11/04/04

"The BASS Busch Big Bass Shootout that I won this past October was probably the ultimate find em in unfamiliar waters test that I have ever been put through.  We started on the James River and I was able to fish an area that I knew was unaffected by tides and weather."

"The championship round was different.  We were placed on a very cool looking, 35 acre lake at the Busch Gardens resort and given about five hours to figure them out."

"Typically when I go about trying to find bass on unfamiliar water, it start out with reaction lures.  I like to fish a top water, a jerk bait or a spinner bait very fast.  The idea is to make contact with the fish.  Once I can get a fish to commit to a reaction lure I will slow down and fish a more proven technique like a jig or a worm."

"At the BASS Busch shootout, there was so much cover, everything looked so good, I felt that I actually needed to slow down and probe the brush with a jig.  I think that is an important idea to note that fishing the obvious cover slowly is also a good way to locate fish."

"Probably the best advice to finding fish on unfamiliar water would be to cover water as quickly as possible, with a reaction type lure, but slow down and fish methodically when you come to a spot or type of cover that you have confidence in.  At that point slow down and fish it carefully.