Three Key Words

Three key words come to mind when fishin’ for bass. One is depth, another is loca­tion and the third is presenta­tion. In fact, it’s that way with any fish. Those three words must be ap­plied to every fish­ing trip you make if you’re going to be suc­cessful.

Finding the right depth is per­haps the single most impor­tant factor in bass fishing. If you’re not fishing the cor­rect depth, you’re really wasting your time. Sure, you may catch a fish here and one there, but you can bet, the ma­jority of fish in the area you’re fishing will select and use a preferred depth.

Naturally, the better you know a lake, the easier it’s going to be in determining the correct depth on a given day. There re­ally isn’t an easy way to find the right depth, but there are a few tips that might shorten the time.

One would be trial and er­ror. Begin fishing different depth levels until you catch at least a couple of fish. Then concentrate your time fishing that depth in that area. If you change areas to a different part of the lake, you may have to repeat the same pro­cedure.

Another way is to ask the boat dock operator or a local fishing guide, or even an an­gler whom you see on the lake or who has just re­turned to the dock. The most im­portant question you can ask is what depth he caught his fish and what area of the lake he’s fishing. Surprisingly, many will share this information with you.

Another key way to estab­lish­ a depth is perhaps the best of all, and that’s relying on a depth finder.

This unit will not only show you the depth, it’ll show you fish, the depth they’re using and even the cover they’re posi­tioned in.

The best fisherman around can fish the best bait in the world, but if he’s fishing the wrong depth, he won’t catch many fish. At the right depth, almost anyone can catch fish, if he’s fishing the right loca­tion with the proper lure for that loca­tion and using the cor­rect presen­tation. Depth is dictated by the food supply, oxygen content, water temp, time of day and even time of year.

Once you learn the ideal depth, you must then learn the best location in the area of the lake you’re fishing at that depth. It could be a point, a ledge, a high spot, a sloping bank, or it could be emerged, like a boat dock, bushes, vege­tation or standing timber. It’s important to remember whatever depth and location you fish, it should have deeper water close by. Note, I didn’t say deep water. All we’re talking about here is what the majority of fish are do­ing at the same time in a pre­ferred depth and location.

Now, let’s discuss that other key word: presentation. Once a depth and location are found, naturally you’ll have to select a lure that can be fished ef­fec­tively there. Regardless of what lure you choose, a worm, crankbait, grub, spin­ner­bait or whatever, it must be fished in a way that’s most ap­pealing, es­pecially when bass are inactive.

If you think about it, most of the time we’re on the water, the bass’ activity level is inac­tive or neutral more of­ten than it’s active. When they’re feeding ... fishing can be fan­tastic, but when the action is slow, precise presenta­tions are a must for success.

One thing I’d like to point out about lure presenta­tion is when bass are really ag­gressive, your presentation does­n’t have to be per­fect. However, it should be pre­sented to represent life. You want to make it look alive in a natural way.

You’ll find that most under­water creatures don’t skip, jump, hop and speed around. Their movements are basically slow unless, of course, some­thing big is hot on their trail.
Here’s something else that might surprise you. If you only knew the number of bass that actually see your lure and pay little attention to it, it would absolutely blow your mind.

The disappointing fact is that most of the time, bass re­ally don’t want our bait, unless we fish the best location and present our offering just right. This is why it’s so important to present it in a way that’s most appeal­ing. This takes pa­tience, imagination and concen­tration.

Since we’re discussing lure presentations, let me ask you this question. How many times have you been fishing with a buddy, using the same bait, same color and size, but the re­sults were not the same? It happens all the time. Most of us think to ourselves that he’s fishin’ the best spots, or it’s just bad luck. However, there’s usu­ally a solid answer to this ques­tion.

This is particularly true in bass fishing. By presentation I mean the way in which the bait is offered. Are you moving it too slow? Not slow enough? Too fast? Or not fast enough? Bass are finicky little creatures, and they are even more so when they’re in­ac­tive.

You must establish a rhythm for that time, but keep in mind that can change from time to time and also in differ­ent loca­tions.

Let me tell you,there’s a lot more involved in your presen­tation than just blowin’ and a-goin’ down the lake, chunking a lure here and there. It’s very impor­tant to put some thought into every move you make.

When a good fisherman catches a fish, he immediately begins a mental game.

• What just happened here?
• Exactly where did the fish hit in rela­tion to the cover?
• How deep was he?
• Did the hit occur as I changed lure speeds, or when I let it fall, rise or flutter?
• Was the fish on the windy side of the cover, the outside edge or backside?
• How far was my cast?
• Do I need to reposi­tion my boat?
• Am I too close or not close enough?
  

Good anglers can put all the pieces of this sport together quickly, and this is why they catch the majority of the fish. They an­alyze it all: why the bass hit, how and where it hit.

There’s one thing I’ve learned over the years about this great sport. You can’t buy, bor­row, charge or steal fishing suc­cess. Success is based solely on knowledge and experience.

Good anglers work and study hard to be consistent; but even then, they’re never 100 percent successful, regardless of how much they know. But you can bet those who have lots of ex­pe­rience, knowledge and con­fi­dence, will fish more care­fully, more thoroughly, more effi­ciently, more comfortably; there­fore, more successfully. In the end, they’ll catch a lot more fish, especially if they never forget just how impor­tant those three key words are: depth, lo­ca­tion and presenta­tion.