A spot or a pattern

[zippyduck]

Which do you prefer and why?

My thoughts:

A spot is great for one day tourneys and smaller waters.
One day tourney and the fish are grouped up on a structure is a catch'em all affair. Load the boat and cull till time to get back.
Small waters and a pattern will have someone else fishing the other areas in that pattern.

Down side is if the fish move out of the area.

Patterns are great for big lakes and  multi-day tourneys.

Patterns are great when you have enough lake to run from area to area. Where you can fish fast and move to the next spot till you hit feeding fish. Catch a few and move on so as to not burn out an area.

Down side is that patterns only last so long, minutes, hours, days, but always change.

Please add your thoughts.

What to do if these change coming up tomorrow.

[D.W. Verts]

Zippy, I'm a pattern fisherman, working "spots" or "holes" in as they fit. I believe to be a successful and versatile angler that you need to learn to pattern fish, learn how to run those patterns, and most importantly, learn when to give up on a particular pattern.

AND- you need to work on MULTIPLE patterns. The best is having three workable patterns goin' at the same time.

GREAT topic.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Back in my tourney fishing days I was a pattern fisherman who always tried to have a few "spots" to fall back on in case none of my patterns produced. In a multi-day event you need to learn to manage the fish so you have some to come back to the nest day.

I don't think there's anythng I can add that Dale didn't already cover.

[Wizard]

I'm a pattern angler with one exception. That is when a spot location is such that it will reload with new bass within a few hours or day. Usually these are spots with cover in 6-10 ft. that are located adjacent to a drop. If the spot lies on a migration route, so much the better. As always, forage must be nearby. These locations can win a one or two day tournament. They seldom have enough bass to reload for a three day event. I've often seen an angler in contention fall flat on the third day. When asked, he says his spot ran out of bass. I have no sympathy for him. Every stick on the tour should know there is more than one pattern going at a time or that he needs a secondary spot.
With pattern fishing, I always tried to have a shallow or mid depth pattern and a deep pattern. We can carry this thread on for days if you wish.

Wizard

[Captsteve]

ok. now it would help if you guys would explain patterns. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[zippyduck]

ok. now it would help if you guys would explain patterns. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Steve,

A pattern is when you can duplicate catches on the same type of structure and cover through out the lake.
Say you are catching fish on docks in 10 fow on a dropshot and it works about everywhere you find that scenario.
There is more to it like if it is near a flat or drop off. It is all in how you break it down that makes it work for you. The more details the better the odds of repeating catches.

[Captsteve]

Steve,

A pattern is when you can duplicate catches on the same type of structure and cover through out the lake.
Say you are catching fish on docks in 10 fow on a dropshot and it works about everywhere you find that scenario.
There is more to it like if it is near a flat or drop off. It is all in how you break it down that makes it work for you. The more details the better the odds of repeating catches.

thanks

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[D.W. Verts]

Zippy said it perfect. And it is truly in the details.

[Captsteve]

I've not fished with but two people that new what they were doing. one time with each. So this is really the only place I am getting info. as for as presentation I haven't got a clue

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[BrandonK]

The further I get into bass fishing and the more research I do, the more I realize how many variables there are and it sadly leads me to believe that all my past catches have been flukes. Haha. I am terrible at developing patterns. Only pattern I have put together is on small river fishing, and only because it's very easy to know where they will be.

[Oldfart9999]

When I just fished shallow I saw days when I would get bit on only one or 2 docks in a line and the pattern would turn into a particular depth, side of the dock and the best were a particular post, didn't happen often. If there were stickups the pattern could be just one or two fish on a stick up, catch them and move to the next one. When I started fishing grass lines, especially deep grass lines I started to learn about looking for particular kinds of grass, points in the grass, inside turns, sandy parts, rock piles, wood laying down, that kind of stuff, still learning. Sometimes it's just start going down a line and when you catch a fish work the area. One area I've seen a lot of folks miss is the 5 or 6 foot of water out to 8 to 10 foot range when the grass runs out to 12-15 and more. If the grass doesn't quite come to the surface run topwaters, sometimes
you'll catch fish that haven't been caught before.
Rodney

[Bud Kennedy]

Oh heck, you guys don't know nothin'  I fish the skunk pattern and have become very proficient.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Oh heck, you guys don't know nothin'  I fish the skunk pattern and have become very proficient.

[Smallie_Stalker]

How about the "pattern within the pattern" or the "spot within the spot"?  Some say fact some say fiction. Any thoughts?

[analfisherman]

I'm pretty much into patterns........as most know, I feel the WHYS are ALWAYS more important than the WHERES.

BUT I'm a little confused.......don't your 'spots' either fall within your 'patterns' or HELP you find/decide on the pattern?

One isn't mutually exclusive from the other is it?

Heck, if I don't find a couple of 'spots' fishing MY 'patterns'...........PRETTY MUCH TELLS ME..........I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE PATTERN.

Do you folks consider finding a 'spot' is just purely LUCK or something that you found by chance or following another anglers holes?

Am I not understanding something here?

[zippyduck]

How about the "pattern within the pattern" or the "spot within the spot"?  Some say fact some say fiction. Any thoughts?

Smallie,
That will make a great thread topic.

[Smallie_Stalker]

I'm pretty much into patterns........as most know, I feel the WHYS are ALWAYS more important than the WHERES.

