When bass are active and biting we are all good fisherman, our lure selection and presentation is working. During a wide open bite nearly everything works and almost everyone on the water is a good fisherman. The problem is bass are only very active a low percentage of the time and after the activity there is longer period of time when the bite has shut off.
Bass are unlike most game fish and react to a wide verity of lures, they are a tenacious, curious fish. Because of the basses nature they can be enticed into striking lures when not feeding. It's the off period or neutral rhythm of the bass that we spend the majority of our time on the water trying to catch them.
Using a lure "out of the box" or the way the manufacturer suggest may not work, because the bass has been exposed to this lure several times over and is conditioned to ignore it, when not feeding actively. Bass fisherman tend to try everything in the tackle box box during this period, looking for something that the bass will respond to.
Tournament bass fisherman often are looking for a lure that gives them an edge over thier competitors and during this off period experiment with new presentations and "tinker" with lures to get strikes, when the standard lures are ignored. Tinkering is a big part of bass fishing and is one reason that this sport is so much fun. Bass will react to someting they have never been exposed to before because of the nature, we just need to find the right button to push. Tinkering gives the top pro's an edge and also gives them confidence they have or know something no one else has. So go ahead and add that pearl paint to the swim bait fins, dots to the crank bait, Carolina rig a floating Rapala or whatever else comes to mind. Tinkering is what bass fishing is all about.
Tom
Bass are unlike most game fish and react to a wide verity of lures, they are a tenacious, curious fish. Because of the basses nature they can be enticed into striking lures when not feeding. It's the off period or neutral rhythm of the bass that we spend the majority of our time on the water trying to catch them.
Using a lure "out of the box" or the way the manufacturer suggest may not work, because the bass has been exposed to this lure several times over and is conditioned to ignore it, when not feeding actively. Bass fisherman tend to try everything in the tackle box box during this period, looking for something that the bass will respond to.
Tournament bass fisherman often are looking for a lure that gives them an edge over thier competitors and during this off period experiment with new presentations and "tinker" with lures to get strikes, when the standard lures are ignored. Tinkering is a big part of bass fishing and is one reason that this sport is so much fun. Bass will react to someting they have never been exposed to before because of the nature, we just need to find the right button to push. Tinkering gives the top pro's an edge and also gives them confidence they have or know something no one else has. So go ahead and add that pearl paint to the swim bait fins, dots to the crank bait, Carolina rig a floating Rapala or whatever else comes to mind. Tinkering is what bass fishing is all about.
Tom
