COMPETITION

When you're structure fishing in deep water, you're fishing for bass schooled up in numbers. When they're schooled up like this and one fish hits. other bass hit out of competition. When this creates a frenzy, quite often you'll catch a limit in one spot. This is a condition which exists mostly in deep water structure on the creek channels and drop offs. Occasionally the competition is so severe and so fierce you'll see the fish breaking and surfacing as a school. 
A lot of anglers have caught "doubles"-two at once-on a lure. Most of then think two bass just zoomed in and tried to get the lure, but that very seldom is the case. Those fish really got caught out of competition. What almost always happens is you throw out, and one fish is a little more eager and grabs the bait first. Fish are so competitive that they try to pull the lure out of the other fish's mouth. Often bass actually tear a plastic worm like two dogs pulling on a towel or rug.
Often with a large topwater plug 4 to 6 inches long, enough of the lure is hanging out of the fish's mouth that the second fish tries to grab it and gets caught. I've caught a tremendous number of doubles because I do a lot of structure fishing on points where there are concentrations of fish. I'll throw most any type of lure and when I get a strike and hook the fish, many, many times on these structural places I'll see other fish following the one I have on.
You have to capitalize quickly on this pattern, because they're only going to stay in a frenzy a very short time.

Back to Tips Menu