BUT I'm a little confused.......don't your 'spots' either fall within your 'patterns' or HELP you find/decide on the pattern?

One isn't mutually exclusive from the other is it?

Heck, if I don't find a couple of 'spots' fishing MY 'patterns'...........PRETTY MUCH TELLS ME..........I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE PATTERN.

Do you folks consider finding a 'spot' is just purely LUCK or something that you found by chance or following another anglers holes?

Am I not understanding something here?

The way I look at it, and maybe I'm the one who is not understanding correctly is that a pattern is reproducible in different areas of the fishery when fishing the same set of circumstances including cover etc. 

Spot fishing differs because each spot might be totally different than the last one having NOTHING in common. So spot #1 you might be catching them on laydowns slowly dragging a jig but spot #2 you may be catching them off the shady side of a rock burning a lipless crank - very dissimilar circumstances. This is what some people refer to as junk fishing.

But like I said, maybe it's me who misunderstands.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Smallie,
That will make a great thread topic.

You're welcome.   

[zippyduck]

Anal,

I appreciate your questions and yes and no on spots always being in a pattern.
First place this happens is on small bodies of water the may only have one spot like that.
I have two lakes that are like this. One has a small area that has deep wood and they are often there but you can not duplicate this pattern anywhere else on the lake.
The other lake has a small area of weeds again there is no other weeds on the lake.
So that is where spots come into play.
Now there is usually a pattern on those spots. So yes there is a so called pattern but I would consider this the spot on the spot kinda deal.

[Wizard]

A pattern is a set of conditions where bass may be caught at several locations provided the set of conditions remains the same. Sometimes, one condition overrides other conditions. If you hear an angler say, "My bass start biting at 9 am, is he referring to time as the condition or that the sun angle is perfect for the bass to feed at 9 am? A pattern only contains "spots" because those locations meet the correct conditions. If a location changes conditions, it falls out of the pattern.
A "spot" is just that. A specific location that usually holds bass because specific conditions such as forage, current, ambush point or other are almost always met. I look for spots where drops and migration routes come together. This will be a spot that reloads with bass within hours to a day. You catch a bunch of bass and new bass will replace and use the same location. Bass use these year after year. After awhile, everyone learns about them and they become the "community hole".
I hope this makes as much sense to you as it does to me. It's all part of being a mental angler and not just a caster of lures.

[analfisherman]

Sooooooo......
I guess I'm closest to what Dale AND Smallie describe ALONG with Rodney and Zip on the 'spot' not being able to be replicated.
AGAIN, correct me if I'm not understanding.

I fish and ENJOY fishing new BOWs.
Some small and some larger.......but none are Reservoir Style HUGE BOW.
Although there are some DEEP quarries that are like 90-100' deep at spots but they also go as shallow as 3'.
Most are natural waters with the exception of some backwaters that were caused by Dam construction.

So when I hit A new body of water I'll have a fast presentation rigged and a slow presentation rigged along with a deep and shallow presentation and finally a topwater.
(Specifics aren't really necessary at this point)

So many/most patterns can be somewhat duplicated or found and multiple different BOWs.
Not exacts BUT very close in similarities.....rocks, trees, deep, shallow, vegetation, gravel, muck, docks/piers etc.
They wont always have them ALL but they ALL will have SOME. 

So I will start working as soon as I hit water. (and use what I've learned probably SHOULD have some success from past experience)
Start shallow and fast moving to shallow and slow and continue to transition to deeper presentations as depths dictate....always starting fast moving to slow presentations.

Once a fish is caught....I will fish every angle possible with multiple different presentations/lures.
Fanning around the 'SPOT' and not moving until I feel I've exhausted the different variables and/or I'm not catching more fish......SOMETHING brought that fish to that SPOT and the cause can probably can/maybe can be duplicated elsewhere with similarities of that SPOT....hence a pattern.

Now as I move the water will invariably change....rock, depth, bottom cover etc. as was mention above on consistent 'variables'.

So the next Spot I catch a fish, the above process begins again and being different from the first spot...invariably a new PATTERN is realized.

Now any place I find similar through out the day to the spots already analyzed and patterns realized I will hit and START with the known successful presentations from the pattern already learned.

If I locate the 'mother load' on a spot I'll spend at least an hour analyzing and attempting to figure out the WHYS.
Through out the day when I find 'similar/identical' spots to the 'mother load spot I will spend a lot more time there and spots/patterns that produced small number/s or small fish I'LL SPEND LESS time working them.

Multiple patterns will HAVE to be used/discovered because of water/weather variables which will definitely happen.

If I got more than one day to learn the BOW then I will have more time to CONFIRM there is actually a 'pattern' and not just a LUCKY strike in finding a couple of fish or larger fish.
Multiple days also allows me to 'junk fish' the located spots to confirm the pattern and the lures I'm using are actually the BEST for that particular pattern on that particular BOW.

Sooooooooo....am I a Spot fisherman or a Pattern fishermen......I definitely will TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANY HOT SPOT while working my perceived PATTERN to it's fullest and at different intervals or times of the day....letting it reload as they say.

BOW....stands for Body of Water.  ....For the OLD GUYS!! 

[D.W. Verts]

It took me a minute to figure out what a "BOW" was.

I'm gettin' old. And slow.

[Oldfart9999]

Something I need to remember to do more of is "catch a fish go to where I hooked it and examine it with my electronics", the few times I did I learned a few things that helped.
Rodney