Luck bass fishing

I fished three tournaments in August - a night club tournament at Lake Sinclair where I caught two keepers weighing 1.6 pounds together, a day tournament at West Point where I caught one spot weighing 1.1 pounds, and the NWC where I fished two days to land one keeper weighing 2.8 pounds.

I wish I could figure out what is the difference. Why is it some tournaments and days fishing everything goes right, like you got a horse shoe where the sun don’t shine, and other days nothing goes right?

I would like to think it is luck, not skill, because skill should be more consistent. Why is it I can do the same thing two days in a row and catch fish one day and not the next. Flexibility or lack there of is part of it, probably.

What do you think?

BTW - yesterday was the first time I ever fished out of my boat at Allatoona - I have done a few magazine articles there with others but this was my first tournament there. I have fished dozens of tournaments and other days at Sinclair and West Point, and done more magazine articles on those lakes than Allatoona, too. Allatoona is often called the Dead Sea because of its bass fishing.

I will post the details of my lucky trip later.

Ronnie fishing.guide@about.com http://fishing.about.com

I've found that spots can be a little more predictable here, but fishing is fishing... some days you'll find them, some days you wont. Remember, it's fishing, not catching. Seems you do pretty well anyway, so you really ought to not worry about it and continue on with what you're doing.

Each month I write a “Map of the Month” article for Georgia Outdoor News. In these articles I go to a lake with a local expert and we discuss the patterns for bass fishing that will work during the month. Then we mark 10 spots on a lake map where you can fish those patterns, and describe how to fish each spot in detail. Last Sunday the Flint River Bass Club had a tournament at Lake Allatoona. Although I have done several “Map of the Month” articles there over the years, I have never fished out of my boat there and never fished a tournament on that lake. I did not have a chance to go up and explore the lake and try to find some fish before the tournament. I pulled out a copy of my article on Allatoona in August, 2002 with David and Pansy Millsaps. I read it Saturday night and rigged baits they suggested. On Sunday morning I headed to hole number 1 in the article and started fishing as instructed. I quickly caught a 14 inch spotted bass on a tube jig on a boat ramp. I kept fishing that spot and caught a two pound spotted bass on a Carolina rig. I felt pretty good with two keepers in the boat on the first place and I had nine more to fish. As I idled to the second spot I read the instructions again - fish around the point with a jig and pig, then throw a crankbait before leaving. After fishing around the point twice, first with the jig and then with a Carolina rig, I had gotten no bites, so I started to leave. I remembered about throwing the crankbait so I picked up a rod with one tied on and hooked a good fish on the first cast. It was a 3.65 pound spotted bass and turned out to be the big bass of the day. When I headed up to hole number 3 skiers has churned the lake up pretty bad. I fished it and caught a short bass but no keepers. It was rough fishing in the waves, and the sun was getting hot. When I headed to hole number 4 I had to idle under a bridge and the shade felt good, so I stopped and fished there. I quickly got a hit on a small jig and pig and landed another two pound spotted bass. About 30 minutes later I caught another solid keeper on the jig and pig. That gave me my limit. I fished one more spot from the article but caught nothing there before heading to the weigh-in. We had 14 members fishing the tournament and my five bass weighing 10.8 pounds gave me first. The 3.65 pound spot was big fish for the tournament. Bobby Ferris had a five fish limit weighing 5.12 pounds for second, Don Schafer had 4.92 pounds for third and Kwong Yu came in fourth with 4.78 pounds. In the tournament three members caught five fish limits but there were six people without a keeper. We landed 26 bass weighing 33.61 pounds and there was only one largemouth weighed in. For many years Lake Allatoona has been called the “Dead Sea” because it was so hard to catch a bass there. The population of spotted bass has increased over the past few years, and now some decent catches come out of Allatoona. I was real lucky to have the article I wrote three years ago help me out in my first tournament there. That information really helped.