Texas Transplant
Well-Known Member
Well, we had our 'home lake' spring extra tourney this past Saturday. I specifically went as a non-boater, so that I could fish with someone who has fished our home lake quite a bit. Unfortunately, we did not do too well. However, upon retrospect yesterday, I figured out what we did wrong.
We started out fishing a 'spawning' pattern - shallow around stickups, brushpiles and laydowns. Mostly in 1-4 feet of water. We had several (3-4) 'good' spots that we were going to work (partners spots), along with a couple that I have had some success on. We went up the lake, middle of the lake, brown water, coffee colored, stained-to-clear water, etc. Water temp was in the 56-58 degree range and the lake had been pretty stable most of the week.
What I realized after the days was done, was that we fished almost the same exact pattern the entire day, just in different places. Of course, when you are the non-boater, you generally have 'less influence'. We fished only one secondary point, and that was for about 10 minutes. Also fished one main point, about the same amount of time. Never fished anything off of the main lake, or major creek structure.
The only bite I got was off some rip-rap up in a creek channel. Unfortunatley, it was a pretty 'limp' bite (fat free fry), that I didn't get a hookup on. Partner saw a swirling fish in the very back end of a major shallow cove (2-3 acres - 2-3 feet deep at best), and managed to pick him up on a spinnerbait.
I really thought about this yesterday, and realized that we should have changed tactics after the second stop (only 90 minutes into the tourney). What we never did, was move 'out' to find where the fish were holding. We mistakenly just took it for granted that they were not biting. This during a time when we were 18-24 hours in ahead of a major front.
When we got to the landing for weigh in, there were no 'big sacks', but most caught fish - even if smaller. We did have a couple of limits around 12-14lbs though.
Tex
We started out fishing a 'spawning' pattern - shallow around stickups, brushpiles and laydowns. Mostly in 1-4 feet of water. We had several (3-4) 'good' spots that we were going to work (partners spots), along with a couple that I have had some success on. We went up the lake, middle of the lake, brown water, coffee colored, stained-to-clear water, etc. Water temp was in the 56-58 degree range and the lake had been pretty stable most of the week.
What I realized after the days was done, was that we fished almost the same exact pattern the entire day, just in different places. Of course, when you are the non-boater, you generally have 'less influence'. We fished only one secondary point, and that was for about 10 minutes. Also fished one main point, about the same amount of time. Never fished anything off of the main lake, or major creek structure.
The only bite I got was off some rip-rap up in a creek channel. Unfortunatley, it was a pretty 'limp' bite (fat free fry), that I didn't get a hookup on. Partner saw a swirling fish in the very back end of a major shallow cove (2-3 acres - 2-3 feet deep at best), and managed to pick him up on a spinnerbait.
I really thought about this yesterday, and realized that we should have changed tactics after the second stop (only 90 minutes into the tourney). What we never did, was move 'out' to find where the fish were holding. We mistakenly just took it for granted that they were not biting. This during a time when we were 18-24 hours in ahead of a major front.
When we got to the landing for weigh in, there were no 'big sacks', but most caught fish - even if smaller. We did have a couple of limits around 12-14lbs though.
Tex
