Need Help w/Tournament Patterns

[TravisRush]

I will be fishing a few tournaments this August (can't wait) and am wanting some suggestions on techniques/locations to choose. All three tournaments will consist of mainly smallie fishing.

Two of the tourneys will be on very large, clear lakes that are very deep. One of them, being Lake Washington, is HIGHLY pressured and it's always a tough bite there.

The last one is on the Columbia River which is a powerhouse for producing huge smallmouth...

If anyone can lend me some expertise on fishing pressured smallmouth water, that would very much appreciated!

[danielbasspro]

i would throw a shaky head on a spot remover jighead with a zoom finesse worm

[Buzz Wing]

I once saw an FLW event on the Columbia and they nailed 'em on heavy, 3/4 Oz. spinnerbaits over grass I believe.

-Buzz

[rangerryan]

ok, here is the deal you mentioned pattern which is the most important thing that you can do when tournament fishing and to find a pattern you have to catch a fish once you do try to key in on every detail you can. start with the bait and presentation, look at the structure and cover, depth, water clarity, and any other thing that sets that water apart from any other water that you have fished and you have yourself a pattern. every lake is different every day so the only way is to go prefish and figure it out.

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by rangerryan

ok, here is the deal you mentioned pattern which is the most important thing that you can do when tournament fishing and to find a pattern you have to catch a fish once you do try to key in on every detail you can. start with the bait and presentation, look at the structure and cover, depth, water clarity, and any other thing that sets that water apart from any other water that you have fished and you have yourself a pattern. every lake is different every day so the only way is to go prefish and figure it out.

i agree 100%. patterns can be tough to figure out, and there is almost always more than one pattern going on. but when you figure out a good one things start falling into place.

[TravisRush]

I shouldn't have said patterns...kinda meant techniques I should use that are consistent with these types of bodies of water.

[CCbass]

I was thinking the same thing as I read the comments, a technique will far out fish a pattern. Bass are Bass although most fisherman think differently going from lake to lake. I don't consider myself a smallmouth fisherman but I got 2nd in a tournement on all smallies, fishing against three know smallie fisherman, who I beat. I only fished the lake twice in my life before that, needless to say they came and asked. My technique, shallow cranks and at high speed, 12 seconds a cast. 4 to 6 ft. Bandit if I recall, they said theyed like to see you do that in the Summer here. Well I fished that lake in July and August with the same technique and had the same result with largemouth thrown in as well. Its a good technique that lead me to 11 1st thru 3rds in a row in tournements, before I quite. Try it and the key is color, clear lakes might be hard but find stained water and the most visible lure and look out.

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by CCbass

a technique will far out fish a pattern.

i think a technique and a pattern go hand in hand. when you figure out the pattern the technique becomes part of that pattern.

[CCbass]

You said it yourself so why spend the time. To me as far as I have heard from bass fisherman patterning is going to a lake and trying to find what they want. Why not have a technique you know they want because they are in fact bass, go to the lake, find where it works and your done. Why go though all the techniques and end up doughting yourself because you think another technique will work better. I've fished tournaments on a new lake, went to the lake fished my technique found fish, placed second. Went back three months later, same technique same water finished third, again three months later finished second. No time inbetween fishing the lake, the technique works spring through fall so I fished it.To me pattern equals fishing for Bass, as apposed to carp, or trout, technique equals what will catch that species.

[MississippiBoy]

So all bass everywhere always want the same thing? Wow, you just saved me a bunch of money. I'm gonna go sell all my other tackle, and my extra rods, and just fish a 4-6 foot crankbait, and win a bunch of tournaments.

[jcw1503]

I am with you Mississippi, all this time and money, should just use the cranks....here i come elite series...lol

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by CCbass

Why not have a technique you know they want because they are in fact bass, go to the lake, find where it works and your done.

hate to break it to you but that would be a pattern.

a technique + a certain type of location = a pattern and chances are once you found a pattern you can catch fish all over the lake on it. nothing hard about that. the difficult part is unlocking the pattern in the first place but most of the time that is what it takes to do well.

[jasonfish320]

These tournaments are in AUGUST, right? If I were you I wouldn't worry about pattern until you get closer to the date...use your time to study the waters you will be fishing, if you are serious you will try to get some topo's or lake survey maps to pinpoint areas that will hold bass in the summer months...I have won several Smally tourneys and most of them have been fished in the middle of lakes on large humps..areas where the lake goes from 20ft to 8-10...try to find similar spots and you should do well...I'm against figuring out a pattern too far in advance only because there are too many variables that can change over time.

For instance, right now the New England area has a lot more snow than usual, so I can predict that most of my spring tourneys will be in flooded waters. I can look at some of the lakes I will be fishing and check out the Topography of surrounding areas to find where most of my natural spring run-offs from melting snow will be coming from and which will create an area of oxygenated water and usually produce a great holding spot for bass....Study, study, study...it always pays off

[CCbass]

The fact is this technique works, its 100% reactionary, driven by instinct. There is an arcicle in the july/august 2008 bassmaster magazine about the same technique although a little shallower running cranks. The way she descrides the bite is what I have been seeing for ten years. She got bites regardless of the wind or weather conditions all day, and they hammer it. "Modifying the mann killer" is the name of the article, read it for yourself. The speed is the key, with me its 10 to 12 seconds a retrieve.

[zooker]

Originally Posted by carolina-rig-01

i agree 100%. patterns can be tough to figure out, and there is almost always more than one pattern going on. but when you figure out a good one things start falling into place.

i agree with both the c-rig and ryan..


don't really worry any right now. a tourny in august is not a big deal right now.. but i would start looking at maps.payin particular notice to deep struture..depending on water.. it could be 8-45 feet deep.. creek channels deeper ends of points.. one thing is for sure they wont be shallow..






zooker

[rangerryan]

ok let me tell you a pattern that i picked up on last year i was pitching my favorite craw along a shallow bank and having a little success and then i began to notice that ever keeper fish i caught was caught were wood mud and rocks all meet on a slow sloping shoreline. sounds wierd but once i keyed in i turned the trolling motor on high and buzzed down the bank and only made pitches in those spots and caught a fish almost every cast. i placed first in that tourny and had the only 5 fish limit, i culled that day and won the big bass pot. THAT IS PATTERN. im not saying that i didnt catch fish in other spots but they were not the quality of fish that i caught using this pattern. this was actually the first time i had ever fished like this but it worked. as for the "TECHNIQUE" i used all i did was flip my craw in a spot and let it sit for a few seconds if i didnt get bit i reeled it in and repeated if i didnt get bit after a few times i left the spot. THAT IS TECHNIQUE.

[CCbass]

Okay in that sence I can understand patterning and technique, but guys I talked to explained going to the lake and trying anything they could until they caught some fish patterning. I think they were more magic lure people, looking for what caught fish anywhere, which is not the same as finding a pattern. As far as my technique I junk fish I guess they call it, I have three or four spots I catch fish and I rotate all day. The spots have nothing in common, except fish, bluffs on one, weeds on the other, shallow extending points on another, submerged bridge. Thats more technique then pattern right? Same lure on all spots by the way.

[rangerryan]

cc im not knocking youre technique but you will get beat if anyone else can find a consistant pattern and some times techinque is all you have when its hard to find a pattern.