Fish Your Strengths – By Justin Largin
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One of the most common sayings in bass fishing is “fish your strengths.” There’s no telling how many times I’ve read this in Bassmaster magazine or heard pros say it during interviews and seminars. I’ve heard it so many times that I think my brain has gotten numb to the idea. Well, I was reminded again this past weekend.
Before I jump into the story, what does “fish your strengths” mean? To me it’s pretty straightforward, use baits and techniques that you are good at or you enjoy. Figure out what your style is. Are you a power fisherman or do you prefer finesse techniques? Are you a river rat like me, or do you like to fish deep highland reservoirs? Do you beat the banks or fish offshore with electronics? What lures to you like to throw? Do you like to move around and cover lots of water with moving baits? Or are you slower and more methodical, milking a spot for every bite you can squeeze out of it. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. It’s all about personal preference. This is one of the great things about fishing. There’s more than one way to catch a bass.
On to the story. This past weekend, Drew Gregory won the Bassmaster Kayak Series Tournament on Lewis Smith Lake. It was a back-to-back win, the first ever for the Kayak Series, and Drew did it fishing his strengths. He can catch them a variety of ways, but he’s known for seeking out shallow, moving water. I thought the tournament would be won fishing for deep spotted bass on the main lake. Drew bested the field fishing his way.
This wasn’t the only reminder. Second place finisher Chris Hartman was fishing the same area I was but using a different technique. He fished a wacky-rigged stickworm around shallow cover. Now, I’ve used a wacky rig to catch a pile of fish and cash checks at several tournaments this year. I have a ton of confidence with that technique, especially when fish are finicky. When I tried my Missile 48 during practice, I got zero bites. I even threw it some during competition. Still nothing. I wasn’t doing something right. Maybe I needed a different rate of fall. Maybe it was a timing deal. For whatever reason, I couldn’t make the finesse presentation work and ended up catching fish on power techniques. It was eye-opening to learn that someone else figured out what I couldn’t and caught over 20 fish with the wacky rig.
Over the last year or so, as I’ve competed in tournaments across the country, I’ve seen a similar story play out many times. You talk to someone at the ramp and find out they caught fish with techniques that didn’t work for you. Or you go to an awards ceremony and learn that the winners did very different things. There might be five different strategies uses by the top ten anglers. One angler caught his fish with a shakey head on deep docks. Another angler caught her fish with a chatterbait in shallow backwaters. You often learn that the top anglers fished completely different sections of the lake. Sometimes the only commonality is that they all caught a bunch of bass!
Every time I experience a tournament like this, it reminds me that there are no magic bullets in fishing. There is no secret lure some anglers have that brings them tournament success. You’ve probably got the same stuff in your box. Sure, there might be a special spot that the winner finds, but it’s not the only one on the lake. Are there lures or techniques that will work better in a particular type of water, under certain conditions? Of course. But there is always more than one. Bass can be caught all over the lake and with a variety of techniques. Oftentimes your way – whatever that is – is the best way.