iGNore The myThS
T 1 IG he n m o y r Th e S
aboutclearwaterfishing
I
t never hurts to consider certain “rules” for
bass fishing. By that i mean unless you actually
have a photographic memory, having certain
angling guidelines make it possible to act on a lot of accumulated experiences from others in order
to get to the crux of the right presentations.
By the same token, we can never take these
agreed-upon concepts so literally they actually
become part of a reality that doesn’t universally exist.
Just because certain ideas (that have been around a
long time or have suddenly popped up) are repeated,
doesn’t mean they are necessarily factual in every
case. For that reason, it is not a great leap of logic to
presume that if something is not actual, then maybe
it’s really mythical. and if that’s the case, we don’t
want to paint ourselves into a corner where we miss
the bite because we stubbornly held onto ideas that
don’t deliver.
When it comes to clear water bass fishing, and
that’s pretty common in the deeper reservoirs in the
West, including those along the Colorado river, i find
10
By George Kramer
there are three common myths that anglers tend to hold on to—sometimes a little too long. Those would be the presumed necessity for small baits, that long casts are mandatory, and that you must switch to fluorocarbon lines.
MYTH #1 You need To fisH sMall baiTs
one of the oldest myths out there is that somehow clear water demands small baits. The worry was the clearer the water, the easier it is for bass to “see” your offering: view the details, discern the sculpting and paint job, and better compare it to the real thing. While seemingly a reasonable assessment, what does that say about the effectiveness of the 13-inch plastic worm or 9-inch swimbaits in certain clear water impoundments?
The answer probably lies in the general Western acknowledgement that many older, clear water lakes