Story and photography by Brian Hughes

Most often asked questions include how to catch, where to fish and baits to use.

One of the questions I get most often about catching fish is how. How do I catch the fish, what baits or lures do I use? The next most often asked question is where. Where do I go to do whatever the answer to “how” might be?

If I tell them they can catch bass on a Carolina rig in August, they want to know where they should throw the Carolina rig. If I answer deep diving crankbaits should work, they want to know where deep diving crankbaits should work. So, I thought I’d discuss the answers to these and other “where” questions, in relation to the last several “old school” techniques I’ve mentioned.

Starting back in April I began reminiscing about lures that had been long forgotten or overlooked. Lures that at one time were staples in every fisherman’s arsenal, consistent producers that, over time, had fallen by the wayside. Lost in the mix as newer lures and techniques were discovered.

The internet has a role in this, as does the Forward Facing Sonar. The internet allows a bait to be discovered, and become hugely popular, much faster than would happen “back in the day.” Fishermen would figure something out back then and it would be months before the average angler heard about it, sometimes longer. FFS has created a subset of lures specifically for that application, and as more and more anglers use FFS, more and more of the old techniques are left behind. So, I decided to bring ‘em back! And that brings us to where. Where would you use these techniques in order to catch fish?

Some of the where will be answered by the technique itself. For instance, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to throw the soft plastic jerkbait over a school of fish in 30 feet of water. The bait only gets down to about four feet or so, and you’ll be way above the fish, and out of their strike zone. Unless….

************************************************************************
To read more, click here to SUBSCRIBE