On Adjusting During Tournaments...
This is our weather graph for the past week. The first yellow band highlights trip conditions when I was out Friday evening fishing from 7:30-10:30 pm. There was a small tourney going on at the same time so pressure was a little heavy. Still, I found fish just crushing a Chatterbuzz that evening. Caught over 3 dozen and they were agressive, often hitting the bait multiple times if they missed the first swipe. One of those fun times to be out on the water.
So the next night I adjust and tweak my buzzbait to better fit the night time conditions. Weather is nearly identical (2nd yellow bar) and no tourney, so I can fish where ever I want. I try and duplicate the pattern in the same general area of the lake and can't hardly get bit. I repeat over some of the better areas from the previous night and again, the bite sucks. I only end up catching about 3 bass.
So what gives? Temperature is about the same. Wind speed and direction is nearly identical. Traffic is lighter the second night. Barometer is rising and slightly higher, but the front had already passed the night before as I had a lower but still increasing barometer on Friday. Same basic bait, same basic water - totally different bite attitude. I guess that's why they call it fishing and not catching.
Still there is a lesson to be learned here. How many times have you killed them in practice, even on the day before a tourney and then struggled trying to duplicate the pattern the day of the tourney? How long did you stick with "the bite" before abandoning it? Did you ever even completely abandon it? It was obvious to me within the first hour on the water that things weren't looking good, yet I kept chunking the buzz thinking things will change as it gets a little darker. They never did. Listen to the fish. If the pattern isn't replicated relatively quickly over the first couple holes, chances are it isn't going to happen at all. You need to change your approach, at least temporarily and try and figure something else out. It's survival of the fittest - adapt or die come weigh-in time.
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