Paul Roberts

I'm sorry. I'm not understanding. What is the significance of theses latitudes?

Before you feel I'm dissing you, or maybe after... In a general sense, you are right on. But I still need my thermometer, the best way I know to measure "stored sunlight" so to speak. Even then, as others have mentioned above, it just doesn't pan out like clockwork. You really can't plan a day's or even weeks fishing by the Julian calendar.

I have, and tried that with plum blossoms that bloom roughly when the bass come onto beds. I had plums growing around my ponds and chose a few to watch while the bass did their thing. Individual plums initiated blooming over a month-long period (off the top of my head here). Some were in full bloom while others nearby hadn't even started. I can't speak for all plants, but at least with plums, it was a wash. Now, maybe if I had worked harder I could have identified specific plum plants that matched specific ponds. You get my drift there. But, I was dubious from the start as the requirements of plants compared to...you name it, are different. I now enjoy those flowers but have all but dropped generalized phenology. Not closed, but -it's just not part of what I look at now. And as an aside, why is it "old timers" (getting there myself), while potentially wise, and maybe had more time to observe nature --maybe-- are believed to have better memories, or better yet, kept better records than the rest of us? I think "old timers" are mythical beasts. Beware of confusing myth with evidence.

The sun runs the big picture. But...there are a lot of confounding details. Different animals react to light differently. I can get my chickens to lay eggs, or stop, with a light bulb. But the same is not true for all creatures. The variations there are quite wide. Most creatures carry an "endogenous rhythm" (internal clock) that goes off at the right times (say to breed), even under complete long term darkness in lab studies. Again, it's a cycle, a cascade of linked events. But some creatures are more "responsive" in the short term than others. If bass were like chickens, we'd already know that. Not that photoperiod is unimportant. There is a fair amount of research on photoperiod alterations on FW fish. You should delve in. But I warn you, the road is a tangled one. There is great natural drive to simplify things -too far for our own good often. Good to home in where you think you see a pattern, but be open to confounding influences and “slop” in the system.

Tidal anglers know the affects of water level changes and how bass adapt. And I'd mentioned that water level rises are a major cue for Central American bass to spawn. But water level changes can affect bass in many if not most waters. Big lake smallies, that receive heavy wind and resulting waves, are known to spawn relatively deep as that's where the egg success is highest. There is evidence that UV light penetration affects egg survival in bluegills, and bed depth is one way that gets "regulated". One can imagine that water clarity affects this too. In my own ponds the bass appear to bed at a certain preferred depth - about 2-1/2fow. And as I'd mentioned they often make two beds. It appears the females choose one over the other. I got an idea why as I began to notice water levels can vary surprisingly over the course of the spawn, with water generally receding after spring recharge. The severity of that depends in large part on the weather. Sometimes it's in the middle of the spawn. One year I watched as the shallower of the double beds lost enough water that the larger females wouldn't use them. They used the deeper of the two. Contrary though were two El Nino influenced years that brought increasing water levels through the spawn. Bass kept making beds at the two foot mark, which meant successive beds got higher and higher up the banks. And older beds simply got deeper and deeper -enough that I couldn't keep track of the guarding males very well anymore. I measured a rise rate of up to 2inches per day for several weeks. The result was two years of exceptional fry survival, due to the cover offered the fry by flooded shoreline vegetation. This not only bodes well for the future, but directly affected our fishing with us (who were abreast of the situation) having to go to finesse rigs to bring our catch rates back up to tolerable in some waters. This was not the first time I'd seen, and had to adjust for, this scenario in my fishing. Watch for it.

I like them in hand. That's what all the rest is for!

Some interesting reading on the subject:

I think you are right. That's what I see happening too. In those intense consolidated circumstances I mentioned, there is no doubt what's going on there. It's almost scary. Those bass, esp mature ones, come and go with feeding opportunities. The spawn on the other hand takes place pretty well distributed around my ponds, bc there is good substrate all along the shorelines of most of them. And once it's up and running, well that's obvious too. The two "movements" may occur in the same general areas, but the reasons or activity is very different.

Ralph Manns, who's done a lot of scuba diving, says that shallow bass tend to stay just deep enough to keep beyond visible from the surface. In my ponds, most of the time, the majority of the bass are not visible. They are most apt to be visible during the spawn, and around cover (including dry shoreline cover such as high banks and shoreline trees). Interestingly, there can be movements during early spring incited by rapid temperature spikes in which masses of bass enter the shallows and seem not to care about being seen. I've seen this well prior to beds being put down (as well as with and without moon-synchronized spawning movements).

