Pattern Fishing 101- By Neal Robinson
Lets talk about Pattern Fishing. First off, what is it? Basically, this predicates off of the combination of two major facts. The first would be WHERE are the fish and the second would be WHEN the fish will be biting. If an Angler can figure out those two questions, they will be on fish. Its like deer hunting; if the hunter can find out WHERE they are entering the field or WHERE they travel through a particular stretch of woods, then all that needs to be done now is finding out WHEN the deer is coming through the area. Once that is established, eureka! So if an Angler can pinpoint WHERE the bass are located, all that needs to be done is finding out WHEN the bass will feed.
Does Lure Selection Matter?
In my opinion, "Yes and No," but I am not concerned with my lure, so much as I am with trying to pattern fish. Pattern Fishing doesn’t have much to do with lure selection, but I do take note of what I caught fish on. There is a saying that holds true here, "In the ‘Right Hands,’ the ‘Wrong Lure,’ will out fish the ‘Right One’ in the ‘Wrong Hands.’" The right lure helps if the Angler is utilizing it in the right area, but even with the wrong lure an Angler will have a good day on the lake if he patterns it right. I would take the wrong lure all day long if I can be in the right areas.
How to Put It All Together…
When putting together a pattern, it is a must that an Angler understands his environment, along with the Bass’s behaviors (migration and feeding habits). The best time to put a pattern together is during the summer months. Sure it’s HOT, but locating the fish during the summer months will allow an Angler to recognize the movements of the fish; here is how. Get an early morning start and fish shallow. Usually an Angler has a favorite location that will provide them with success all the time during the morning hours of the summer. Once the sun breaks through the trees, the bites come to a complete stop, but don’t fret. During the morning bite, observe the surroundings, read the areas of the bite and pay strict attention to the depth finder. When the morning bite stops and the sun is up, this is when the Angler should be thinking, "Where did they go?" not "The sun is up and the fish just stop biting," then pack the gear and go home. Those fish are still in the area. Find the shaded areas nearby where the sun is casting long shadows into the lake. Take what was learned on the Depth Finder and find those fish. Those fish are nearby and will still bite throughout the day. Back away from the shoreline and find structure related to the area fished or deep-water cover nearby. Bass may leave the shallows, but they will not travel far and understanding where bass have relocated will also give an Angler an advantage of knowing a possible migration route. Take the time to study the structure nearby and see what else is available. What makes this so attractive to bass? Frequently, visit the area during the hotter part of the day and find out when the bass start feeding again. The bass may not come back up to the shallows to feed, but if an Angler can present an offering to them, they will gladly take the offer. Do not milk this hole for what its worth, especially if this will become a tournament pattern. But during the off days visit the area and see if it still holds fish. If the fish have moved, see if they have relocated nearby, but make notes of what goes on. This is pattern fishing.
This same exact summer time pattern will work just as well as in the wintertime, minus the shallow topwater bite. Those offshore locations located during the summer that has good structure or cover during the summer months will produce just as well in the winter months. Just as bass will go deep during the summer months trying to locate cooler water, bass will also go deep during the winter months trying to locate warmer water. The only thing different is that during the winter months, bass will not venture off into the shallows as frequently as they did during the summer. During the fall and spring months, fish will move into the shallows to either spawn or feed. Spending time out on the lake during all the different times of the years will allow an Angler to better understand how bass move WHERE and WHEN bass move. Lots of time spent on the water will also allow an Angler to narrow down the bass’s feeding time, increasing their chances of catching good fish.
