This week, Jason Kilpatrick discusses hook sets, depth finders, and tournament and pre-fishing strategies.
This week, Jason Kilpatrick discusses hook sets, depth finders, and tournament and pre-fishing strategies.
If you are interested in participating in future columns, submit questions along with your full name and address via e-mail to askthepro@jacobsinteractive.com.
Q & A with JASON KILPATRICK
Q: I have been having problems landing fish on a Texas-rigged worm when they take the bait on the drop and start running with it. What is the proper method of setting the hook when this happens? Although I have had success setting the hook while the fish is still running and setting the hook when the fish stops, I have also lost plenty of fish I should have caught. Any advice on setting the hook in this situation? Thanks for the help.
- Ellis Hull, Lake City, Fla.
A: This is actually the bite everyone is looking for, because it indicates that the fish are active and you're making the perfect presentation. Losing fish in this situation, however, is understandable, because oftentimes the bite occurs before an angler can get set and ready to feel or see the strike. Then you're out of shape for the hook set with too much line out or at an awkward angle, which compromises hook penetration.
Try the following three changes:
- Always follow the presentation down with both hands on the rod, "cocked and ready," while maintaining an eagle's watch on where the line meets the water so as to detect whether the line 'ticked,' or as sometimes happens, speeds up or stops short.
- Swap your line to braid or low-stretch fluorocarbon as your water color allows.
- Use lighter wire hooks to improve hook penetration.
Ellis, I hope these tips put more fish in the boat for you.
Q: I am just getting into tournament fishing, and it seems to me that electronics are a big part of the puzzle. I know there are a lot of depth finders on the market today, but I would like to buy the best. Specifically, I’d like one that is really accurate and shows what’s exactly on the bottom. Any advice?
- Jim Lukas, Lassale, Ontario
A: Jim, "what's exactly on the bottom" is a tough request. It sounds simple enough, but the reality is that getting your rigged electronics to read as clearly out on the fishing waters as the simulator shows you is a tall order. First of all, most tournament waters are more turbid than the ideal conditions, which produce those simulator-type graphics. Secondly, that transducer wasn't shooting through a mass of fiberglass to achieve that level of signal response. The good news, however, is that in Ontario I would assume you have nearly ideal conditions on many of your lakes with the harder bottoms and clearer water.
In recommending a unit, I would have to suggest the Garmin sonar lineup for any prospective buyer. The graphics are superb, and you don't have to be an electrical engineer to effectively run the unit. The functional menus are so logical that you almost don't need the manual. In terms of accuracy, whether you're dealing with the Garmin 240 or the high-end Garmin 320C color unit, if you see it on the screen - it's down there!
Q: If you catch fish on a particular spot in practice, but can’t seem to catch fish on that same spot come tournament time, how long should you remain in that area before moving on to a different spot? What factors do you consider before moving on?
- Scott, Irving, Texas
A: This is actually a pretty common question that plagues all tournament fishermen. What inevitably happens during a tournament situation is that we run to that favorite spot so geared up with expectations that it's easy to get deflated if the fish don't cooperate right away. But as you suggested, there are several factors to consider, which actually start during your practice days, before abandoning the location. Whenever I find a location that seems to be holding a concentration of feeding fish, I want to know everything about not only the current conditions, but what changes, if any, occurred to get to that set of conditions.
What time of day is it? Is there any increase or decrease in the current? What are they feeding on, and will that bait stay in this area? What are the sky conditions? What color is the water? What color was it two days ago? What will the color be two days from now? What was, is and will be the water level?
If most of those conditions are the same on tournament day, then it would be the estimation you made during practice of just how good a "concentration" of fish were on that spot that would ultimately determine the length of time you spend without experiencing some success. The bottom line is this: If I thought the winning fish lived there, I would make every effort to hit that spot several times during the day in hopes of connecting with them when they decided to feed. If this place has shown itself to be a worthy location during practice, don't just hit it the first 30 minutes on tournament morning then write it off.
Q: If you have an upcoming tournament on a lake you’ve never fished before, how do you know where to start looking for good areas? What pre-fishing strategies would you employ? Thanks.
- Adam Roberts, Jasper, Ala.
A: As always, you would first want to figure out the primary seasonal phase that the fish are in on that body of water. In other words, based on the time of year, water temperature, moon phase, etc., what are the majority of the fish going to have on their minds? Gathering information on local fishing tournaments is a good place to start, but remember, that information is already old when you get it. Always think in terms of where the fish are going and not so much where they have been. That way the patterns that you develop during practice will get stronger instead of weaker as the tournament approaches.
A simple way to start your practice is to take one of the major creek arms and divide it into three sections - the front half, the back half and the pockets. Once you determine where the fish are positioned in that creek arm, it will give you a blueprint with which to search out other parts of the fishery.
In terms of techniques, always start with your strengths. For me, that's flipping. So no matter what the situation on any given lake is, my first priority is to make sure that I have a clear picture of the strength of that technique for that particular lake, at that given time, before moving on to others. Regardless of what your favorite way to catch them may be, always check it first, because when you can catch them that way, your practice will go more smoothly.
Pro Jason Kilpatrick of Satsuma, Ala., is a new player on the FLW Tour. In only his second season, Kilpatrick entered the 2004 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship as the No. 20 seed. He skillfully fished his way into the finals – the top 12 for the championship format – and ultimately placed 11th, earning a check for $19,000. Kilpatrick has garnered an impressive seven top-10 finishes in only four years of fishing FLW Outdoors events, including two top-10s in 2004 in two of the biggest tournaments of the year: the Wal-Mart Open and the Forrest Wood Open. His only FLW Outdoors win to date came in 2002 at a Wal-Mart BFL Gulf Coast Division event on Alabama’s Tennasaw River, but this Skippy pro appears to just be warming up as a bass-fishing powerhouse. His career earnings from FLW Outdoors events total $157,833.