That is an interesting observation, and I too see the relationship between cover and prey in early spring. But I also add temperature into the mix. Bluegills are the primary forage where I fish and they are heat lovers, and I've seen hoards of them where there is little cover. These tend to be small 'gills though. It does seem that cover is a requirement for large 'gills -the ones the larger bass target. Having cover in those heated shallows, or maybe heat n those cover areas, makes a spot great. I see two major events in spring, in relation to the shallows: -The first movements to the shallows are feeding movements. -The second are the spawning movements. Rich Zaleski talked about the onset of the spawn marked by a movement AWAY from the shallows by the bass. He believes this is bc bass are relocating from prime feeding locations to established spawning locations (site fidelity). Your observations about bass being in less than 7fow in early spring mirror some telemetry studies I've seen. The general pattern is a beeline to certain shallow bays, and these of course are good bass and prey habitat -they have cover. It makes sense that they suspend, bc after ice-out, the surface waters are now warmer. Likely they suspend at cover edges, and move up as the shallows warm and growth occurs. This reminds me of the movements to the warmed shallows of salmonids on Lake Ontario's southern shore. A good chunk of the population of salmonids in that immense lake was packed on that south shore in spring. The paper graph images we'd get, of trout, salmon and baitfish just stacked along the south coast were amazing In the shallow ponds I observe, immediately after ice-out I see somewhat roiled water due I believe to temperature mixing and methane release, then clearing (barring wind), then the algae growth. That cold clear water does appear to be bass-less -although isn't always entirely. I like to see some growth too, which means temps are climbing. Another major factor in both plant and algae growth is sunlight. Big blooms tend to occur after bright periods. There's a point where heated shallows really consolidate the action, and it is usually with cover too. I try hard to hit this window. The hot periods see-saw with the weather though so it's a game of weather watching, and luck. Then as the water warms deeper, the consolidation laxes and the fishing gets less "intense". This is also the time of temperature stability (enough heated water now) that spawning movements are apt to begin. Prime spawning areas may be different than feeding areas. Males often choose a prominent cover piece to place a bed against. But too dense cover allows egg stealing 'gills to get too close -thus the sparse cover observations. The individual male bass in my ponds do not make multiple beds over an area. They do often make two side-by-side and I think the female chooses one over the other. This might be a response to the water level changes that commonly happen over the course of the spawn, and/or to female choice as females tend to be bigger and need more water. I have one pond that had a shortage of males (no idea why -maybe catch and kill bed fishing) and females lined up and fought over the males and their beds. As to highland and lowland, water depth and fertility weigh in heavy there. The clarity is more a symptom than a cause I think. Interestingly there are probably arms/coves on those highlands that behave more like "lowlands". Roger: "Though two anglers may be observing completely different phenomena, the odds are good that they’ll arrive at the station at the same time." Can't find the thumb-up emoticon.

Initiation runs from the third week in April well into June. Shallowest ponds go first, deepest lakes go last.

