By Scott Norton
How many times have you taken a trip to fish, only to find out that when you show up, you have brought all the wrong tackle for the conditions? Planning ahead can help you narrow down the lures needed to bring the bites. The time of year and the current conditions for the target area, all go into this big puzzle you have to figure out. With muddy water, use dark colored lures with a rattle and something that displaces lots of water. On windy days, use lures that make a lot of racket or throw lots of flash, like a bladed bait or a chrome colored bait. On days you have no wind and the water has no ripple, use baits that are silent and move slow, like a finesse application. The time of year will give you the location of the bass while water temperatures will give you the mood the fish will be in. Don’t do things for no reason, like fishing a spot that you caught a nice fish at before. Fishing will migrate like birds and conditions are always changing so you have to ask yourself, will the fish be there in that spot like last time?
I like to use lures based off of the current lake conditions and take a few that I think will work, while adding a few baits for muddy water or calm conditions. Make sure you study up on what lures work in different situations. You will find fewer hard days of fishing because you came prepared. If you take too many poles and tackle, you’re going to clutter up your boat while complicating your plans. Too much to choose from also leads to confusion, which I am guilty of myself. Separate things into categories and put lures from the least liked-to the greatest, and bring the top three and a few others for alternate conditions.
You will always find a pattern to suit their mood. Replicate the pattern and you have just simplified what others make hard. As you get better, you will notice that you have developed a system to calm the madness. The puzzle will always be there but the less pieces you have, the easier it gets. You can actually turn it into an art much like a musician does when writing music. Be willing to change gears on the fly and you will eventually figure it out. Vacations are few and time is short, so make things count!
Scott Norton is a native of Western North Carolina. Born in Asheville, NC, he is a long time avid hunter, angler, and weekend warrior. He is a member of Southern Raft Supply’s prostaff team representing them in his Jackson Kayak Coosa FD