River Bassin' - Reading the River

            Current, every river has it. It’s is what makes it a river, and it is what feeds a bass. In most cases, it hand delivers the food to the bass.

            There are times when you have schooling bass that somewhat herd their prey, or bass that cruise edges stalking out prey, but a majority of the time, a bass is a lazy creature. A bass is the kind of guy that does not enjoy work. He likes to conserve energy. That’s why, when you see a log, or a laydown, or something of that nature, it just looks “bassy”. He is going to lay low until something edible comes swimming by so he can pounce on it. It’s just an easy meal. Mr. Fish, being lazy, also is not too fond of current. It’s more work to be constantly swimming upstream than it is to lay low in slack water. So when you put these two things together, a river is basically a perfect buffet line for a bass. He finds a bit of slack water to rest in, and the current sends his prey right to him. So, in order to catch a bass in water with current, you need to be able to read the flow of the water and know where Mr. Fish has set up his recliner.

Look for anything that will deflect the current and form a seam between the moving water and the still water.  That fish wants to set up right in the seam, so that like I said earlier, the current will basically hand feed him his food. Now picture this seam as the drive thru window at McDonalds (the current acting as the McDonalds employee).  It’s a quick, easy meal, that requires little effort from this lazy bass. Now, don’t over look anything. It does not have to be a big area of still water to be a likely place. Keep a keen eye out for any stump or rock that could create just enough of an eddy for a bass to sit in while his food is being prepared.

Another key spot in rivers are holes along the main channel. These areas are still creating that seem or eddy, just horizontally instead of vertically. Think of that water flowing like an underwater waterfall. You've probably seen how the water fall itself is very turbulent, but behind the chaos it is a pocket of nothing. It's actually quite peaceful on the underside of that waterfall. well, this is where the bass will sit and wait for that waterfall to feed him. A deep hole is also where you will more than likely find bass stacked up waiting in a buffet line. Especially during winter or summer when these fish are looking to get down a little deeper where the water maybe just a little more stable.

Now, take time to think and try to understand how the water flows, and how these eddys work. Next time it rains and you have water draining across your driveway or through the ditch, picture that on a bigger scale. It’s water, it all works the same way. Once you get it in your head how currents works, you’re going to need to know how to approach it with a bait tied on. . . . . . . but you’re going to have to wait for my next article, and I will give you my two cents in that area!

Lessons in River Bassin'

            River fishing. You either love it or hate. It is a completely different way to fish compared to natural lakes and reservoirs, so you’ve always thought. Truth be told, if you learn the river and transfer that knowledge to a lake, you will more than likely start jackin’ a few more jaws.

I, myself, have been practicing on the river. Breaking it down piece by piece. Learning little subtleties to look for. But, I haven’t been doing my learning in the front of my bass boat. I haven’t been driving to any major river.  I have done my learning from the banks of the Little Choctawhatchee River on the border of Dale and Houston County. To break down the term “little”; the average depth (this is a rough estimate on this average) is about 3 ft, you can pitch a jig across the river in most spots, and there are some spots even a kayak would have a hard time getting by. Now, before you say I’m crazy and that there can’t possibly be any good fish in there, let me tell you it is chock FULL of Alabama Spotted Bass. If you have never caught one of these on’ry fish, you are just missing out.

I’m going to post a few articles about what I’ve learned on this little river. I’m going to start by breaking down the little things, then how the exact same things are taking place on a bigger river, and finally show you how you can transfer that to a lake. I really hope to hear feedback on what you think, and any questions. Even though I am not a well decorated pro, or a seasoned veteran, I do believe I have quite a few facts that will help you catch more fish, and THAT is my main goal.  

Lake Mitchell, Best Yet

Tournament number 3 of the year and I finally have one to talk about. It was a long shot of being the tournament of a lifetime, but it was definately my favorite one yet.

It started with a trip up on friday with good friend, David Roland, who also fishes in the club. With numerous wrong turns and missed exits we definately had an experience! We stopped at Bass Pro Shops in Prattville, AL to spend some money and talk with Elite Pro Gerald Swindle and caught a couple minutes of Boyd Duckett's seminar.

Now to talk about the lake. Lake Mitchell; Heard alot of good things about this lake, but I myself wouldn't see it until blast off. Actually, I didn't even see it then because of the fog. I just idled around blindly and pulled up to and island, so I decided that since it's all I can see, I'll start here. I had a KVD 1.5 tied on, so i started with it. The fift cast of the morning yielded my biggest fish of the day, a 3 pounder. Once the fog lifted I realized I was nowhere near where I thought I was, so I cranked up and made a run. While kiling time working my way up the lake I came across a point. Didn't know it then but it was perfect. It was a little bitty creek mouth with a rocky point on one side that had a little brush pile at the tip, and the other side had an old abandoned boat ramp and a little dock. I caught a little spot off of the boat ramp while the current was on, and had a couple more bites that didn't hook up then I moved on. I ran all around, but that point lingered in my mind. By lunch, I had no more fish than what I had caught that morning, so I motored back to that point. I got there to find the current was turned off, and I saw alot of shad. The shad helped me to decide to camp out on the creek mouth the rest of the day. I had learned that they were nolonger on that old boat ramp. Wit the current off, they had moved to the end of that point, right in that brush pile. I was getting tapped, and kept switching colors trying to get them to eat it. Then something happened. Somebody had stirred up some mud on up that creek, and I saw it slowly working out onto that point. Once that stain hit that point, I caught one. after that, they were ON! Every cast I was landing a keeper spot, slowly dragging a shaky head with a Bass Striker Lures Stealth Worm in red bug color right over that point. I had filed out my first ever limit in a tournament, and they just kept on coming. They were far from magnum sized, but once I got to the weigh in I found out no one found the magnum spots, except the one fish that won big fish pot that weighed about 3 and a half. The 7.08 lbs I weighed in landed me the 6th biggest bag of our club tournament, and one heck of a time on an AWESOME lake.

This tournament taught me alot on reading small changes in conditions. the current being turned off and that stain rolling in changed the position and activity of those fish, and I was able to figure that out and sit on 'em. Just one more notch in my "experience" board!

New Year, New ''Experiences''

This is my first blog in a while, and the first of the new year. Along with that, this past Saturday kicked off my new year tournament wise.

Can't say it was a great start to the year, but it was the start. I fished a tournament at Lake Seminole with my Dad and he caught our only fish that we weighed in at 2.9. Got a 20th place finish out of 33 boats, but that goes to show that it could be worse. All in all, had a great time fishing our first tournament as a team.

Now being the beginning of a new tournament year, I have set up new goals for this tournament year. There are a few normals to strive for like; catch a limit in all of my tourneys, win a tourney, the usual. But, my main goal for this year is to gain as much experience and knowledge as I can. If this was a book, this would be the chapter named ''Experience''. That seems to be one main ingredient I'm missing on tournament day, and I am hoping to take some big steps in that area this year.

Hopefully, as I gain this experience I will be able to share it with you in my blogs, as well as keep you updated on my tournament outcomes. Until then, bundle up and go RIP SOME LIPS!