Fred Roumbanis was desperate for a bite yesterday, so he picked up a spinning rod with a shaky head jig and caught a 3-pounder and a 2-pounder. Then he came to his senses.
“This is why I haven’t made the (Bassmaster) Classic the last couple of years,” Roumbanis told himself. So he put the spinning rod down and picked up a baitcaster with his signature Optimum BoomBoom 6-inch swimbait tied on the line. And the puzzle pieces started falling into place shortly after. “It has taken me all week to figure this out,” Roumbanis said. “The waypoints started adding up. You compile your puzzle pieces by marking every time you catch a quality fish.”
Here’s what the complete picture looks like now: Roumbanis has found two “sweet spots” where bass are transitioning to and from spawning areas.
“You’ve got to have bait,” he said. “If you see bait and some bigger blobs on the (Garmin) Panoptics, those are probably bass. If you don’t see bait and see a lot of blobs, those are probably carp. I’m using the bait to distinguish the species of fish I’m fishing for. That’s the key element.”
When Roumbanis caught a 5-pounder at 8:30 this morning, it confirmed everything he learned yesterday. No spinning rods for “Boom Boom” today.