The Multiplier Effect

One of bass fishing’s greatest challenges is learning to catch as many fish from a single spot as possible.  Lets say you pull up on a point that has 15 active bass feeding on it and you catch one or two on a crank bait.  That leaves 13 to 14 active fish that can be caught if the angler has the presence of mind to systematically fish that spot the right way.  Rarely will you encounter a single fish that is active or foolish enough to strike your lure, if there is one there most likely are more, when feeding, it is the overall attitude of the school that is active rather than the individual fish.

Quite often in the Summer and Fall, an angler will catch a fish and have several others follow it to the boat seemingly trying to steal the lure from the hooked fish.  These fish are catch able and should be caught.  Catching these followers requires planning and a well thought out system.  If you go fishing this Summer consider a pre planned approach that can turn one fish into 5 or 6.

Here is what  I mean.  Once I have hooked a fish and put it into my live well, I will then stay on the spot where I caught the fish and work systematically to catch as many of the fish as I can.  I refuse to believe initially that there is only one fish on that spot.

The lure and technique that I will begin with is a crank bait.  The crank bait allows me to cover water at two levels: distance and depth.  I can cover distance quickly and reach fish in an 8 to 12 foot depth range.  When a fish is hooked on a crank bait, I will toss a marker buoy out to the side away from the hooked fish so as not to interfere with my landing the fish and so I don’t spook other fish that I may be able to catch on my next cast.

I put the first fish in the live well, so the rest of the fish do not sense the danger of my presence.  Next, I will maneuver my boat to the marker buoy and make repeated casts with the crank bait.  Any other fish I catch on the crank bait, will only affirm my belief in the spot’s fish holding potential.

Once I determine that I cannot catch any other fish on that crank bait, the next step in my systematic approach is to pick up rod number two, a 6â€� Texas rigged straight tail worm and work the worm slowly on the bottom, crawling and shaking it over brush and around rocks. 

I will maneuver the boat in a large one hundred and eighty degree area fishing the worm, down hill, up hill and parallel to the bank. The Texas rig allows me to plow the bottom reaching fish that are feeding but maybe not willing to strike the crank bait.  It should be noted that often, these will be the largest fish in the school. Big fish would rather get the easy meals thus will often stay below to capitalize on wounded bait, allowing the smaller fish to do the hard work.

  After I have stopped catching fish on the Texas rigged worm, I will bring out a drop shot rig and fish it in the same one hundred and eighty degree area.  The drop shot is a suspended worm that sits helplessly off the bottom, quivering in place. This presentation is deadly for bass that may have been actively feeding but have now stopped. 

How many fish should I expect to catch on a spot?  All of them!  The crank bait allowed me to catch the aggressive fish and alerted me to the possibility of a spot. The Texas rig allowed me to catch bigger, less aggressive fish that often follow a feeding pack, and the drop shot allowed me to catch a few more who couldn’t resist one more easy morsel.

  All together, a systematic approach.  One fish led to several others.  By pre planning well in advance I am able to experience Bass Fishing's Multiplier Effect.

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