"Prespawn" is not some set biologically based term. It simply means before the spawn. If you want to you could say that it begins... when??? It's the "chicken or egg" dilemma. The answer there is the egg -a much older "invention". It's to recognize that this is a very old process, the prime directive is to reproduce, and all "mechanisms" of energy redistribution are directed toward that end. Package this up and you have the current model of a given "species". If you look for the beginning of something within this cycle, you are not recognizing that it is a indeed a cycle. Gonadal development begins in the late summer/early fall. But this is pre-dated by a cascade of growth hormone spikes that begins shortly after the spawn ends. And then the food has to be available for that growth and development to come to fruition. Not to mention that a given individual has to grow up first –no small feat that simply takes time. Taking it to ground here: Anglers tend to be looking for the beginning of the kind of fishing most do or expect: bass willing/able to chase ~horizontal lures in shallow water. But on-top-of-things anglers can catch 'em year round. Such information is now getting around but it takes time and effort to put it to work on your specific waters. Warmwater fishes are known to start moving shallow right around ice-out, or even prior in some known instances. You would think that this a direct response to photoperiod, and partially is. But...when? Some of this cascade of events occurs the previous year and in many species from plants to insects to fish and mammals photoperiod can induce seasonally appropriate activity. But it doesn't stand alone -other steps in the cycle need to be in place. It's even possible to create experimental "monsters" but that's not the way nature IS. The flexibility, the deviations, that exist do so bc nature is not perfect. It is tumultuous and too rigid a mechanism would fail. How does this help? Realize that there is a system in place, that you can track, but it's a complex (ancient) system that has built-in flexibility. Collectively it is very wise. Individually...there is a lot of foolishness. Some observations I've made and feel are pretty sound: The seasons tend to progress surprisingly consistently. I've found this by measuring heating in ponds and found that they heat pretty much the same each year -despite what the weather "feels" like to us. We make LOUSY thermometers -way too subjective. It's SO common to hear anglers lamenting that "winter" just won't let up -"It's STILL "cold" this year". But I've been taking temperature profiles and watching bass behavior progression, and it's pretty much been on track with previous years. We should not trust the mush in our heads. Just bc you have to wear your winter coat today does not mean it's winter. Water collects and holds heat. It does not give it up easily. The main heater-upper is the sun --angle and duration --and THAT you can bank on. It's been that way for a long enough time to offer some biological consistency.(Otherwise we'd likely still be protozoa fishing for bacteria lol). Even with cloud cover the sun is still at work. I watch and enjoy the "winter"/"spring" see-saw battle but know who's winning -like clockwork. My ponds record it in their heat budgets. Sure there's some variance year to year, but a LOT less than most people realize. Thus actual spawn times are pretty darned consistent. Although the entire complex mechanism passes through a lot of time (a year) to get there in real life –where you fish -temperature matters in that it is the primary influence on what fish can do in X amount of time. And timing is critical bc there are babies to take care of –"mother" natures primary job. It doesn’t really matter where the “start” is –the zeitgeber. What matters is understanding and recognizing the progression –its consistencies and vagaries, so that you can know where you are. Otherwise it’s just a bunch of puzzle pieces. (I like Roger’s analogy.) When you start comparing across phylogenetic lines, then you truly are picking up pieces from different boxes. There the complexity deepens. We're not meant to understand it ALL. Appreciate the process, folks.

As to latitudinal differences, they exist, but they aren't huge in the larger scale scheme of things. Let's say biologically there are not great differences. Bass are surprisingly similar -less so than I'd anticipated. Ecologically though things are different. The farther north you go though seasonal changes are more marked and consolidated. Ugh...wish I had time to delve back in, but I just don't. This topic has come up before and I'm sure it's been addressed in the past.

True, it is direct sunlight that heats. And "seasons" are most basically about "angle of incidence". Teasing out each individual climatic/environmental influence must be done in the laboratory, and there is an enormous body of literature on that, if anyone is considering a new career. Heat energy (measured by temperature) has significant direct biological effects. Temperature (trends esp) are worth monitoring. That of all things gives me the most (but certainly not all) information on seasonal trends in fish behavior. In part bc it uses a consistent instrument to measure with. But also bc the biological effects of temperature on aquatic creatures (and other ectotherms) is powerful. And for the day to day, hour to hour resolution we need as anglers, it's the best thing I can use that best appears to coincide with behavior. Its effect is not entirely static though, (plug in A and get B ) but dynamic. It's a "fluid" world (in military jargon), and you must be able to fly by the seat of your pants. That said, a thermometer, used correctly can be a powerful tool for keeping a bead on fish behavior. Running around with a surface temperature gauge only "scratches the surface".

Well, I have almost zilch experience in competitive bass fishing, but from what I can gather and guess, KVD separates himself with his drive, focus, knowledge, research (on and off the water) and rapid assessment. That latter requires the research and knowledge. I remember hearing Gerald Swindle say he wished tournaments could be run without ANY pre-fishing days; Pure seat of the pants stuff. I imagined KVDs response: "What are you nuts?" Pure speculation there. Hey O' Lucid1!

You mean I've lost my BR friendship status already? Who are you, Mr Moderator big pants??! Congrats by the way -I think Hey, in all seriousness it was a heck of a winter. Started with a BIG forest fire -biggest fire priority in the nation then. We lost 170 homes up here. Mine wasn't one of them, but...it's mighty dark and quiet up here at night now.

