north end of the lake eating rattletraps, on the last day of practice i decided to revisit some southern portions of the lake. i did not want to hurt my fish and fully expected to spend the day eliminating water. to even better the story, i equipped myself with some jigging spoons because the dock talk was there were some big crappie biting spoons down south and the thought of catching some slabs excited me. i was by no means a jigging spoon master, far from it. So as i poked around catching some small keeper bass here and there, i looked down on my graph and saw some serious activity in about 20-feet. i thought to myself, there are some of those crappie. as my ¾-oz spoon plummeted to the bottom, i felt a thud. Setting the hook, the weight of the fish immediately let me know this was no crappie! i landed a 5-lb bass and threw it in the live well and immediately dropped the spoon back down. Thud, i set into another big bass, this one just under 5-lbs! i was staggered and my mind clicked from eliminating water to the realization i may have found the mother lode. i had never fished an event where spooning was my primary big fish pattern but i was about to. i rigged all my rods as i had originally expected to because at this point in my career i knew just because they bit yesterday did not mean they would bite tomorrow, but i was going to try. as we blasted off the next morning i headed straight to the spot. The first few drops yielded a 9-lb bass which ended up as the largest of the event and over the course of the next three days that spot and others i was able to find during the event that had similar bait schools and schools of bass propelled me to win the event. This event was my second epiphany and the tenet of rule number one, always expect change, especially when you think you have it figured out the most.
Use this list as a starting point and you will never be totally caught off guard. This covers something from the surface to the bottom and everything in between. Keep in mind that just having the baits in the boat and rods in the locker will not make the adjustments for you. as an angler, you have to stay focused and observant. look for the small obscurities
Issue 3
June 2012
and subtleties of each bite and never be unwilling to follow your instincts. every successful day is a product of timing, execution and adjustments. Next time you will be sure to be ready for anything that may arise. Zack Thompson is sponsored by Construction, CHt tackle, Berkley, abu-Garcia, trilene, Spiderwire, HaVoC, ranger Boats and C&C Marine.
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