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If the Fish Aren't Biting, Change Your
Presentation
Lure presentation is by far one of the most
important aspects of successful Bass
Fishing.
Change! Change! Change! Change your
presentation again and again until you find
what the fish want. Lots of days this takes
two or three hours, but it pays off at the
weigh in. This is a routine approach to
fishing for pro fishermen.
Presentation is the sum total of everything
you put in front of fish.
A presentation includes:
- the lure
- the lure's color
- its running depth
- its retrieve speed
- whether any special action is
being imparted to the lure.
When you start systematically
changing your presentation, you should
keep these five variables in mind. The
first thing you
should change is the color of the lure,
When this doesn't work change lure size
or lure style.
If spinner baits aren’t working you
might switch to crankbaits, or vice
versa.
Similarly, it frequently pays to change
the speed at which you retrieve the
lure. If a steady retrieve is
ineffective you
need to add herk-and-jerk to the
retrieve.
We keep changing the presentation until
we find something that works. It takes
patience, and often a good amount of
time.
Bass biologists tell us that bass have
very small brains, however they can be
conditioned to the effects of their
surroundings. This includes lure
presentations.
We don't know how they learn, but they
do. Therefore, you need to keep mixing
up your presentations until you find
something that will trigger them to
strike.
If the fish should be hitting regular
CRANKBAITS but are not, then a
flat-sided crankbait or a lipless
crankbait are
obvious alternatives.
There are many ways to change your
presentations, it can seem a bit
confusing. Keep in mind that you always
want to use a
lure or technique you are confident it.
Doing this will help you catch more
fish. One simple change is to just
change
presentation direction. If you fish down
a shore you should have confidence in
it. If you feel strongly that the area
has
fish in it then when you reach the end,
you should turn around and fish it in
the opposite direction.
The second pass use different casting
lanes, you should come by cover on a
different side and in a different
direction.
(giving the fish a totally different
presentation)
Frequently, you should change lures and
directions. This makes a lot more sense
than starting the big motor and going to
waters you do not have confidence in.
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This can be confusing
for a lot of people. High
potential current areas exist in most bodies
of water. This is not just isolated to river
systems. Current is a funny thing and can be
created by Mother Nature or by man. The main
thing that you want to look for is an area
where the current is deflected creating an
eddy. Most times this can be seen on the
surface. This surface disturbance usually
signals that there is some type of structure
under the water. As we all know if there is
structure and current, we are most likely
going to find bass. Some of these areas can
be as obvious as a bridge abutment, a
boulder, weedbed or tree sticking out of the
water. However, you need to keep in mind
that the current hitting an object (even
ones that are deep underwater) will create
an eddy. Don't forget that some of these
underwater structures may not be the
standard.
The thing about current is that it's not
prejudice. The water rolling over a small
rise in the bottom contour can create an
eddy. Current flowing through a weed bed can
create many eddy's, as it flows around the
grass clumps. One of my favorite things to
look for is what I call funnel areas. These
are areas where the currents get forced to
come together. An easy identifier to this is
usually where the water gets faster in an
area. This can be a main creek or an area
where the water is forced in and out of a
pond or bog. Many times this situation
occurs on grass flats where the current is
broken up and funneled through areas with
sparser grass. But let me tell you these
funnel areas can be bass magnets. |
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