Entry 244-1

Spring Fishing with Mark Davis

Part 1: Changing Tactics with the Weather

Question: The real secret to winning a professional bass-fishing tournament, a local club tournament or even catching bass on the weekends is knowing how to change baits and locations as water, weather and fishing conditions change. Mark, how do you make those decisions?

Davis: For me and most really-successful bass fishermen, knowing when, why and how to change when you’re not catching bass is more instinctive rather than a thought process. I just let my instincts take over. For instance, if I’m on the water during cloudy conditions and catching bass in 8 or 10 feet of water, and the sun comes out, I know I’ll have to either slow down my fishing, move to a little-bit deeper water and/or use lures I can fish in or next to cover.

In other situations, you may have to completely abandon the fishing pattern you’re using. When the weather or the water conditions change from one day to the next, your instincts will tell you that you won’t be able to catch fish like you have the day before, and that you may have to abandon what has been a really-good pattern and try a completely-different pattern. The great fishermen listen to their instincts, and they don’t argue with themselves about whether to move or not to move.

Many times I see anglers who know they need to change, but they talk themselves out of it and continue to fish a pattern that’s not producing and that their instincts tell them to give up. They become hardheaded and want to make a pattern work when it’s not working. One of the biggest differences in serious anglers and anglers who aren’t very serious about their bass fishing is a serious angler has confidence in his ability to make a decision. Some fishermen will say, “I made 10 casts with that lure and didn’t catch one. Maybe I should change baits.”

That fisherman didn’t give the lure he selected and the spot he decided to fish a real chance to prove he made a good decision. When you make a decision to change, whether you’re changing the water, the lure or the pattern you’re fishing, you must have enough confidence in the decision you’ve made to give that new tactic a chance to work for you.

When you really develop as a bass fisherman, you can make your decisions work for you. I’ve seen an angler make a right decision, but not have enough conviction to stick with a pattern until it pays off for them. When you start second guessing yourself as a bass fisherman, you stop being a bass fisherman and become a boat driver. You run all over the lake trying all kinds of tactics and lures and not believing in one strategy long enough to catch a fish. I’ve been in tournaments before when the pattern I’ve been fishing hasn’t been working and I’ve known I had to make a change. So, I’ve run to water I’ve never fished before in my life and try to put together a pattern I think will catch fish. Now, that’s an instinctive move. From hours on the water, you learn to trust your instincts.

After you’ve fished long enough, you’ll learn to listen to that little voice inside of you that will tell you what to do. When you hear that voice, and it’s telling you to move to different water or use another lure, you do whatever that voice says. You don’t wonder, “Is this the right thing to do or is this a stupid thing to do?” especially if it’s something I’ve never done previously. Instead, you follow your instincts and listen to that voice. That’s called fishing intuitively. And, when it pays off, you’re like a basketball player in the zone. You can’t miss.

Next: When to Abandon a Working Pattern

Contents:

• Part 1: Changing Tactics with the Weather
• Part 2: When to Abandon a Working Pattern
• Part 3: The Shadalicious and the Sexy Spoon
• Part 4: The Sexy Shad Color – Gimmick or Reality?
• Part 5: Fish the Big Lizard for Big Bass