“ I tend to stay away from
the obvious stuff … ”
— DAVID DUDLEY
1. Be Willing to Fish for Five Bites
There are certainly lakes and reservoirs in this country
where catching dozens of bass per day in August and
September is possible. Those lakes don’t typically host the
Cup. And, at some point, everyone is going to have to tackle
a five-bites-a-day lake.
“That time of year, no matter what lake you’re on, you
just have to go in with the mentality that if I get five bites in
a day I’m doing good,” Dudley says. “That’s what I’ve adopt-
ed. If I get more than five bites, hey, I’ve had a great day. A
lot of people get spun out on some of that stuff.
“Anywhere I think I can get a bite, I’m going to attempt it.
That time of year there are going to be fish shallow,
midrange, suspended and deep. So you’re just scrounging.
A lot of other times of the year, you can get bit doing a lot
of things, but what you’re doing might not be the right
thing. When you’re going for five bites, anything that can get
a bite is a good thing.”
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2. Avoid the Obvious
When you’re fishing for five bites a day, a one-fish spot
is pretty important. It could account for 20 percent of your
daily catch. That doesn’t mean Dudley fishes every culvert,
bridge piling, marked brush pile, spillway and other obvi-
ous target in front of him – at least not when preparing for
a multiple-day event.
“I tend to stay away from the obvious stuff because it’ll
get beat up during practice time,” he says.
Instead, Dudley checks a handful of consistently pro-
ductive features of a lake, and the features vary based on
lake type.
FLWFISHING.COM I AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2018