By: Ryan Kennedy
Where I usually fish in North Georgia, the majority of the fish that came up to bed in April have come and gone. Yes, that means that that world or state record you were trying to find up shallow laid her eggs and is feeding up again to get ready for her life in the hot summer haunts. If you caught a monster during the spawn, I congratulate you. If you didn’t, well you’ll get her next year champ.
Why can’t we all go out and catch a fatty on every trip to the lake? According the clever marketing in the fishing industry, it’s because we don’t have every single new “revolutionary” product that comes on the market. The big ones only want to eat the best lures fished on the best equipment, right?
Let’s take a look back in history at how the biggest bass ever recorded was caught. George Perry caught his record 22-4lb bass on a Creek Chub Fintail Shiner. If you’ve ever seen this lure, then you know that it is nothing more than a lipped minnow-style bait with two treble hooks. It resembles a crankbait with fins. Compared to today’s modern lures, it doesn’t even come close to the realistic qualities we can find on the shelves of tackle stores today. To top it all off, Perry’s catch was recorded in June.
Something is clearly wrong with this picture… You mean to tell me that someone caught a 20 plus pound bass in the summer, not during the prespawn, on a lure that was the only one he had matched up on generic fishing line with a mediocre rod and reel? YES. Bass are opportunistic feeders. That big girl was up shallow, so Perry tossed the lure over to her, and she devoured it.
Everything in bass fishing gets so complicated these days. I remember the days when I was just a little boy stopping at Walmart or the tackle store, buying a lure that I could afford and that looked appealing to me, and sure enough I could take it out on a pond or lake a catch fish on it. It taught me to have confidence in what I had and not continually chase after the newest and “best” lure on the market. Don’t get me wrong; I love to go out and try new lures and new equipment, but when it all boils down, I’ll take any shad colored square-bill crankbait and a brown jig all day long.
I’ll always remember that my first big bass I ever caught came on a cheap baitcaster combo and a two-dollar brown jig just dragging it around stumps. The more tournaments I fish and the more experience I gain, the famed acronym holds true. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). So don’t lose hope that we are heading towards a different fishing season; the big ones are still out there. Fish your confidence baits, and you’ll run into Ol’ Big sooner or later. Tight lines…