and come up with excellent results. They are mainly unpopular or not a "fad lure" as I like to call your sexy shad lipless and similar lures currently taking the top of the charts in popularity. No. These are the lures that are selling like the movement of pond water ultimately translating into the fact that they are not being presented to fish. So in other words, there are a whole lot of fish out there that have not seen these lures. These are the ones that I tie on after I get out there and they get clipped off before I return for weigh-in. New for '09 bitches!!!
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