April 30, 2025
Tournament bass fishing is sometimes about as predictable as the weather. Every single day is different, even when the weather doesn’t want to cooperate. This is why anglers must be flexible and willing to adjust. The anglers who can pivot at the right time are usually the guys who win. Just because you caught bass one way on Thursday, does not mean you’ll be able to catch them the same way on Friday. So many factors come in to play when it comes to bass biting.
The weather is probably the biggest factor in how bass react daily. Of course, they bite best during low or falling barometric pressure days and if there’s one thing I’ve learned over my many years of tournament fishing, it’s that timing is everything. No matter what body of water it is, bass are biting somewhere! You just have to be in the right place at the right time. This is where practice pays off, but you as an angler must pay attention. If you caught fish in a certain area on Friday at 10:00 AM, there’s a good chance those same fish will bite about an hour later the next day.
But almost every tournament day, anglers must adjust on the fly. Conditions can change hourly, especially during the spring, as cold fronts come through more often than any other time of the year. During the summer months, bass are more predictable as weather patterns tend to be more consistent and stable for days at a time.
There are days however, when anglers are left scratching their heads and questioning the bait and technique they are using. It’s a running joke with anglers that memos are sent out to all bass on the morning the tournament starts. It’s like they’ve been notified to be aware that there are bass fishermen on the water today looking to jerk them into a bass boat.
Therefore, bass should avoid all artificial lures and be alert for anything that resembles live bait and approach all food sources with caution! While we all know bass can’t read, there are times when it seems someone has made them aware that anglers are on the water.
Sometimes, I think we as anglers give bass way too much intellectual credit, but with so much fishing pressure on our lakes today, bass are becoming more educated and can be difficult to catch. Day after day, hour after hour, bass are seeing so many lures that they have become warry of anything that doesn’t look like natural forage.
This is the challenge that I absolutely love about bass fishing! How can I put together a recipe to catch these little green creatures we call bass. Because the ultimate goal is to put a heavy five fish limit in the boat that will allow me to either win or cash a check.
But so many times, the tournament never goes the way you planned. There comes a point during the day that you must rethink your strategy and approach. This is when the word “adjustment” comes into play.
Like so many professional anglers will tell you, bass fishing is all about decision making. Anglers that make the right adjustments at the right time are usually the ones holding up the trophy at the end of the day.
Bass fishing is becoming more and more difficult even with all the great lures and equipment we have as anglers. The days of going out and catching a hundred bass in a day are pretty much gone. Why? I feel it’s all because of one word, “pressure.”
Boat ramps that used to be empty Monday through Thursday, are now full seven days a week. The bass never get a break from the pressure with so many anglers on the water every single day. Also, we now have Livescope, a tool that allows anglers to go after every bass.
Today, there’s no longer a safe haven for bass to retreat to and get a break from all the fishing pressure. Daily, bass are chased and pursued all over the lake with no time to recover.
This is why so many tournaments today are won by anglers who make the right decisions and adjustments in order to put themselves in position for the win or cash a check. Till next time, good luck, good fishing and don’t forget to wear your life jacket every time your big engine is running.
For comments contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com