Practically speaking, you're right. Hindsight has the best chance of being 20:20 of course. What we see in front of us each day is a lot more fuzzy. Each day is a new day, and no one (including the fish) know exactly what that'll bring. Successful fishing is in large part being good at flying by the seat of your pants. Sure feels good though when we can be on the water enough to be on top of things. Just gotta be out there and "noticing stuff". Helps to know what to look for though. And...what those variables mean. That's where the game is played. I was unable to do that by just "getting a feel for it". I had to measure, for myself. Then it starts to become real. That is what those "numbers" are for. And Catt's right, you can't just pull one out of a hat and trust that. "There is only as much beauty available to us (in nature) as we are prepared to appreciate. And not a grain more." -Thoreau (another noticer of cool stuff). Yeah, I'd love to sit in on a good chat session too. Both the beer and bourbon sound great. I can smell the ribs now! Would be fun. Be better if we all lived closer. Speaking of that...Dwight, we might be visiting Erie sometime this summer (my wife has family there as I've mentioned before). If the stars align maybe I'll give you a shout and we can get together for something brown -bourbon, beer, smallies mebbe even. Maybe J can make the run too. Think we can we pry Tommy from The Bend?? PARTY AT DWIGHT"S!!! BTW: I added a bit to my last long post, for a little more clarity.

Thanks Blue Streak (I take it that's a boat?). That and Tommy's "Merci" are true compliments, coming from people who've seen a few things, more than a few times around.

That may be -egg maturation must happen before they can drop them. But what controls (or maybe "influences" is better) that? Not all the bass spawn when water temps are “optimal”, that's for sure. Egg maturation due to necessary nutrients (fats esp apparently), previous year photoperiod entrainment possibly, and bedding site fidelity, all likely play roles. But temperature plays a very powerful and apparently pretty consistent role too, or creates a powerful barrier to (at least successful) spawning. There might be a discrepancy in definitions too. To many anglers, just seeing a bass on a bed may constitute “spawning”. But males will make beds prematurely, and then abandon them. I’ve seen small waves of this activity, but it’s a false start. I’ve also seen big waves of bass –like a majority of a pond’s population (both males and females) –move onto spawning banks, only to drop away again –no spawning having happened. As far as I been able to find, from lab and field studies I’ve read and from what I’ve been able to document for myself (looking closer than most), the spawn in northern LM is initiated at around 60F: 58F to 62F. And it might be most critical when bass actually get onto the beds. What’s interesting, and telling, is that egg survival studies show mortality spiking sharply around 55F. While these values may not encompass all there is to know about all native strains of LM, it appears to be consistent enough as to cover the majority. I hear anecdotal evidence about bass “spawning” in much colder water, and this might be so, but there’s likely more to many of those stories. I too have recorded LM’s on egg-filled nests in water as cold as 48F, directly in the bed! And if that was the only day I saw such a fish, I might have concluded that bass can spawn in 48F water. But I had been watching that fish, and many others, for weeks. The truth was, and was so in every such bed I recorded colder than ”normal” temps in, the actual egg dropping had happened after the >58F initiation temps. And such "initiation temps" are not just a number, but stability at that rough number for a certain period of time. This is very much tied to seasonal realities (photoperiod, sun angle, weather, and heat retention -Catt's "coincidence" mention). In those cold beds, severe cold fronts had altered shallow water temperatures drastically. Eggs suffering those conditions most likely die and do not contribute much to the future, generally keeping the majority within the “normal” realm. I did once observe a small “wave” of new (or possibly second round) spawners arrive and drop eggs at 55F. But this was during a prolonged cold streak that came well after the initiation temps had already been reached. This happened in part as an artifact of their living in a small shallow pond, not able to be buffered from such weather as would have happened in a larger water body. But, it does show that it’s certainly possible. Nature can be “loose” about such things so the more deeply you look, the more deviations you might find. Deviations can allow populations to survive change over the long haul. Most of those deviants fail however, in the short term. And some years almost entire bass spawns fail, regardless of timing. The limitations dished out are very real and many of those deviations, while interesting, aren’t as likely to put a lot of fish in our boats year after year. As to fishing with a thermometer... You're right, and I tried that. I got temperatures at depth in my study ponds by clipping a thermometer onto a snap and casting it out there. (Sure wished I had dataloggers.) Never caught a single bass doing that. More seriously, your point is well taken: fishing got in the way of my observation and documentation, and vice-versa. Mutually exclusive. Bass spawned, even in those small ponds, over a period of weeks. Over all the ponds/small res I looked at, over months. And this is even more so if you include even larger water bodies into your beat. Most people would rather be fishing.

