Tuesday, March 6, 2012

March madness

I have said it every year since I started guiding, I hate spring and the spawning season. Tournament anglers love this time of year, because the odds of catching big bass are increased dramatically. Especially those skilled with fishing in shallow water, and site fishing. Tournament anglers must make accurate casts, and show a lot of patients and technique to land those trophies. I am a very good sight fisherman. I can spot beds at long distances and in deep water. I can very quickly tell if the fish is holding to the bed, which usually means they're more aggressive towards something coming after the eggs or fry, and they will bite whatever you throw. However to the avarage angler or even begginers, it can be a tough bite. My goal is to put my clients on fish, and many of my clients are begginers and are not as experienced with casting and some of the more skilled techniques. Which is fine by me, I love teaching the young and old what I have learned, but you can only teach so much in 4 short hours. So over the years I've learned where to focus my efforts, so anyone that's comes out to fish, does what they expect...to catch. Weather plays a factor. It's march, we still get cold fronts moving through, and the cold blast of air will slow up the bite. Also with cold fronts usually comes with or follows with wind. Today for example, I started at 730 with John from Australia. The lake was like a sheet of glass, but by 10am the winds came, with gusts in the 30 plus range. Makes it next to impossible to teach someone how to site fish, or to even see the beds with the high winds. So we focus on fish that have not yet spawned or in areas the have beds and just fishing them very slowly. Finally, the bass themselves can be tough to figure out. Some of the bass are about to spawn, some are, and some have finished. Depending which stage they're in will determine how they are biting, and where I must focus on. This week I have been fishing steep drop offs with one technique and then hitting more shallow areas with different lures and techniques. My goal is to put every client on a trophy, and for every client to have fun doing it. I am not afraid to say not all of them caught that trophy bass, but every client had decent numbers. As spring turns to summer the bite will only get better, and when that those 90 degree days return, my job gets much easier. I am ready for summer.

No comments:

Post a Comment