with the exception of fishing during the spawn,  what approx percentage do you truly find a solid  pattern?

what i am refering to a pattern includes  lake area, depth, cover, lure, and retrieve

how long does it take you to find it?  how many fish are you catching once you find it?    

if you are referring to smallies in the columbia it can be a 60% proposition, columbia river dams are mosterous and flows can change rapidly, weather here can swing to extremes either way throwing off patterns in a hurry but you can usually find something to chuck at them, depth seems to be the variable here. in to hours you could fish 1 exact location and the depth change by 8 feet.

i almost never find a pattern,i don't know if it's because the lakes i fish aren't really that big,around 400 acres+,i am more of a spot fishermen.i just tend to fish alot of weeds edges at different depths but never really seem to establish a pattern..

Probably a couple times a year. I am talking about the days when you can almost "call your shot"

What approx percentage do you truly find a solid pattern?

100% of the time

How long does it take you to find it?

2 to 4 hours

How many fish are you catching once you find it?

2006 statistics:

Total Bass Caught: 1056

Total days on the water: 66

Average daily catch: 16

Bass under 14: 275

Bass over 14: 781

Bass over 5 lbs: 57

Bass over 6 lbs: 31

Bass over 7 lbs: 9

Bass over 8 lbs: 3

Bass over 9 lbs: 1

Double Digits: 0

Wow Catt!  16 a day average and your record keeping is fantastic.  Are all 66 days spent on TB??

It depends on what you call a "solid pattern".I understand lure,pres,depth,etc.But some would call a pattern catching only a few fish of any size with the same lure,depth,cover,etc. and they're right because the topic is based on opinion.I call a solid pattern consistantly catching quality fish(3lbs.+).Atleast putting a limit of quality fish in the boat.Another note,an angler may have more than one pattern going on the same day,even the depth could vary.

Trying to think back on patterns past none of them consisted of just one lure.Not that it couldn't have,there just always seems to be more than one way to catch them.Depth,bottom composition,structure,and cover always seem to be the key factor to a pattern.Then you got weather and water current that might make or break some patterns.

the largest body of water i fish with any regularity is a golf course pod that is about 3 or 4 acres. however there are about four or five patterns i usually pick up on. in the spring a fluke and a pop r usually do the trick. when that slows down any thing with appendages does well. these are fished weightless on a texas rig. in the fall a june bug senko seems to be the trick also weightless. be carefull as you read thai because the only cover i have in most of the ponds aruond here is weeds around the edges. thats it. and the water is only about 3 to six ft deep. so finding a pattern is somewhat easier

Blanked that was 66 full days/nights on the big pond

To establish a pattern every fish caught regardless of size is telling you some thing all you need to do is pay attention.

One can look at patterns in broad terms such as spinner baits fished in 6-10' of water around wood.

One can look at patterns in detail such as slow rolled 3/8 oz single Colorado/silver white shirt spinner bait fished in 8' of water around oak trees on a ridge.

I think if you're looking for it and use(disect) every fish you catch and everything else in the area, you'd be amazed at how often you can find a pattern. If you're just chuckin and not taking in everything in, there probably is a pattern there, but you're not noticing it.

The problem is you pretty much have to catch a few to find a pattern. If your not catching fish, I guess the pattern would be do whatever you're not doing :-?

Let's see, I wake up, take a shower, get some grub, get my rod, reel, and tackle, a few beers, a couple friends, and head out to the water.

I seem to get on this pattern everytime!

Daryl

In general, a "pattern" for me means what depth are the majority of the fish at, and do they want a slow precise presentation, or can I get them with something faster. That's it. Are they tight to the cover / structure? Then I know I need to go with plastics. Are they more active, merely relating to the cover / structure? If so, I can use something faster, like a crank or spinnerbait.

I've read a couple of articles where the angler said the pattern was something like this. I caught all my fish off channel swings, with three kinds of weeds, chunk rock, with a lay down. I was throwin a charteuse winged, purple green weenie, whacko-rigged, on a 3.45/0 Stickem-in-da-jaw hook, with a 14.25 gram bang-em-on-da-head weight, on 128 lb test green super slinkie line, on my G Hootchie 7' 3 3/4" flappin stick with a GeeWhiz 32 ball bearing reel. If you weren't throwin that, ya wasn't catchin fish.

BULL. If he was catching fish, somebody else was catching fish doing something completely different. But, they were probably at similar depths, using similar presentation speeds.

This whole pattern thing is given way to much emphasis. All the fish in the lake are not doing the same thing. Find the depth, then find the speed.

BassBeat101, I like your pattern.

Cheers,

GK

I find a solid pattern about 95% of the time in 1 to 3 hours.

Statics for 2006

Total of 2,320 bass

Total of 27 different bodies of water

Total of  118 fishing days

4#> 10

5#> 15

6#>  4

7#>  3

9#>  1

10#> 1