One thing I notice every day when I am fishing with most anglers is that they fish their bait the same way cast after cast. Most experienced anglers are constantly adjusting their retrieve and making a change as to how they present it until they find a bite. 

Customers ask me all the time what and how am I presenting my bait, my answer is pretty standard I am constantly changing what I do with the bait until I find a presentation they react too. This adjustment in my presentation is something every angler should do day after day cast after cast and when you find a bite remember what you were doing to get that bite then repeat it. Pay attention to detail, focus on your action and be astutely aware of what and how you’re retrieving your bait; if you don’t you can’t repeat it! 

Many of the world’s best fisherman will talk about cadence as a key to catching fish on many different types of baits; there is no doubt that cadence is very important while retrieving a bait, but cadence does not mean to do the same thing every time you work a bait. Change your cadence continually with speed variations or pauses, or tip and wrist action; when you do this you’re still creating a cadence it’s just changing it until you find a cadence that the bass react too. 

It is also a fact that all rods present a variety of tip action, if you find that you cannot easily change the action of bait then you might very well be fishing with a rod that might be too stiff in the tip. The rod might be too long or short for your body type, making it hard to make longer swings or fast movements with your wrist. Line is also a factor in being able to change your cadence or retrieve action, as all lines are different some are thick, many are thin, some have stretch and some do not, many different lines sink many do not. These line differences also change your retrieve and cadence while working bait, so experiment with line it can also be a factor in catching fish as it can inhibit your ability to work bait. That old saying “if you’re doing the same thing and getting the same result,” it might be time to change.

To fish with Captain Mike Gerry on Lake Guntersville visit; fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com