COVER MORE WATER
WITH HIGH-SPEED TACTICS
Birge is of the mindset that covering water will lead to more
opportunities during the day. Hence, moving quickly has always been
his favorite way to target bass, and he’s made it work as a professional
angler.
When he gets into a competition, his goal is to use power-fishing
strategies to up his odds of finding and capitalizing on those opportunities,
rather than getting mired in a slow, finesse approach.
“I grew up fishing fast and running whatever looks good to me,
and that is still how I approach tournaments,” Birge says. “The more
casts you can make in a day, the more fish you can get in front of.”
Since power-fishing techniques often produce big bass, Birge
says it’s an excellent approach for tournament fishing. The added
benefit is the number of fish that can be caught while covering vast
expanses of water.
“For my sake, fishing fast is the best way for me to get in a position
to do well, both in the individual tournament and for points for
the end of the year,” he adds. “If you keep moving quickly and start
getting bites in certain areas or on types of cover, you can build off of
that and figure the pattern out that much faster, in my opinion.”
He also feels it’s an asset for the MLF every-fish-counts format.
“Our game is all about generating bites. Fishing fast with powerfishing
techniques is a great way to do that,” Birge adds. “There isn’t
a better way to both cover water and eliminate water than by moving
down the bank and fishing quickly.”
TARGET BIGGER FISH
WITH HEAVY-COVER TECHNIQUES
While Birge likes to cover water quickly and move down the bank
with reaction baits, Monroe is known for his prowess with big rods
and heavy braided line.
A big reason why is that power-fishing tackle is necessary to fish
in the places that Monroe believes are home to the biggest bass.
“If you look at tournament fishing from the very beginning to now,
spinning tackle has never been a large player in the wins,” he says.
“Sure, it has moments on some lakes, but for the most part, you can’t
expect to win with a spinning rod, and I would much rather be fishing
the way that I want to every time I am on the water.”
The techniques he most often employs to catch better quality
bass – frogging, flipping and punching thick vegetation – require that
he use power-fishing tackle.
“I am always fishing to win, and that often means flipping the
heaviest cover you can find,” Monroe says. “You just can’t do that
with spinning tackle or you would lose every fish that bites. It’s just
my mentality, and when I am in a tournament, I am still looking for
those 8-, 10- and 12-pound bass. Those fish of a lifetime are still possible
in a tournament.
“Power-fishing is my way of fishing whether it is a five-fish game
or the Major League Fishing format,” he adds. “If you look at all of the
Bass Pro Tour events that have taken place so far, only one, at Table
Rock Lake, was won with a spinning rod. Power-fishing with baitcast
gear is still the way to win tournaments.”
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