Weather & Barometric Pressure
Another consideration to have in mind is WEATHER. Weather will play major roles in what bass are doing by creating a frenzy of activity (i.e. right before a front), push them tight to cover or by completely shutting them down. Barometric Pressure is the key player in this factor, which is often overlooked by 98% of the Anglers. An understanding of the barometric pressure can be the difference of catching or not catching any fish. Just because the weather conditions are comfortable for Anglers, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s comfortable to the fish. Watching the weather channels and understanding what the weather does to fish can tell an Angler how to pattern themselves or when to expect a good day on the water. For instance, during a High-Pressure system, rests assure that there won’t be too many fish caught on these days. These are usually the "Blue Bird Sky" type of days. Again, these days may be great for the Angler, but cause the fish to hold back. To a bass, a High Pressure system is like going up in the airplane and you can feel the pressure building in your head, which can cause headaches. The same thing happens to bass during these types of systems. In the meantime, while a storm front moves in or cloudy conditions occur, bass go on a feeding frenzy. Usually this feeding frenzy occurs on either the leading edge of the storm or there soon after it passes. Be warned and prepared though. Just as anglers are enjoying the time on the water, be prepared to leave the waters. Occasionally, lightning follows these low-pressure fronts, which better end the fishing trip. Fish are also sensitive to lightning and will completely shut down. I don’t know why, nor do I care, just get off of the water. Usually the best pressure systems for feeding bass range between 28+ and just over 30.00, but anything out of those ranges are not good. Pressure that is moving up or down is good also, but once it has stabilized, this can hinder fishing also.
Here’s how to understand what happens with fish during High and Low-Pressure systems, which will aide in catching more fish. During a high-pressure system, organisms living in the water, like plankton, get pushed toward the bottom due to the higher pressures. This creates a moment of inactivity for the baitfish, which in turn makes the predator fish become inactive as well and pushes them down near the bottom. During the lower pressure days, this allows the organisms to rise up causing the baitfish to feed on the plankton and in turn causes the predator fish to feed on the baitfish. With that in mind, during high-pressure systems, it would be best to employ the use of bottom lures like Jigs or T-Rigged worms. With low-pressure systems, topwater and spinnerbaits will be the lures of choice.
Along with the weather, not all areas of the lake have the same temperatures. Different areas of the lake cool and/or warm faster than others. So different patterns can exist lakes simultaneously. This can be the reason why some Anglers are doing better than others. Bass may be moving up to the shallows to spawn on some areas of the lake, whereas other areas fish are still backed off in the deeper water staging. Water temperature, water clarity, weather, cover, structure and the time of year are critical elements when it comes to patterning fish and needs to be factored in when trying to pattern for bass.
Experiment With Different Locations…
Too many times I have seen an Angler with the same routine on the lake, to the point I know exactly where he is going throughout the lake and they never change. This is an Angler that doesn’t experiment with other alternatives, other than lure changing. These Angler’s rely on old patterns that have worked in the past and are too scared to venture off and locate new ones. As mentioned earlier, those bass may still be in the area, but instead of being in the creek bed, the bass may have moved a few yards over to a hump where shad have been concentrating.
Have Multiple Locations…
In order to take advantage of what a body of water has to offer, an Angler has to have several areas to work with that have similar characteristics. If the bass are hanging on Points, focus on them and try to capitalize on finding a pattern within that pattern. Some patterns will be productive, while others won’t. Even though an Angler fished a historically productive area earlier in the day doesn’t mean it won’t be productive later on. It may be that the timing isn’t right for the fish to feed. This is why it is important to pattern what your fish are doing; again you need to know WHERE bass are located and WHEN they’re feeding. Timing can mean everything especially when an Angler already knows that the fish are there in the area.
Fish Are Biting Somewhere…
On larger impoundment’s, you can rest assure that somewhere on the lake, fish are biting. Many Anglers have encountered a time during a tournament where they couldn’t catch a thing. That does not mean the fish were not biting, it just means that that particular angler was on the wrong pattern. In that same tournament, other anglers may have caught 30 or 40 fish. And in that same token, those who caught 30 or so fish know that somewhere on the lake, someone is catching a good sack of fish. It doesn’t always mean that it’s a bad fishing day for an Angler; it’s just that they were not on the right pattern. This is why it behooves to stick around after the weigh-ins and listen to the "Winners" and stop going home a "Whiner." Anglers need to listen to what the other successful Anglers were doing in order to measure up and learn. Anglers should not feel down about what they did wrong, yet take the opportunity to listen and learn as much as they can to take advantage of it the next time. But knowing an impoundment that has good fish on it, I can promise that someone out there is on fish. Those Anglers will stay on fish all day, so long as their pattern holds up and they can adjust to changes within the pattern.
