Open Minded

Imagine for a moment: It’s tournament morning, you’ve got all of your favorite baits tied on, you know, the black and blue jig, the chartreuse and white spinnerbait etc. Since its fall your going to fish the backs of creeks since that is a typical fall pattern on reservoirs. At the end of the day you come in with two small bass, but you stuck with your blue and black jig in creeks, because if they won’t hit blue and black they won’t hit any jig. Right? Only to find out that the winner caught their fish on a bubble gum spinnerbait fishing main lake docks! Sound familiar?

Fishing with an “Open Mind” means fishing with an “Open Tackle Box” so to speak. Each and every day must be approached with a childlike mind. Remember back to your childhood when you thought anything was possible, that is the attitude we have in order to be successful.

This type of attitude is not easy to obtain because we have been drilled with so many beliefs through years of fishing, like black and blue jigs. It’s true black and blue is a very effective color for jigs but what about when the bass wont hit black and blue? Have you ever tried a chartreuse jig?

Color is only one item that we must keep an open mind on. Another detail is: Using different lures in different locations or different retrieves of common baits. Example: Have you have tried a bottom bouncing buzzbait? I know they weren’t designed to that. Who say’s? There is actually a story behind this. While practicing for a Bassmaster event me and my fishing partner(who is my wife Joann) was fishing docks. While I was throwing a spinnerbait she was trying her luck with a buzzbait. On one particular cast she backlashed, once she got untangled she started reeling in the buzzbait which had been sitting on the bottom for a few minutes. After only a couple of turns of the reel her rod doubled over and then came her famous words “I think I got one” and one that wont be forgotten anytime soon, a largemouth just over 5lbs.! Her bottom bouncing technique continues to be successful the rest of the day and on other lakes after that. Joann also has another theory which is the “Cute and Pretty Theory”. She chooses her lures by how cute and pretty they are regardless of weather and water conditions and IT WORKS! Can you imagine Michael Iaconelli describing what a “Cute” lure he used to win the Classic?

There is a lesson to be learned here and that is most bass fishermen get locked into certain beliefs concerning: When and where to use certain baits, colors of baits and bass behavior. To improve at this sport we must open our minds and open our tackle box. Remember the bass you’re fishing for may not have read the book on bass behavior.