Jimmy Reese
The Pattern Within the Pattern Within The Pattern
 

HAVE you ever watched guys catch fish after fish in one spot and wondered how and what they were doing? Then they give you the information including the spot where they caught them and the lures they were using. You then are thinking, “This is awesome! I am going to knock them dead.” But then you get there and you are trying to duplicate their success and you find it is a lot harder than it looks. You end up catching a fish or two but you wind up playing more mind games within yourself, asking yourself all these questions of what you should be doing.

After 20 years of tournament fishing I have this figured out. First of all, just so you know, the hardest fish to catch in our bass world are those somebody else is catching.

Many times I have sat in a spot and have watched someone catch fish after fish while I was catching very little. I have even moved closer to catch a glimpse of what lure they were throwing and what they are doing, usually only to get a dirty look or a hand grenade thrown my way! Kaboom!! I will change up what I am using and fish around and usually with no success. Usually within 20 minutes frustration sets in and I just leave and resort back to what I was doing. Second-guessing yourself out on the water can take the fun out of what we are doing. So I have some advice for you guys. “Just Don’t Do It” That is as simple as I can make it for you. We are all better off focusing on what we are doing on catching fish for that day and not worry about how other people are catching fish. After all “There are more than one way to skin a catfish” He!He! There will be many days on the water to try and hone our skills on other techniques in catching big bass.

Ok, so let’s say you’re stubborn like me! I want to know everything about everything. I have to know why this is happening! Well, I will tell you this! There can be many reasons to why. But the one I want to share with you is this.

“Bass Are Smart” I can’t tell my wife this, but since you are reading this article you probably qualify as someone that will accept this answer. Ok, so the one thing I have learned from tournament fishing is learning how to adapt to fishing pressure, which means more detail on what the fish want at what time of day and where to catch them. Once we figure this out we must then have the right lure presentation to convince them into eating it. I am not even going to go into lure colors, line size, rod and reed selection, etc. But they all play a big role in having success on the water. So here it is guys! Are you ready? This is what you need to learn.

“You need to figure out the pattern within the pattern within the pattern.” If you can figure this out and understand it during your day on the water you will catch more fish and bigger ones too.

So what does this mean you ask? Well, while catching fish on any given day ask yourself why that fish was there and why did it eat your lure? Take a look at the angle of the cast. You will find shade is very important in catching bass. The lure presentation, was it presented slow or fast or erratic. Soon you will find something that is working better than another and you will develop a pattern for catching fish. Then after a while you may figure out something with a little more detail that catches bigger bass. This could be something as simple as using a bigger bait. So by paying attention to some of the simple reasons of why, you will find yourself full of excitement and confidence. Thinking you can go out and put a whooping on Mr. Dobyns himself! And confidence is very important in having a successful day on the water.

In April of 2000 I fished Won Bass Pro Am on Clearlake. This was the first tournament I threw a swim bait. I was throwing the Castaic Sardine on G5 1B Braid, using an 8-foot Lamiglas Rod and a Garcia Baitcast Reel. The reel was old but it had a very slow retrieve ratio, and it was one of the keys to winning this tournament. I had found 3 areas I could catch fish with the swim bait. So I was excited and full of confidence. But what I didn’t know at that time is what actually helped me win the tournament which was boat positioning. We caught a lot of fish during the tournament but what I found throughout the 2 days was there was a particular cast we made in all 3 areas that we caught the larger fish. Interested how?

So for these few days on the water the success we had was from having the right lure, using a very slow presentation, and making the right cast, which was all about boat positioning. As you can see here, we developed a pattern within the pattern within the pattern of what we were doing.

Another great example was the 2006 Stren Tournament on Clearlake. It was cold and miserable and it came down to the last day, in a very tight tournament. I was catching most of my fish on Worms and Jigs. I was shaking a 6-inch, Margarita Mutilator Roboworm on a ¼ oz. Dart Head for the first 3 days. Of course this was after trying to get some big bites on swimbaits and jigs. I managed to catch some good fish on the worm for the first few days, including a lucky 9 pounder. I had learned throughout the tournament that the fish wanted everything slow, and shaking the worm was better than dragging it. On day 4 Mother Nature decided to let up a little bit and I decided to change up my game plan. I knew of a dock that was holding some fish. I had not fished it the first 3 days of the tournament mainly because of the 3 and 4-foot rollers coming in on it. I was with my buddy Andy Sholze. As I was fishing with what was working the first 3 days, I proceeded to net 3 fish for Andy compared to my one fish. I quickly made an adjustment to an Oxblood Roboworm. The fish on the area were feeding on Crawdads more so than shad, like the other end of the lake. Over the next 3 hours Andy and I pulled out approximately 15 fish, all up to 6 pounds. Fortunately for Andy, he caught the six pounder. As a matter of fact that was his 5th fish. I remember the cast he made. I had just cast there 3 times. I knew he was going to catch a big fish, and he did. Woohoo! There were a few rocks in the area and after a while it all made sense. We were using light line, and shaking the worm slowly. We pulled the worm to the top of the rock and shook it for a few seconds and we knew we would catch a fish. Afterwards it all made sense. If you were a crawdad sitting on top of a rock in a very natural environment, shakin' in it boots! Cause momma bass is looking down at him. What’s going to happen? Gulp! A pattern, within the pattern, within the pattern. Yes, we did catch fish in the entire area of the dock that we fished, but the larger fish came from duplicity. Three different casts: 1 was a single pole of the dock, and the other two were shaking the worm through 2, key, small rocks. And the key to the rocks was to get the worm on top and shake it, let it sit, shake it, and let it sit.

So here it is guys. We all can go out and throw a lure and catch a fish. Now, casting the right lure, in the right spot, can catch you more and bigger fish. Cast the right lure to the right spot, with the right presentation and you will win tournaments.

God Bless,
Jimmy Reese
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