Topo/Contour Maps…
One of the most important tools in a fisherman’s tackle box is the least used and most misused item; a Topo Map. Many Anglers have them and pull them out to look at them, but don’t have an idea of what they are looking at. When pattern fishing, it is vital that an Angler have a Topo map of the lake in order to find underwater structure, particularly, during the winter and summer months. A Topo map can allow an Angler to eliminate so much unproductive fishing water. There is no need to fish the entire lake, when an Angler can pinpoint particular areas and concentrate of them when times are tough. A good Topo map doesn’t just have a map of the lake with lateral lines and creeks marked, etc., it will also have pencil marks, pen marks, writings and comments about areas where fish were caught, dotted areas marking where fish were caught. A personalized, well-marked topo map is the best there is. It gives a fishing log of WHERE fish were caught. If there are an abundance of dots (where fish were caught) reevaluate the area with the map and try to find out why this area is so good. Is there an offshore creek, hump, trash pile (which isn’t usually identified on a Topo Map) or something else? Something is making that area continuously productive and a map littered with personal information is just as good, if not better, than any logbook that I know.
Larger lakes are harder to dissect, too big to fish completely, unless an Angler lives out there. So a good topo is a must have in the boat. There are so many places on a Lake where an Angler can catch fish, but there are even more unproductive areas that don’t produce any fish. If an Angler can understand what and why a bass do what they do, and understand the bass’s migrating routes throughout the season, this alone will eliminate so much more water and allows an Angler to focus more in one area.
Pre-Fishing For A Pattern…
If an Angler has the opportunity to Pre-Fish with his partner, in order to find a pattern, it is best that they throw different lures to cover all gametes. I don’t like to burn through a lake like some Anglers when I am Pre-Fishing, but I also don’t scrutinize a lake either because it takes too much time. I would start with something slow, while my partner would fish something fast, like a spinnerbait, crankbait or buzzbait. This way, I can slow down and allow my partner to cover a lot of water in an area (especially with several targets), for active fish. While I am focusing more on inactive/active fish, if fish are active, they will just as well strike my offering. I fish tight to cover, but not slow. I will pitch to as much cover as I can, but I will not work the bait too much. Basically, I flip into a piece of cover and pull it out of there and onto the next piece. Remember, I am not fishing to catch fish; I am fishing to locate fish so that I can put together a pattern. So once I catch a couple of fish in an area, I get out of there so that I don’t disturb the rest of the fish in the area. Interrogate the fish by asking yourself these questions: WHERE exactly was the fish when he bit, WHAT lure did he hit, WHAT size was the lure, WHAT is the water depth, HOW was the lure presented, WHEN (time of day) did he hit, HOW was the lure in his mouth? WHAT is the weather like? There is a plethora of questions that an Angler needs to ask himself when he catches a fish because those fish are telling him something, but the Angler needs to interrogate and listen to the fish. Then I try other areas with similar patterns along with trying to establish other patterns or patterns within a pattern. It is a must that an Angler listens to the fish along with what is going on around him.
Continuously Changing Pattern…
Patterns never stay the same. Just as an Angler has it all figured out, the season changes and the fish move. This is a constant battle, until the Angler can learn to follow the fish’s movements during different parts of the year and during drastic weather changes. One thing is for certain, patterns don’t last, this is why the Angler has to adapt to the changes. The smallest change in weather or water conditions will change any pattern that an Angler had, but if the Angler knows the water well enough or can read his Depth Finder to find structure, he can adapt to these changes to become more successful out on the water. Being able to adjust in tournaments is a must, with the understanding of the historical patterns on the lake, this will allow an Angler to quickly adjust his patterns and have confidence in what he is doing.
Don’t get the wrong impression though. The items that I have covered are only a small portion of what I do to prepare myself on a lake in order to establish a pattern. But even with all that I know in establishing a pattern prior to a tournament, I cannot guarantee another Anglers success, due to different behaviors in fishing style and the fact that there is some luck factored into the equation. But with the information that I have provided here, it should be of use to any Angler who is looking for ways to establish a good pattern.
Never Stop Learning…
Fishing is a continuous learning process. The minute an Angler stops learning, he stops being successful. Learning about the bass itself is constant; how they see, smell, feel, taste, adjust, etc. Studying the bass and why he does what he does will help you patterning. Always learn about structure because it is ever changing, so long as there is current in the water and given time, structure will change as well as cover. Know the different types of structure and cover and this will teach you how to pattern your fishing during different times of the year or situation within a particular season.
In my opinion, this is just a small segment of what Pattern Fishing is about.
BnBassin
