I noticed something new on Bassmaster.com today that I think is really neat. They now have all the TV footage from all the Elite Series tournaments up for everyone to see. This is really a good deal, almost like a Christmas present to all of us. (Let me put a little note in here. I think these are new — at least they’re new to me. And, I believe all the tournaments are up and running.)
For a lot of fans and readers this will serve three purposes. For openers, you can watch the tournaments again when the weather is bad and you can’t go fishing. All the top anglers are featured, so finding your favorite isn’t going to be a problem.
Another reason to watch these shows is that they’ll help you plan your next big fishing trip. The Elite Series has held at least one tournament in every part of the country — one that’s guaranteed to be close enough to where you live that you can fish it — and they’re held on the very best bass fishing waters. If the Elites fished it, it’s guaranteed to be a good place. This will give you a starting point when you’re thinking about where to go next year.
It doesn’t matter what kind of water you like to fish, either. We’ve been to manmade reservoirs, natural lakes, the Great Lakes and rivers. There’s something for everyone. Even better, you can look and see when we were there. That’ll give you a good idea of when you should go. Mostly, we fish waters when they are supposed to be at their best.
Keep in mind, though, that no one can predict with certainty when a body of water will be at its peak. Long range weather forecasting just isn’t that good. If your schedule isn’t flexible, about all you can do is make your best guess and hope it works out.
Besides, missing the very best time by a week or two isn’t usually a disaster. Think about what’s happening with the fish. If the winter has been unusually cold, maybe the fish aren’t quite as far along as you’d expect. Or, if there’s been an early spring maybe they’re farther along than they normally would be during your trip. Regardless, they’ll bite if you show them the right bait at the right depth.
The final thing that watching these videos will do is give you an idea of where and how to fish a specific body of water. Watch what the guys were doing who made the final cut and fished on Sunday. You know they were catching them, so whatever they were doing and wherever they were doing it worked. Don’t be afraid to copy them.
This is one heck of a resource. Let’s tell it like it is. There’s nowhere else that I know about where you can you get high quality, reliable information about the best bass waters in the country for free. Take advantage of it. I am.
