{"id":453,"date":"2014-08-15T15:37:10","date_gmt":"2014-08-15T15:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andermeine.com\/new\/?p=453"},"modified":"2014-08-15T15:37:10","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T15:37:10","slug":"2014-big-bass-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/2014\/08\/15\/2014-big-bass-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 – Big Bass Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2014<\/a>
2014 – A year filled with big bass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year has been noticeably different than other years when it comes to big bass. \u00a0It has gotten to the point this year where I pretty much expect to catch at least one fish in the 5-10 pound range every time I go out, no matter what lake I’m on. \u00a0If I don’t, I’m disappointed and it was a “tough” day. \u00a0This is a remarkably different attitude than I’ve had in the past. \u00a0So why is this year so different? \u00a0What has changed from previous years? \u00a0Now, granted, the lake I spend more time on than anywhere is Lake Austin, which is a renowned big bass lake here in central Texas. \u00a0So is it the lake? \u00a0Is it better all of the sudden? \u00a0No, I don’t think so. \u00a0There have been huge bags of bass pulled out of Lake Austin ever since I’ve lived here. \u00a0What about the lack of grass on Lake Austin this year? \u00a0Has the elimination of the cover exposed these big fish and made them easier to catch? \u00a0Eh, maybe, probably, but like I mentioned, it’s not just Lake Austin that I’ve been catching more big bass out of this year. \u00a0Ok, so if the answer doesn’t lie within Lake Austin itself, what is contributing to this year being better? \u00a0I think there are a few factors. \u00a0Let’s take a look:<\/p>\n

Equipment.<\/strong> \u00a0Personally, I feel like this is the number one contributing factor. \u00a0This year I have been fortunate enough to team up with a handful of GREAT companies that produce GREAT products. \u00a0That means that I am using nothing but the best equipment these days, or at least what I feel to be the best equipment. \u00a0Using nothing but the best means that I am able to become closer to being what I call, mechanically perfect. \u00a0Being mechanically perfect means that everything is running and working exactly how it should. \u00a0This includes everything: my boat, electronics, rods, reels, line, baits, etc. \u00a0Ardent<\/em> has made a big difference. \u00a0Their Apex reel series are fantastic. \u00a0I can make longer, more accurate casts with these reels than ever before. \u00a0Their Denny Brauer Signature series of rods have also been pretty great. \u00a0I was a little skeptical at first, but I gotta hand it to ’em… they handle pretty darn well and I rarely lose fish. \u00a0I contribute lost fish to the rod more than anything. \u00a0P-Line<\/em> is another awesome one. \u00a0Now that I am committed to always using P-Line, break-offs on fish have nearly been eliminated. \u00a0Some of those big fish that I may have had bust me off in the past, are now coming into the boat with more regularity. \u00a0The thing that I’ve been more impressed with than anything with P-Line is their braid. \u00a0The Spectrex braid is awesome, especially on a spinning reel. \u00a0Simply fantastic. \u00a0River2Sea<\/em> makes some of the best hard baits on the market. \u00a0These are tournament winning baits, guys. \u00a0I read an article a while back where one of the FLW pros was talking about how a lot of baits are liars. \u00a0As in, they don’t run true for the entire length of a cast. \u00a0They only run true during the last half or third of the cast as they get closer to the boat. \u00a0River2Sea baits are not liars. \u00a0I can use my Ardent Apex reel to fire off a long cast with a River2Sea bait, and River2Sea baits run true for the entire length of that cast. \u00a0That equates to way more productive time spent in the water. \u00a0And\u00a0PowerTeam Lures<\/em>… best soft plastic baits soaked in some of the best fish attractant on the market. \u00a0PowerTeam Lures just have some of the most innovative and creative soft plastic designs out there. \u00a0It’s no secret that soft plastics get thrown more than any other style of bait, and when you are fishing some of the highly pressured waters that I do here in Texas, it pays big dividends to give the fish something different to look at. \u00a0The PowerTeam Lures Ribbon Hinge worm has accounted for a ton of my fish over 5lbs this summer. \u00a0Just awesome.<\/p>\n

Confidence\/Attitude.<\/strong> \u00a0Because I’m working with such great companies and using such great gear, that equates to fishing with confidence. \u00a0Every time I go out, I expect to catch big fish and I expect to catch lots of them. \u00a0Because of that, I find myself fishing in a manner that I am fishing for big fish, all of the time. \u00a0Not just fishing to get bit or catch a limit. \u00a0I am fishing for the big boys and going out swinging hard every time I hit the water. \u00a0If I’m in a tournament, I’m fishing to win, not just fishing to try and do well and hopefully win. \u00a0Not only that, but I expect to have my limit and be well on my way towards a big sack within the first 2-3 hours of the tournament. \u00a0It’s just a total change of attitude from the past. \u00a0I am targeting big fish patterns and big fish areas because I know I can find them, figure them out, and catch them. \u00a0It’s as simple as that. \u00a0When you aren’t fishing with confidence, you start fishing just trying to get bit. \u00a0You stop taking the risks necessary to really find the big ones.<\/p>\n

Experience. \u00a0<\/strong>Last, of course, is experience. \u00a0It is only expected that you get better at something the longer you do it right? \u00a0We all have bad years or slump periods, yes, but over the long haul, we should be able to see ourselves improving. \u00a0Every year I do this, I learn a little bit more about how this game is played and how to improve upon my game. \u00a0My philosophies about tournament fishing and about making decisions on the water have completely changed from what they were even just a few years ago. \u00a0I used to try and make tournament fishing something that was too exact of a science. \u00a0I’ve learned you just can’t do that. \u00a0Each tournament is a completely different beast and requires constant adaptation and just rolling with the punches. \u00a0They all require different strategies. \u00a0I’ve learned that the minute you try and lock yourself in to something or become too committed to something, you can possibly be setting yourself up for failure. \u00a0You’ve got to learn to go with your gut, even if it doesn’t really make sense in your head. \u00a0Which, can be really hard to do sometimes. \u00a0All of this gets easier to do, however, with experience.<\/p>\n

Here’s hoping these trends all continue…<\/p>\n

Here’s a few pics of some 5+ lbers from this year…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year has been noticeably different than other years when it comes to big bass. \u00a0It has gotten to the point this year where I pretty much expect to catch at least one fish in the 5-10 pound range every time I go out, no matter what lake I’m on. \u00a0If I don’t, I’m disappointed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":459,"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions\/459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andermeine.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}