I've seen the same thing, and it is CRAZY! The days we talk about for years to come. They are somewhat predictable in that we can know what the cues are, but, nature is as fickle as the weather so we too often get dashed. So much for "clockwork". What's cool is that it's not just us getting our hopes dashed, it's the fish too. I love being in touch. It feels right. If you know what you are seeing, even if the "big wave" doesn't happen exactly, you can see it scattered about, watch the progression, and still be in the show. Fun stuff. And no two waters play out the exact same way either -even two little ponds side by side. The same biological events are stirring, but the ecological underpinnings differ.

There is no one event. There are multiple events bc it is not linear but a cycle that starts the previous year. Key events: Egg maturation -Having the raw materials to get the job done happens the previous year or, in some individuals or even populations during tough conditions, the final "deposits" are made during early spring. This is why the larger fish are more apt to spawn earliest -they can afford it. And small fish are most apt spawn latest. I've seen this in my own (albeit amateur) pond studies. Photoperiod -Photoperiod changes have direct endocrine effects that goad the process and GENERALLY synchonize the event. Lots of literature out there on this and it's powerful enough to experimentally force spawning events in fish and other animals -with other keys in place. Temperature -Temperature is critical to cold-blooded creatures, and with fish it is the final push. It allows for body weight gain efficiency, activity required for spawning behaviors, and protects temperature sensitive eggs. Moon Phase -This appears to be a real effect -the full and possibly the new. It seems to be a cue that allows for a mass synchonization, provided the stage is set (the previous three keys): I've recorded years when spawning occurred on temperature swings, falling in between the moons. The first two of these keys we can't do much about really (unless you are Flukemaster and can fatten your fish on his private lake). But as far as fishing is concerned, temperature and secondarily moon phase are the things to track. And it has worked, like clockwork, for me. Catt mentions powerplant lakes, and there are also bass planted far south of their natural range. There are lakes in Central America that never cool down much and have flat photoperiods. Those bass can spawn anytime and have adapted their cues to water level changes. They may spawn over a long seasonal window but what stops them is the need for tissue recovery and growth. Supposedly bass do poorly down there and burn out young. Nature finds a way, at least to a certain degree in that living things didn't come from nowhere, they have a history, and that dictates what they are and what they can do.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've said/heard that. ;D I've been apt to say, in my excitement in the moment, "How could they resist THIS?!" And somewhere inside I almost believed it. But...over time, I've had it beaten out of me. My rudimentary understanding at this point sounds something like this: It seems we carry expectations that fish can make their choices on a whim like we can. Few anglers seem to recognize the real, and dire, environmental and physiological limitations imposed on fish. These limitations explain a lot of why (where, when, and how) fish feed or strike lures, or don't. -Fish are ectothermic, meaning their muscle power and physiological processes are dependant on surrounding temperatures. They have pretty strict energy budgets to work with. Endothermy (which we enjoy), in which the animal carries much of it's physiological environment around within, is a whole different thing. -Many fish, bass included, have depth change limitations that directly affect their energy budgets. -Prey fish are not easy to catch, having been as honed to avoid predators as predators have been honed to catch prey. If fish just ran around chasing everything they saw (and many do when they are young) they'd be dead. They have to use their energy resources wisely. Mature fish, those few that actually survived, have learned what's worth the energy to pursue. Pursuit is not just a run over a grab it sort of deal most of the time it's a process that results in a final decision to commit energy. For bass this is exhibited in a number of patterned behaviors, a most common one is to identify, stalk, flush, and capture vulnerable prey. Not every individual bluegill fits this 'vulnerable' category at all times. Individual fitness (in all its forms), and immediate conditions, matter. The final decision to commit can be aborted at any moment, right up to the very last moment. I've watched bass doing what appears to be speed/fitness testing of potential prey like lions moving wildebeest to get a bead on which individuals are vulnerable. Water/lighting conditions weigh in, aiding one side or the other. A lot of things weigh in to the decision to commit to a target, and then finalize it. -Added to this, in waters that are fished, fish do learn to avoid lures to a certain extent, and this enters into final decisions about what they put in their mouths. I guess the bottom line is a lot of things weigh in to the decision to commit to a target, for a fish. What we think or wish has nothing to do with it. It's a very real world down there and each predator earns its prey -just like we earn every fish we catch.

