NationalProStaff.com - Opening Day Game Plan

A few years ago I had the opportunity to get out for some early season fishing on the Bay of Quinte with Lunkerhunt Teammate Mike Howe. It is no secret that if Mike were to come back as a fishing lure it would be a pitching jig. But this day was the day of the swim n jerk.
The bite started just after sunrise and did not stop until just after sunset. I have not had many fishing days like this for bass. We fished for 13-14 hours and we caught close to 100 bass. Yes 100 bass, an average of 7 per hour. Out of those fish, 3 were in the 5 lbs range (which is what I think will be required to win any $ this weekend). If my memory serves me correctly, we had at least 3 double headers that day.
Mike started the day with a jig and I with a 4 inch swim n jerk (Gizzard pattern). After 30 minutes I had 5 fish to Mikes 1. He made the switch to the Swim n Jerk and the rest of the day is fishing history.
I am not sure why the fish were so fired up. The action was crazy. So crazy we only have two photos for the day. One is of Mike catching a bass on a swim n jerk. The fish wasn’t very big but I wanted evidence of Mike catching fish on something other than a jig. The second is of a largemouth about 2 inches long that had a sunfish ¼ inch long stuck in its mouth. It was flopping on the surface of the water when I pulled the sunfish out of its mouth took a quick picture with my phone and let the largemouth go. The sunfish wasn’t as fortunate and did not make it through the experience. It is amazing how aggressive largemouth bass are at such an early age.
My opening weekend game plan… Hourly big bass events are about quality not quantity. I plan on figuring out what fish are doing and then refining any patterns I unlock to find bigger fish.
In the morning/to start….
Starting the day in 6-12’ of water (that’s the depth range we dialed in at three years ago).
The A Rig/Umbrella Rig did not exist when we had our amazing day. If one 4 inch Swim n Jerk will catch fish like it did. Four (max number of hooks for BOQ) should produce even better results…. I hope. I have to check the rules to make sure umbrella rigs are allowed. I plan on getting product shots and videos of Lunkerhunt’s new School Rig and School Jigs (2013 release) while I am out there. So hopefully some good photos/videos will come with my next report.
If the School Rig doesn’t kick in quickly or does not produce the big bites I am hoping for, I am going to switch up and alternate between 4.5 inch Bentos (Dace) fished on a tandem rig as well as the newest member of the Lunkerhunt line up – Cranky. A chubby shallow running crankbait that features a wounded sunfish design. It makes a ton of noise and vibration in the water.
Midday or if the bite is slow:
If the fish aren’t as active as in the past, I am going to flip Lunker Craws, Living Jigs and Revealer Tubes at every weed bed, weed clump, weedline and piece of cover I see. I will zig zag from shallow to deep water looking for that big bite that will be worth taking to weigh in.
If the bite is super tough, I will break out the Lunker Sticks because when the bite is tough they always come through. My biggest 2011 bass came off a Lunker Stick (black blue fleck).
I would like to thank the Bellville Bassmasters for putting on such a hugely anticipated event. I also hope everyone has a safe and successful weekend whatever and wherever they are fishing.
Post event report to follow. Hopefully I will be able to share the technique that caught an hourly winner.
Cheers,
Dave