Bass fishing myths

There’s a lot of bass fishing nonsense out there. If you believed even half of it, you’d probably never go fishing because conditions would never be good enough to catch one. Let’s take a close look at some of them.

Always fish at first light

Nobody told the fish. I’ve been fishing for many years, and I can’t say that I catch more fish at daylight than I do at any other time of the day. In fact, if you want me to get technical about it, I’ve caught more giant bass — 8 pounds or better — in the late afternoon during the summer when the water was 90 degrees or better, and I catch a ton of my bass in the middle of the day.

I don’t know what the reasoning is behind the daylight thing. One thing I’ve heard is that the fish can’t see as well before the sun comes up so it’s easier to trick them with an artificial lure. Really? What about all the anglers who catch them at night? Another reason — maybe a good one — is to beat the other anglers to your spot. At lot of our guys like to launch real early for that reason.

For my money I like to get up a little later in the morning, eat a hot breakfast and wander out about 9:00 a.m. or so.

Fish into the wind and current

This one is just plain silly unless you need the wind or current to help you control your boat.

I usually fish with the wind and with the current and then use my Power-Poles to stop my boat when that’s necessary. In my opinion you get a better hookset when you bring the bait over their head. It seems like they grab it quicker and harder. That assumes, of course, that they’re looking into the current in the first place. Do we really know that?

An east wind is bad trouble

No, it isn’t. No matter what direction the wind is blowing you have to make adjustments. Are they facing the wind or do they have their tails to it? How are you going to position your boat? What about making accurate casts into, with and across it?

If you think an east wind is a problem, watch our guys the next time they’re confronted with one. Check out the weights the guys at the top bring to the scales. Did they have a problem with that cursed east wind, the one that causes the fish to stop biting? I think not.

Clear, blue skies are bad news

They are not. As a matter of fact they make bass fishing more predictable.

Think about a big flat. If it’s cloudy and overcast, the fish will be scattered. You’ll have to fish a lot of water and pick them off one at a time. But, if the sun is out and there are no clouds, you know they’ll be tucked in against any piece of cover they can find. That’s when you can flip them.

Bass are prehistoric creatures. They eat, rest occasionally and make babies once a year. Eating is first for all the year except for maybe a week or two during the spawn. That’s our advantage. Don’t let excuses get in your head and cause you not to catch them.