ot T h B e S oe r rV y Av ts I . o N
heory talks big. it has answers, directives
and rationale for every weather change or
water level drop or any other phenomenon
that would alter bass behavior. Theory feeds the off-season by encouraging new gear purchases, navigation chips or even foul weather gear, or possibly, inviting a harder look at the past year’s trip logs.
Theory, thought to shorten the search or convince us of a better method, was devised to give us confidence by sorting through decades of bass
what we see in addition to what we know or how we reconcile observation and theory, is a good measure of where we are in our progression as a bass angler.
Common ExamplEs
in my mind, a great day on the water or an exceptional catch is not sure evidence that we know what we are doing. Sure, the tournament winner often looks a lot smarter than the rest of the field, but when you hear—if you hear—the explanation isn’t always so convincing. of course, to make the catch
fishing experience and spitting out truth. Yet anyone
some key elements must be in play. The angler had to
who has ever over-committed to the theoretical
be where the fish were located and he had to have a
approach has likely found himself scratching his head, lure and an approach that the fish responded to.
watching others roll in with the big sacks.
Yet, after many, many interviews after many,
on the other hand, observation is real, tangible
many tournaments, i’ve found the better questions
and even scientific. You can see the marks gather on
than “What’d you get ‘em on?” are those that reveal
sonar, the birds standing in the lunch line, the baitfish
scattering or a stick-up trembling in the shallows. Yet
how many biases do we carry over water clarity or how
dearly do we cling to the readings on our surface temp?
it all tells me, bass fishing is a lot more cognitive
than we give it credit, and that how we process
by GeorGe Kramer
can we make it work?
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