Which is better...
VICTOR LEAKE
 

Which is better, the science of bass fishing or the art of bass fishing? Anglers, Bass anglers, are always looking for that magic bait that will make bass bite no matter the weather. But it just does not exist!

The Science of Bass fishing will tell you where bass should be at a given time and what they should be doing. The art of bass fishing is making the bass bite on what we want them to.

A new angler or one new to tournament angling can get over whelmed by all the different patterns and styles available to bass anglers. But he or she would do well to learn one method and become the best possible at it. In other words if you like to fish a crank bait, then learn to fish it, and become the best crank bait angler you can be. Some bass will always hit a crank bait if fished the right way.

The science of angling tells us that bass in cold water eat very little, and that they will go to deep water. Yet the angler that works a bait in front of a bass; even in shallow water during the winter can get a few bites. So instead of trying to learn every trick in the long line of bass catching tricks; learn a few and become proficient with them.

Once you become able to catch bass with one type of pattern, then you can expand that knowledge to cover others.

If you have confidence in a spinner bait, then you will fish it more often. The more you fish it the more fish you will catch and the more fish you catch the more confidence you will have in that bait. But don't just blind cast, learn to feel the lure, know what it is doing at all times. Is it bumping a stump? Or did a fish just grab it? Allow the bait to be your underwater eyes and ears. It can tell you what kind of bottom you are fishing.

When I work a plastic worm or jig along the bottom I can tell you if the bottom is rock, mud or wood. When fishing a spinner bait I feel the blades vibrating up through the rod and know when they stop.

Often I have been catching fish while my partner goes blank. Why? Often it is because he is just casting, not fishing. Each time you make a cast imagine a ten pound bass sucking in your bait. By expecting that strike your senses will become sharper and you will "FEEL" the lure. You will also be ready when that strike comes.

There have been times when I have envisioned a strike in my mind so vivid that it is as if I make the bass eat with my mind. Of course no one can mentally make a fish strike, or can they? By projecting the thought of a strike to the lure maybe we put in that little extra action that makes the bass eat.

Also, I have a tape that was filmed underwater, showing how bass can take a crank bait or other lure into their mouths and spit it back out without the angler ever knowing the fish was there. So by concentrating on the action of the bait we can better feel when this happens.

Fish often, catch all you want; keep just what you need, and release the rest for the future.