Thanks to electronics , we can drive right to a waypoint or specific contour , “ anchor ” on it with the trolling motor and fish it for hours . That has put a lot more pressure on specific spots that used to be secret honey holes . In the meantime , full daily coverage of the Bass Pro Tour has revealed more true secrets reside in how bite windows work .
The advent of real-time scoring across each day of BPT tournaments has shed light on these conditional windows that open for periods of time throughout the day . Today ’ s top pros are much more attuned to bite windows and what ’ s creating that feeding opportunity .
tide cycles
Tides are a fundamental example of a force that creates bite windows . Bass that are subjected to ubiquitous tide cycles learn to use the ebbs and flows to feed .
In tidal fisheries , bass tend to be more predictable on falling tides . As water and bait are pulled off the flats down onto cover or edges like laydowns , pilings , hard spots or vegetation in deeper water , they set up in more predictable places . If you hear of pros talk of “ riding the tide ,” it often means running with a particular tidal window as it moves up or down a river or bay system so they can stay in the premium bite window for a longer period of time .
catching the current
Moving water is a big player in the bite window phenomenon . If you fish Tennessee Valley Authority fisheries regularly , you know just how critical current generation is to bite generation .
Variation in dam generation changes the water velocity , which in turn changes the bite windows . If a couple more generators open at the dam , the velocity increases , causing some bite windows along ledges to close and others to open .
Chains of lakes that are controlled by a series of dams create a constant game of variable velocity moving the bite windows around . Beyond that , reading current seams and eddies in moving water is still a true art in fishing . Some pros are just naturally great current readers : They can look at moving water and see the perfect bite windows in the moving water . watch the wind
Wind is another huge bite window creator . Much like current velocity , changes in wind speed or direction create new opportunities . The great Aaron Martens taught me some special things about wind that make it such a potent force in creating bite windows .
Specifically , Martens revealed that it ’ s not so much just wind itself that opens windows , but rather changes in wind speed or direction that creates them . If it ’ s been slick-calm all morning and then a healthy breeze begins to ruffle the surface , a bite window is opening as bass sense the sudden change and respond accordingly . On the other hand , if the wind has been thrashing one side of the lake for three days and suddenly shifts or calms , a bite window is opening as that side of the lake settles back down .
it ’ s all about color
Water color is another everchanging condition that pros have a keen eye for when identifying bite windows . The general rule of thumb for bite windows with water color is finding water colored slightly differently from the norm at that time . This is particularly true of highland impoundments that are historically very clear .
Heavy rainfall will send slugs of colored water down the system that create feeding windows for a couple days before it clears back up . The opposite is true for big natural lakes or lowland impoundments that get roiled up with wind or a huge influx of muddy water that turns the lake into “ chocolate milk .” In this case , bite windows generally occur where clearer water leaches into the lake from inflows of cleaner water like marshes or small seeps .
Pros are good at reading the right water color relative to where they ’ re fishing . “ Good ” water color is different for every region of the country , and having an eye for the right water color is a like having a crow bar to open up the window or a brick to smash it open .
forage spawns
Bass have an innate sense for finding food ; their primary job is to observe their environment to locate easy prey . With that , they ’ re good at sniffing out forage that ’ s in the process of reproduction . Bass know that typically spawning forage must gather in large masses and is focused on reproduction , making the prey abundant and vulnerable .
Whether it ’ s a shad spawn , sunfish bedding , crawfish mating or mayflies hatching , bass know where and when it happens . This process creates a tremendous bite window in areas that otherwise might not be productive . Over the years , pros have discovered a lot about bite windows with shad and bream , but there ’ s still a lot of mystery surrounding the spawning habits of blueback herring , gobies and crawfish .
manufactured conditioning
Man-made functions are the fastest growing forms of bite windows emerging due to development around lakes . To a large degree , bass are conditional creatures : When something in their environment creates a feeding opportunity on a regular basis , they ’ re going to take advantage of it .
Some of the more obvious forms of this man-made conditioning come from drainage pipes that flow into a lake when it rains or locks that open and close with the passage of boats going through a dam . Some people have lights on their dock or auto-feeders that sling out fish food ; both attract smaller fish , which in turn bring bass .
Examples of other such conditionings are numerous : trestle bridges that rumble with each passing train , barges that push “ barge tides ” up rivers or the end of idle zones where boats get up on plane during heavy boat traffic weekends – all are functions bass can get conditioned to get an easy meal .
One of the coolest man-made bite windows I ever witnessed happened while fishing a tough tournament on Lake Texoma with bass pro Jay Yelas years ago . Yelas had discovered that when the striper guides returned to a particular marina dock every day at lunchtime and released their excess live bait back into the lake , a 30-minute bass feeding frenzy resulted . Over the course of three days , Yelas nearly won that event , mostly from bass he caught during that magical manmade bite window .
DECEMBER-JANUARY 2023 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 23