Fish The Conditions, not the traditions. 

Competitors at this week's BASS Elite 50 event on the Alabama River will face a unique situation in that the river is running about 20 feet below where it was last year. In 2003, the Alabama River was at flood stage and the anglers that fished that event were forced to fish an expanding water way. Needless to say, the traditional good fishing spots established last year will be high and dry this week. Leaving the pros to focus on the conditions offered by the impoundment, not the spots that worked last year. 

How does an angler ignore glory holes of the past and concentrate only on the prevailing conditions of a given day or week? You fall back on what got you this far to begin with: Your knowledge of seasonal patterns, your understanding of how a bass relates to its home, and you focus on how a bass reacts to a variety of weather related conditions, which will help you to recognize whether to fish deep or shallow and tight or loose. 

Rules of thumb become an important starting point in these situations. For example. When approaching shallow water, if the wind is blowing, expect fish to be on the edge of cover. Typically, wind cuts down on light penetration, creating low light situations. Under low light conditions, bass tend to relate to edge of cover and to be more willing to roam. Wind tends to activate the food chain, so in general, when the wind is blowing, we expect bass to be on the edge of cover, and feeding. 

Reaction lures, such as crank baits, spinner baits and rip baits tend to work better in windy conditions. Keeping this in mind, an angler can expect to have success, covering lots of water, hitting key ambush spots like points, isolated brush and other places where bass are likely to be, waiting to feed. 

Absence of wind will create an entirely different set of conditions for anglers. When the wind does not blow, the surface of a lake can become calm like a sheet of glass. In these kinds of conditions, light gets full penetration and bass, being the shy creatures that they are, will likely retreat to the shadows. Under this set of conditions, anglers can fill their limits by probing dense cover with heavy line and bulky falling baits. Dee Thomas created the popular flipping technique for these kinds of conditions. 

How many times have you heard anglers talk about needing the wind to blow after a difficult day of fishing? It actually happens quite a bit. After days of practice and determining that fish are actively biting reaction lures, the bite suddenly shuts down with the absence of wind. In fact if the angler is fishing the conditions and not the traditions, the absence of wind should actually make the bass easier to find. By moving into the heaviest shallow cover in the area and getting out the heavy equipment, those complaining anglers could have probably reacquainted themselves with the bass they were catching. Bass that have now changed their activity to go along with changing conditions. Rules of thumb only go so far in determining what will work on a day on the water, however they are starting points. 

Having an idea about what should work is a lot better than not having a clue. Understanding what side of the haystack we should start on at least gives us some advantage when...you know what I mean! 

Allowing yourself to fish the conditions is an advanced degree in bass fishing. Allowing yourself you resist the temptation to fish a spot you got them in once before is a discipline that few of us can boast of. Being able to change during the course of a day, when the conditions change. Its all higher level stuff. Its fishing the conditions and not the traditions.