Entry 52-1

Mike Wurm's Defensive Fishing

Dealing With Weather Changes

Editor's Note: Mike Wurm of Hot Springs Arkansas, began fishing professionally in 1992. Currently ranked sixth in the world by bassfan.com and one of the nation's leading pro fishermen, Wurm has been a part of Strike King's Pro Fishing Team for six years.

Question: Mike, pretend it's September, the weather is still warm, and you're fishing Thousand Isles, New York. This is a B.A.S.S. tournament, and you have had a great three days of practice. On the first day you are in the top three and within striking distance of winning the tournament. But on the second day, the weather and the water conditions change. By 10:00 a.m. you haven't had a bite. How do you keep from panicking, and what tactics are you going to use to get back in the hunt?

Wurm: Obviously, I have got to salvage this tournament, put five bass in the boat and get a check before I go home. So, to catch fish, I have to downsize my tackle because more bass will bite little tackle than will bite big tackle. I'll pull out a Bitsy Bug, a 4-inch jig head worm, a small crankbait and a small jerkbait and tie all these lures on my rods. I won't change my location because bass are in this area, they just don't want to bite. I believe that when a bass won't bite a steak, you need to offer him a hors d'oeuvre, which is a little bait.

I'll also start looking for rocks in the region I'm fishing because I know in Thousand Isles if I can find rocks I can find smallmouths. I'll fish those rocks with little baits and try to catch five smallmouths. I will also be fishing a Strike King green-pumpkin KVD Pro-Model Tube on an 8-ounce lead head an 8-pound-test line. I will fish that lure on the bottom. The fire-tiger Series 3 will be the crankbait I'll choose. If I can't get a bite on the fire tiger, I'll pick a more crawfish-colored crankbait. If those lures don't work then the Bitsy Bug and the 4-inch jig-head worm will work. Any time you go into a tournament, you need a defensive strategy. You need to know what lures should produce bass on the lake you are going to fish if water and weather conditions get bad. On Thousand Isles in September, these are the defensive lures that I'd fish.




 

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