Fishing History Can Be Risky
A personal example of how history affected the outcome.
There are so many variables to consider when it comes to fishing. Weather, water temperature, clarity, depth, structure, and forage. Weighing in on these factors is what helps us make the decision on where to fish on the lake. There are numerous resources available to help eliminate water and zone in on where the biggest fish are at.
It was the end of May and we were fishing at Elwood Reservior and the water was higher than it has been in a few years. The shoreline brush and small trees were mostly submerged and the water clarity was around three to four feet. Water temps were rising but still cool enough that fish would be shallow. We had mild conditions and would have a brisk wind out of the west. I spent some time checking out just about every arm of the lake struggling to find largemouth in the brush. So did many others who were trying to do the same for this Colorado Bassmaster’s Tournament that would be offered on two separate days. So, I headed for the rocky areas by the dam to see what the smallmouth bite would be like. Right away, I hooked into a 17 incher and noted some movement on my LiveScope among the rocks. I marked the area and saved any further casts for game day.
Tournament morning I ran my Torqueedo motor full speed to get on the spot I chose first. I got there first and staged my kayak in position to catch smallmouth. For the first hour the bite was tough but I was marking fish so I stayed patient and downsized my baits to get a bite. It wasn’t long before I got bit and landed an 18 inch smallie. I would pick up a couple more in the next hour. It took a bit to get a limit and once achieved I took a look at the leader board and noticed that I had the only limit out of 35 anglers. Other anglers were struggling and the ones around me weren’t catching them either. Downsizing the baits was working and I continued to sporadically catch smallmouth. I even caught two of them twice, an 18 and 14. I also noticed that the smallmouth were still in spawn and beds were between four and eight feet deep near the shoreline. After I posted my fish a few more anglers showed up in the area as I’m sure the largemouth were difficult to find. The water had risen fast in the past couple of weeks and it was though the fish had not yet acclimated to the rise in water levels.
After six hours I decided to look for something other than the area I was fishing just in case the second tournament would be a more difficult challenge to catch smallmouth. Before I left, another angler motored toward me and asked if I was leaving and asked if he could fish that spot. I told him I was leaving and that it was okay to move in since I was departing. I left with the confidence that I had a good limit and score and with things warming up it would be difficult for the bite to continue.
After fishing for an hour I was back in a cove and checked the leader board finding that I was now in second place behind the angler that had chosen the same spot I left. My first thought was, “Don’t leave fish to find fish!” But that is what I did! I headed back to the rocky area and the other angler was still there. He let me know that the bite had turned on right after I left. He had a bit of a lead on me but one of his fish was DQ’d because he had caught it twice. But soon after he caught another upgrade and took the lead again. I would not catch another fish and ended up in second place for the day by two inches. The other angler won the tournament. It was a great decision and move by him to do so getting him a nice $1,000 win.
The next morning I headed for the same spot and this time there were more anglers around me due to the success we had in the area the day before. It was a struggle to catch fish just as I had predicted. Would history repeat itself? I landed a short smalley in the first hour and then a 17 incher in the second hour. But no other bites for the next couple of hours after that. I thought that this spot had been fished pretty hard so I moved to another arm of the lake that I knew held some largemouth. When I got there several other kayak anglers had already fished it pretty good too. But I persisted and caught another 17 inch largemouth. I would lose two more and catch a few shorts ending up with only two fish for the day.
Back at the rocky spot the other angler from Day 1 would move there again and, you guessed it, he won again! He would tell me later that once again it heated up just after had left. History had repeated itself. I just needed to be patient which was what I didn’t do very well that weekend. I would end up a disappointing tenth place. The other angler added another thousand bucks to his winnings. Lesson learned?
The next week I would head to British Columbia for an ocean kayak fishing trip that was an epic adventure! That is another story that has already been published. We would then head back to Elwood for a one day tournament four weeks later for the Nebraska Bass Nation championship and The Sticks Event #3. I felt confident in the area I had fished before so I checked it out and caught one smallie in the 14 inch range. I noticed again that there were fish on the rocks using my LiveScope. I spent some time scouting the coves in other arms with not much luck. Others were struggling once again as well. The water had dropped about a foot from the previous tournaments and the key trees that held fish were a little out of the water. That would make it even more difficult to catch fish.
The morning of the tournament I hung my hat on the rocky area where the smallmouth would be staged. So I thought! Again, I downsized my presentations and the wind was blowing from the south this time instead of the west. It was very challenging to stay on the spot and all I caught were shorts. I caught nine there but none over 12 inches. After five and half hours I decided to hit the coves and go for largemouth. It would be a risk but it was all I could do to catch a legal fish at this point. Once to the cove I decided to use the same rod with a downsized presentation and dropped the lure on 6 lb. test line into some cane in 10 foot of water. On the second drop I got bit and it was a nice big largemouth. It only took a few seconds for it to run and snap the lighter line. I thought I was on to something though but soon after I found there were two other anglers that had combed the area already. They would both place in the top three later on. I changed my leader and tried fishing the submerged bushes and trees. All I would get is one more short smallie and not turn any fish in for the day. Anglers who fished the shoreline pattern would have more success today and the anglers who fished for the smallmouth had little success.
Fishing history in this scenario proved to be unsuccessful. I needed to fish the conditions and should have spent more time with the shoreline pattern. Factors that can inhibit your success when fishing history are the angler pressure and movement of fish, water temperature change, along with the movement of forage. It wasn’t for lack of effort in trying to catch a limit. But sometimes, that is not enough. The lesson here is not letting history dictate where you fish unless you have the conditions that warrant fishing there. It is so important to ignore the “dock talk” and find fish by breaking down the lake in a meaningful manner.
Sometimes, history will repeat itself if the conditions are similar and the time of year matches previous encounters. It’s always good to have an A, B, and even a C spot for touraments. Fish do, and will move. Conditions are changing by the minute and then it is all about adjusting. Basically, adjusting and decision making are two key elements that must always be considered when tournament fishing.
My hope is that this information helps you with your decision making and adjustments you need to make while fishing. There are always going to be key areas on any fishery and the old saying is, “90% percent of the fish are in 10% of the lake.” And, “10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish.” This may be true! Tight lines my friends!