Speed Control Depth Control Triggering characteristics -where the voodoo begins lol. ... ... ... Confidence -hmmmm....I try not to fool myself. But where does reality leave off (10feet down in a fish's brain) and the voodoo begin (banging around in my own head). Sure glad fishing is innately fun, otherwise, who'd bother??? ;D

Really good stuff here, from everyone. Fun subject. I really like GMAN's tact (know something well and go find it), RW's "depth and focus" (might be the ultimate nutshell), and bilgerat's comments about clearing your head of the wrong focus. Sometimes things come outta seemingly nowhere and turn your head. Like the time a young kid took me to a pond he had permission for. I had three expensive rods and was weighed down with my exploratory "KISS kit" (LOL). He had one cheap rig and a little plastic box held closed with a rubber band. In it were like three cheap no-name lures and some snelled hooks -some with dried worm guts still on em. He tied on a little chrome crankbait that turned out to be so badly out of tune it spun circles as he cranked it in. And he cranked it in so fast it just made big loops through the water. PATHETIC! But he had several good bass on the bank before I caught one. Now I can think back now and figure out that those bass were on a metabolic high and aggressive, and I could've caught those fish too with a burned Spot or 'Trap. But I didn't know about burning lipless then. Shortly thereafter I added that to my repertoire and it opened up a new door for me. Another story: I met a guy fishing a corporate pond (J Francho knows it) and we hit it off. He fished two lures: a black plastic worm (he poured himself) and a Jitterbug. And he was happy. But I introduced him to some things (spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, JnP, jumpbaits, and a translucent worm color) that he couldn't avoid. Some lures covered water SO much faster, or offered more appropriate triggering characteristics than his choices, that I'd have 15 to hand before he had 3. For instance, on bright sunny days a translucent worm outfished an opaque one 15:1. And on and on.... His tackle grew, as he grew as an angler. He eventually got divorced and I'm not so sure that's not irrelevant. : I fish a small res here in CO that was a favorite of a buddy of mine. He always did really well with SBs and cranks, until one year he started getting skunked. Well we discovered what the deal was. Heavy rains and high water allowed for tremendous YOY bass survival -there were hordes of fingerling bass and the mature fish were on em. We went to finesse gear (actually UL had the highest catch rate) and were right back in business. I made the switch pretty quick bc I'd seen this exact same thing before -YOY bass dominating the food chain. One year I broke out 3" streamer flies on fly tackle and had a ball while SB pitching buddies failed miserably. It pays to know your water, conditions, seasons, etc... and have a warehouse backing up your KISS box lol. Granted some lures are more versatile than others, esp for someone who knows the game. I was a jig man for years and would still fall back on them if I was forced to fish one lure type. But...the slice of the world called "jigs" can be enormous. You should see my jig boxes. Sometimes things come outta seemingly nowhere and turn your head. But the trouble begins when we start looking for that "nowhere", as if some magic is going to solve persistent angling problems. Buck Perry said, repeatedly, that if you are relying on, or looking for, some magic "twitch" that will solve all your problems, your gonna continue to fail. It just doesn't work that way.

I guess if I took ONE KISS kit and tried to get it to fit all the waters, locations, conditions, and seasons I fish, I'd be left wanting. Sortof like saying I'd be able to cover it all with one rod. I make good use of everything from light spinning to heavy casting rods over the course of the year. But neither rod is apt to be with me every outing. I guess when adding a new lure I long ago dumped the idea of "magic" lures that emit some irresistible vibrations or something. Lures are tools that do two basic things: get to the fish and trigger strikes. Bass habitats vary a lot and can require different things. The waters I fish range from almost coverless "swimming pools" to brushy swamps. If I fished only one of them, my tackle choices would be far simpler and less expensive. I've had single days where sky and water conditions required that I alternate between tackle -big spinnerbaits on a casting rig when tempests blew, jigworms on medium spinning when the sun blazed and wind died, and wakers/walkers/swimming jigs in between. On one particular day last year I was able to keep my rod bent all day while another guy with one rod sharing the pond only got bit when conditions matched what he chose to throw. It pays to recognize when things change and be equipped to do so. I guess KISS is relative.