Why Pattern Fishing Will Trigger More Strikes

How do professional anglers manage to fish an unfamiliar lake, figure out its 
secrets in a day or two and bring bass to the weigh-in scales—fish that somehow 
avoided the hooks of local anglers? Why do pros sometimes travel to a certain distant spot, or, conversely, seem content to park on one hole for several days in a tournament? And how can weekend anglers make the most of their limited time on the water by fishing only the areas with the greatest potential to produce strikes? The answer lies in an approach known as pattern fishing.

Factors To Weigh: Bass don't exist in a vacuum. Many forces interact on a given day that affect the fish's location and mood. The weather is one consideration; is it cloudy or sunny, calm or windy? Seasons — spring, summer, winter or fall are also important. Also, what forage is available; in other words, what are bass eating? These are basic considerations every angler must weigh when figuring out a workable pattern. Pro anglers define a pattern as a recurring set of conditions that lead to catching bass. To illustrate the concept, Suppose on a visit to your home lake in May, you discover the water temperature is in the low 80s and the water is clear. The sky is cloudy, and the wind is calm. You cast a big crankbait over riprap by the dam, and a 3-pound bass nails the lure. You catch two more bass before returning to the dock. On the way, you spot a steep bank with broken rock. Casting the same lure into rock, you bag several good bass. Whether you realize it or not, you're on a workable pattern. The fish are holding close to riprap adjacent to deep water. Glancing around, you spot a large, shallow flat — an ideal spawning area. Following the spawn, fish have moved to these rocky areas near deep water. One month later, you return and fish both areas, but catch nothing. Bass have left their postspawn pattern for a summer pattern. Consequently, parking on postspawn holes all day and casting big crankbaits is fruitless. Pattern fishing is exciting, because a solid pattern will not only hold up on a single lake, but on hundreds of lakes. Bass are the same no matter where they're swimming. The serious angler will study books, magazines and video tapes to learn all he can about the seasonal habits of bass, then formulate general patterns, based on his observations and skill level.

Stepping Stones: View pattern fishing from a seasonal standpoint — an approach that greatly simplifies finding and catching bass on a given day. You can't possibly visit every lake or river on the tournament trail and spend a week to determine where bass are, and what they'll bite. Instead, start with a basic framework of knowledge, a simple pattern that can be fine-tuned if necessary to local conditions. Anglers include these basic seasonal patterns in their game plans:

1. PRESPAWN (early spring) — The water temperature will be below 60 degrees. 
The period usually occurs during March in the Sun Belt. Many bass will be in a 
transitional mode, having moved from their deep winter haunts to staging areas — where groups of fish gather and hold between deeper areas and shallow spawning grounds. Likely spots include humps, points at the mouths of spawning coves and submerged roadbeds. The best lures to fish will be a big spinnerbait, jig-and-pig and a Carolina-rigged plastic lizard. A jerkbait like the Bomber Long A is also good in this cold-water situation.

2. SPAWN — Largemouth bass usually spawn when the water temperature climbs to the upper 60s or low 70s. This might be February in Florida, May in Tennessee 
or June in New York. To spawn, largemouth move to shallow, protected areas, places where cold winds and wave action will have a minimal effect on their nests. Most of these places will be in tributaries and shallow pockets on the main lake, especially on the northeast side. On this side, cold northernly winds blow over the spawning beds without chilling the water and disrupting the spawn. Bass spawn in shallow water, often 3 feet or less, then try to find clear water so the sun can penetrate to incubate the eggs. Hence, anglers will be sight-casting to bedding fish. The best lure for this approach is a Gitzit; a Slug-Go and floating plastic lizard work great, too.

3. POSTSPAWN - When the water temperature climbs to a 75 to 80 degree range, bass leave their spawning grounds and congregate on the first available holding areas with deepwater access. These might include a ledge at the far end of a big spawning flat, or riprap with both shallow and deep water in the vicinity. Topwaters like the Zara Spook, big deep-diving crankbaits and Slug-Gos, will produce explosive strikes. Look for fry minnows that school in deep water near a spawning area before heading offshore.

4. SUMMER — Many bass move offshore during summer. On the tournament trail, pro anglers fish a lot of rivers this time of year. They'll focus on underwater humps, sand bars with current eddies and drop-offs. Most of this structure will be on the main river and not in the tributaries. Some best lures are plastic worms, Carolina-rigged worms and lizards, diving crankbaits with a 15 to 18 foot capability, and jigging spoons. When one bass is caught, several often follow; they really bunch up when the water is hot.

5. FALL — When the days begin to cool, and water temperature is 75 degrees or below, bass become active and move to flats near the main river channel. These
are often loaded with logs, brush or grass. Concentrate on small pockets near 
these flats using fast-moving lures like Rat-L-Traps, buzzbaits and shallow-running crankbaits, as well as surface plugs like the Pop-R and Zara Spook. Bass will be very aggressive during this period and will feed heavily prior to moving to a deeper, slower winter pattern.

6. WINTER — When the water is 58 degrees or cooler, move to large tributaries or the main lake and fish vertical structure — areas with fast descent into deep water. Rock bluffs — 45-degree banks composed of gravel or chunk rock — allow bass to make a considerable depth change without swimming a long distance. This is critical when fish are sluggish in cold water. Pinpoint areas with stumps and fallen trees along their slopes and fish slow-moving lures like the jig-and-pig and jighead with soft-plastic grub.

These simple patterns are stepping stones to developing a fish-catching 
pattern geared to the specific lake and conditions. They are, in his words, 
"jumping-off places" that can get you started in the right places, with the right 
lures.

Have It Your Way "To thine own self, be true" — a good rule to follow when developing a workable fishing pattern. Many anglers succeed best around shallow water when fishing a worm, spinnerbait, jig or some other lure. Some professionals are more comfortable fishing deeper water — offshore hills and ledges. That's the neat thing about pattern fishing; any angler can usually find a workable game plan that lets him use the lures and presentations he's most comfortable with. However, at any given time, on any given lake, not all bass will be on the same pattern. Anglers often hear in the spring, for example, that all bass have gone on the spawning beds. This is rarely the case. Many bass may be on the beds, while others have left for a deeper postspawn pattern. Others are still staging and won't spawn for another week. In a situation like this, anglers have three patterns to choose from, any of which will catch fish.