plan , an objective and a method to work together .”
With that in mind , Becker offers a few options for maximizing the team ’ s beam .
fire up , double up
Forward-facing sonar excels when schools of bass are aggressively feeding in open water . When a bass is hooked , the rest of the school becomes competitive and usually follows the fighting fish . This is when most anglers wish they could cast another lure out to the melee . Well , now they can .
“ After getting a fish on , if your partner can immediately cast to the frenzy , it ’ s usually an automatic double ,” Becker says . “ The guy fighting the initial
ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MAHLER fish might want to slow down on horsing it to the boat to give his partner an extra second or two to make the right cast to the following group . The window of opportunity to catch the second fish is usually small , but doubling up is certainly possible if your partner is quick on the trigger .”
cross triangulation
When bass turn neutral or negative , their strike zones shrink considerably . This is when extremely accurate presentations are required . For this situation , Becker and his partner sharpen their presentation accuracy by having one angler make the first cast to establish visual marker points . Since the splash of the lure can be seen on the water ’ s surface and on the screen , it gives the angler making the second cast a much better idea of the exact distance and depth of the fish .
“ We might see a fish , and I ’ ll take the first cast ,” Becker details . “ As soon as my lure hits the water , we now have a reference point from the dimples on the surface . Now my partner can better judge his cast , because he sees how the fish moves relative to the reference points . Plus , there is not as much pressure to make the first cast so perfect . The first cast is just a ‘ line-up ’ for your partner ’ s second cast , which is the money cast . It works pretty well when you get in a good rhythm with this process .”
setting a trap
When fish consistently follow lures like jerkbaits and swimbaits to the boat without biting them , it can be extremely frustrating . A pack of fish might “ play ” with the lure all the way to the boat . When the lure is reeled up and they ’ ve had their fun playing chase , they sulk back down to the bottom , presumably laughing at the angler ’ s offerings .
Becker has a cure for this problem called “ setting the trap ,” which can only be done with two anglers in the boat .
Before engaging the pack of fish , one angler pitches a sinking bait like a Ned rig , jig or drop-shot just in front of the boat and lets it sit on the bottom . Then , the other angler casts to the fish with a jerkbait or a swimbait and starts teasing them back to the boat . Once the fish following the “ teaser ” give up and return to the bottom under the boat , the other angler hops the bottom bait to get their attention .
“ It works pretty well on smallmouth ,” Becker says . “ I ’ m sure it ’ ll work on largemouth and spotted bass followers , too , especially if groups follow the first lure . It ’ s all fun and games when they ’ re chasing the teasing lure . But when something suddenly appears , hopping around on the bottom , they race to eat it . It ’ s a pretty cool trick .”
bait and switch
Another luxury of team tournaments is the opportunity to try more lures , colors and sizes to see what best triggers the fish on that day .
“ Since we can closely monitor a bass ’ reaction to a lure on live sonar , we can quickly tell what triggers them and what doesn ’ t ,” Becker says . “ When fishing alone in a tournament , I want to constantly change lure size , weight , color , line size or even a rod action to give a lure a different look , but I simply don ’ t have time to tie different stuff on all day . With a partner , one guy can fish , and the other guy can dig through tackle , constantly feeding the point guy different options and vice versa .”
Becker says on several occasions , this has led to something as subtle as a color change or line size change that turns on the bite . As a result , he encourages team anglers to experiment constantly , especially when fish are uncooperative .
“ That ’ s the fun part about using forward-facing in team tournaments – it ’ s an opportunity to learn something new ,” Becker says . “ When fishing alone , you can ’ t simultaneously introduce other lures into the game to see how the fish react to them , but you can with a partner . This can lead to a lot of one-two lure combinations that fish have not seen .”
“ after getting a fish on , if your partner can immediately cast to the frenzy , it ’ s usually an automatic double .”
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2024 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 19