By Brian Waldman
As bass fishermen, we tend to get wrapped up in the details. I'm seeing this a lot lately in posts all over the various message boards I follow. Invisible line, red hooks, and many others. We all tend to emphasize the positive aspects of an experience and overlook the negative. Psychologists call this 'confirmation bias'.
So here is the challenge. Try doing the opposite of ‘common’ thinking and see what happens the next time you are on the water. These are some examples that I have tried:
1- Go find some highly fluorescent line and spool up, then fish like normal. I did this upon coming across a spool of 20# Stren golden "crappie" line in a clearance bin one day. Other similar lines would be any of the 'Solar' lines or even 'Big Cat' line. I loaded up the flipping reel, tied on a jig and headed out to the nearest reservoir. I pitched in clear and muddy water, fishing like I normally would. And I caught several bass, including one over 5 pounds.
What triggered this were two experiences. One, an old fishing partner that took big bass honors in a State level tourney we were fishing by throwing Berkley XT Solar all day with Yammi's on one of the clearest reservoirs in the state. The other, a butt-kicking I took from the back of my boat in another State tourney on one of our clear natural lakes. My draw partner was cranking with 12# clear-blue fluorescent line and a tag end that had to be 1" or better at the tie-off on a sunny day. He ended up cashing a nice check with his limit while I only had 3 dinks on my green 8# test finesse set-up.
2- Put your red hook on the back of your lure and see how many fish you either miss completely or only hook on the rear treble. If they are truly focusing on the red hook, they should be predominantly hooked on the rear treble, or missed completely because they bite short. As I documented on a previous post, your setup can make a big difference in where you end up hooking fish, along with the aggressiveness of a bass on a given day. These, more so than anything, are what determine how your hook-up ratio and efficiency are determined. I could easily make a believer out of someone by throwing the same crank (with only red hooks on one) on two slightly different setups, though everything would seem almost identical.
3- Try not to set the hook the next time you're fishing soft plastics and see how long a bass will hold your bait. Some tourney guys have probably already tried this in practice when they 'shake off' bites that they hope to come back and catch. The first time I intentionally tried not to hook a bass and paid attention to how long a bass would hold the bait, I was shocked. I had some bass that I couldn't get to drop a bait for 45 seconds or more while I easily tried to jiggle the bait out of their mouths.
These are just three examples I have tried. I'm sure you can think of others. The point is not to disprove anything or belittle someone's opinion. One of the big things in bass fishing is the relationship of confidence with success. If you believe in what you are doing or what you are throwing, you'll be much more successful overall. But this little exercise will drive home the point that everything in fishing is not set in stone, that you can catch fish by going against common thought or wisdom, and just how prevalent a marketing mentality is in bass fishing. Way back in the 70's, magazines like In-Fishermen and Fishing Facts (Buck Perry) published articles documenting the many variables in fish catching. Depth and speed control were the two most important. I'd argue that nearly 40 years later, these things really haven't changed, they are just more easily overlooked in our 'instant success' world.
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