By Mark Tyler - I know more about fishing now than I ever have. I have more tricks, techniques, hot lures and knowledge of bass behavior than I did ten years ago. The problem is…my competition knows most of those tricks and techniques as well, I don’t think there is a secret lure anymore. Everybody has a pretty similar looking tackle box. As a tournament angler, what separates the good from the broke is generally not what you’re using, but how and where you’re using it. In professional golf all players have the same set of tools, driver thru pitching wedge. There are no secret clubs, yet one man always seems to win. Just having the right club, or in our case the“hot lure”, is not enough. It’s all about application. That is what separates the field.

I don’t think there are many secret lures left out there. However, I do like to continually search for products that are new and different. Trying to stay ahead of the curve, and ahead of what the fish have seen, is an important part of being a successful angler in today’s competitive fishing. For example, this year one of my “secret” baits was swimming a Jig. Nothing really new there, but the subtly of it was in the product itself. I used a JigX, which has a thru the head design for the line tie. It not only makes it great for coming thru cover completely weedless, but changes the pull-point of the line that creates a looser action. What drove the action, and was the key to this swim jig is the trailer I use. I put a small 3.5” Double Diamond by Optimum Baits on the back of the jig as a trailer. The Double Diamond has great tail kick, but most importantly it creates a side to side roll as well. A dual action motion unlike anything I have seen, and more importantly, the fish have seen. Why would I give –up one of my favorite baits in a magazine? Remember there is no cure-all lure...you still have to apply it right if you’re going to beat me on tournament day!

If the secret to success is all in the application of our tools, will somebody please tell me if I’m doing it right!?

This is where we reach a grey area in bass fishing. There are a lot of ways to do things. In golf the swing is pretty basic, and you get immediate feed back. If you shank one into the woods, you know that you’re doing something wrong. In fishing, you can cast prettier than the pros all day long, but it may take all day to realize you’re doing something wrong. Feed back in fishing is not instantaneous. It’s a slow constant feed back based on whether were catching anything or not. In order to get the application right for that day, you must Mix-It-Up constantly! Continually change your retrieve, weight of lure, shape of lure, color, sound, etc.

The three most important components I try to figure out first are speed, profile, and color. Getting the speed right is very important because it directly correlates to the mood of the fish. With a little mental discipline you can continually mix-up your speed of retrieve, and monitor the results. Another component of getting the speed right is the rate of fall your bait has. Many times I will have several rods rigged with the same lure, but different weights on them. Find one that matches the aggressiveness of the fish, and your on your way. When I talk about getting the profile right, it is really just another word for getting the size and shape of your bait right for current conditions. If the swim jig is getting results...great…if it is not, I’ll be quick to start changing things to get the profile right. Maybe I need a bigger bait, or maybe I need to trim the skirt super small. It’s all trial and error to get the application right for that day.

Point being…at the end of the day you should have a mound of different bait sizes, shapes, and colors on the floor of your boat. This is a huge piece of advise that took my stubborn little brain years to learn. I hope you read it twice! The more you continually change things thru the course of the day, the better you increase your odds of figuring out the subtleties.