BaSS fINesse
By Tyler Brinks
using Western techniques down South
B
assfishing istruly a national pastime and
anglersfrom coasttocoast are addictedto
chasingbass. While the popularity of bass
fishingcontinues togrow, the samebasic ways tocatchbassremain the same.the speedat
which informationis shared hasincreased thankstothe
internet,yetregionaldifferencesin fishing stylesand
techniquesstillremain. thisispart ofwhat makesthis
sportsointeresting. differentregions ofthe country
are betterknownfor certain thingsand anglers from
thoseareasoftenhave astyle that isdirectly related
to theirbassfishingroots. aaron Martens isa perfect
exampleandhisstyle isundeniablyWestCoast. other
examplesexistamongbassfishing’stop ranksandit
becomesapparentthat even though we are anationof
bass fisherman,weare regionallydivided bytheway
that wechoosetofish forbass.
I have been fortunate enough to fish across the country and believe that my experience fishing in the West has helped mold the way i think about fishing for bass, especially with the use of finesse techniques and a spinning rod.
Of course, the West is known for much more than finesse fishing, but compared to the rest of the country they are in a league of their own when it comes to light line techniques. it’s well known that the West Coast is always on the cutting edge for bass fishing information and products and if you are living in the West, you may not be aware but the rest of the country can be pretty slow to take up things that work so well for those in Western waters. This was very clear as i moved to Florida after spending years fishing on the left coast. it’s not that finesse techniques don’t work “down South”, actually it is quite the opposite, but nobody seems to be doing it.
Take for instance my first ever experience on the world famous lake okeechobee. i had just moved to Florida a few days before the event and here i was, sitting in the boat of a local Floridian on one of the most famous bass lakes in the country. i
had visions of fishing heavy grass mats
with huge weights and a flipping stick in
hand, wrestling big bass into the boat.
That BFl tournament
day was actually my
first time on the water,
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