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John's Journal... Entry 115, Day 4

"CREATING A BASS-FISHING CAREER"

Davis' Toughest Method Of Fishing


EDITOR'S NOTE: Mark Davis, 38, of Mount Ida, Arkansas, who won the BASS Masters Classic in 1995 and the Angler-of-the-Year title in 1995, 1998 and 2001, never has had a career outside the fishing industry. "My dad said I've never had a real job," says Davis, who is known today as one of the top bass fishermen in the nation and ranked 3rd in the world for bass-fishing expertise, according to www.BassFan.com, which rates anglers according to events won in the past two years with bonus points given to winning the BASS Masters Classic or comparable events.

Question: Mark, let's talk about how you overcome difficulties on a lake. For instance, what do you do if you encounter a cold front?
Answer: If I know where the bass were and how they were biting before a cold front, then I'll know where to find the bass, once I've considered the severity of a front. If I'm fishing a bay that has a lot of cover in it, and a cold front hits, then I know that many times the bass will move closer to the cover. If the cover is on the edge of a breakline, the bass may move out there and hold on tight to the cover. If the fish are in a shallow bay during the spring when a cold front hits, the bass may completely leave the area. The bass will usually reposition over the cover too. They may sit on the bottom or suspend. These bass are still able to be caught, but they're not going to move far to take the bait. You'll have to slow your fishing down and concentrate on flipping and pitching.

Question: If you go to a lake you've never fished before, a cold front hits, and you don't know where the bass were before it hit, how will you fish?
Answer: I'll take a Series III, a Series IV or a Series V Strike King crankbait and fish those crankbaits extremely slow. I'll fish many different types of structure -- except grass. If bass bury up deep in the grass during a cold front, they will become very hard to catch. If I'm fishing a lake that has grass and wood in it, then I'll abandon the grass and only fish the wood. If I can find good offshore structure like ditches, humps or creek channels, that's probably where I'll concentrate my fishing. The problem with offshore fishing, however, is that you usually have quite a bit of wind associated with a cold front, which can make offshore fishing difficult. Often I'll stay close to the bank and fish wood or rock cover.

Question: How do you fish in a driving rain?
Answer: Rain makes bass look up. My first instincts when rain starts are to pick up a Strike King spinner bait. If the rain isn't a hard downpour, then a buzzbait also can be effective in the rain. But I prefer to fish the spinner bait. I'll usually be fishing it fast and trying to cover a lot of water with it.

Question: What's your favorite spinner bait to cast in a rainstorm?
Answer: I like the new Strike King French Quarter with a titanium frame and the three French blades for fishing for bass in the rain.

Question: How do you fish a high-pressure front with a clear day and a high sky after a cold front has passed through?
Answer: The bass are usually going to go deeper after a cold front has moved through an area. I'll have to rely on a Carolina-rigged plastic worm or lizard. I'll fish it very slowly and patiently. I like to put a 3/4-ounce lead on my Carolina rig and pull that lead up on a stump, a rock or some type of cover and just let the bait sit there till the bass eats it. I fish really slowly during the first day of a
high-pressure front. If the high pressure stays on the lake for two to three days, the bass will become active again. Then you can catch bass on top-water lures and crankbaits. But that first day after the cold front hits, the Carolina rig will be my tactic of choice.

Question: How do you fish for bass on a windy day?
Answer: If you're fishing a shallow lake, wind can mean really bad fishing. So, you have to get out of the wind somewhere, somehow to catch bass. But if you're fishing on a deep clear lake, wind can be good. If the bank in the bottom is rocky on the clear lake, I'll either fish a spinner bait or a lipless crankbait like Strike King's Diamond Shad. Another bait that will work well, depending on the water temperature, is a jerkbait. You need to cover a lot of water until you locate the schools of bass. On a clear-water lake, I like wind.

TOMORROW: HOW TO BECOME A TOURNAMENT FISHERMAN

 

 

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about Mark Davis...

Day 1 - How Mark Davis Became A Professional Angler
Day 2 - Mark Davis' Mental Preparation For A Tournament
Day 3 - Davis' Deep-Water Tactics
Day 4 - Davis' Toughest Method Of Fishing
Day 5 - How To Become A Tournament Fisherman

John's Journal