The Shad Effect
Making the most of the off limits
(The writer's opinions and observations expressed here are his own, and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views, policies or positions of FLW.)
In one week the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup will be history. There are 50 of us competing, and by day’s end on Aug. 7 one of us will be the new champion.
We are currently in the off-limits period. So physically, I am not on the competition waters. Physically, I am back home in California.
Mentally, it is a different story. Mentally, I am in Alabama – on Wheeler – watching the shad and fishing the ledges.
I spent the last week standing on the deck of my boat – on my home water – in northern California.
It’s Clear Lake.
It’s phenomenal.
My son, Sheldon, and I have been having 100-fish days on the best bass fishery in the country, but like I said, my mind has been elsewhere. My mind has been at Wheeler.
The abundant shad population of Clear Lake is similar to what I saw when I was last at Wheeler. The types of fishing (both shallow and deep) are similar on both lakes. The structure, the ledges – it is all very similar.
When I realized this, it hit me: My fun-fishing days on Clear Lake could become a faux practice for the Cup. They could become a dry run for my Wheeler pre-fish – a dress rehearsal – like a mock draft for all of you fantasy football players.
The shad are thick in the Clear Lake waters. The same as it had been when I was marking them with my Lowrance on the ledges in the Decatur Flats area of Wheeler. I knew I needed to tie on some of the baits that I had been thinking about for the Cup and start testing them out.
Clear Lake has been on fire, so it was easy. There was no pressure, and the bites were practically continuous.
I was quickly able to cement a successful technique for Wheeler’s similar conditions, tweak my presentation and build my confidence at home. Now when I get to Wheeler to pre-fish, I will be full steam ahead.
When I last left Wheeler, my thought was to focus deep, catching fish in 20 to 25 feet. The problem with that was the Clear Lake shad were in 3 to 12 feet of water, so I wasn’t able to target the depths where I wanted to prepare. I had to go with the pattern that was in front of me, which was shallow.
I tied on a jig and went through some different styles of Yamamoto trailers. Through this process, time and time again, I saw that the biggest fish weren’t hitting my usual favorite. In conjunction with a couple of other conditional variables, the one I call “Big Ugly” consistently brought the quality bites.
This surprised me. It’s so ugly that I thought nothing would eat it. I thought wrong.
Big Ugly is not something I ever would’ve used at Wheeler if I hadn’t caught what I did at Clear Lake. But after this past week, I know I have to throw it.
After all, we are not fishing the Cup for points. We’re only fishing for five big bites each day. We’re only fishing to win.
In the Cup, you’re either first or you’ve lost. We each have a 1-in-50 shot to win, and how often do you have a chance like that to win the biggest tournament, to win the biggest prize, to win the Forrest Wood Cup? It is truly the time to go big or go home, so I am goin’ big – Big Ugly.
Maybe practicing on Clear Lake for Wheeler will be genius, or maybe it won’t … only time will tell.