Bobby Blakewell’s recent win put a smile on my face. Taking down the recent Bassmaster Open on Lake Martin, Bakewell went against the grain with a buzzbait. Hardly the lure of choice on Martin, Blakewell capitalized on largemouth, a small group compared to the lake’s massive spotted bass population.
We see this quite a bit in tournament bass fishing. While the majority of the field fishes one way, or with a lure known to produce, the winner bucks the trend and picks up something different. A topwater over deep water, or a frog when everyone else is smallmouth fishing.
When it pays off, it pays off big. I can remember when national tournaments expanded their northern swing, visiting Lake Oneida for the first time. There, Tommy Biffle ignored open water and went ultra-shallow, flipping for the win. That dates me a bit, but the pattern remains. A guy throws the Hail Mary and every now and then, it’s caught.
Today, it happens less. Tournament anglers are more dialed in than ever. Even before getting to the lake, most anglers already know the productive areas and best patterns. The amount of information available is incredible. Map study is at a new level, as many of our top waters have literally been catalogued. Software is spot-on.
Once on the water, today’s anglers have the ability to scrutinize every rock and drop, determining the number of fish present before making a cast. We’re one step away from viewing the lake without water.
Mathematically speaking, then, it’s nearly impossible to find something others have missed. Sometimes, as was the case with Bakewell, presenting a unique offering to pressured bass makes all the difference.
For many, the hard part is simply giving it a shot.
Everything within reason conflicts the idea. Previous data suggests where the fish should be; sonar confirms it. Lure choices have been refined to the best possible options. The pros prove it.
It's difficult to think outside the box when big-name anglers keep reeling in wins in predictable manners.
Yet, digging through tournament stats from 2024, one pattern kept repeating itself. Here, I’m not talking about Jighead minnows or Japanese plastics. I’m referring to a pattern within the people.
Desparation.
While several tournaments were won by pre-tournament favorites, just as many were dominated by darkhorse candidates, Bakewell being our latest example. Following the event, all credited a simple ingredient in their plan, though cleaned up for the press release.
The concept of having nothing to lose. No expectation of doing well in the event. Hoping just to fish decent and recover a few expenses. Desperation.
Such concern can do a lot for a tournament fisherman. For starters, it forces you to slow down and focus. It’s hard to run when you have nowhere to go.
We see an angler milk a spot for everything it’s worth, nowhere else to turn. It pays off as the rest of the field presses on. You can’t catch fish without a lure in the water, and one-spot champions maximize their time. Occasionally, the one spot turns out to be the best spot, and the game is over right out of the gate. All that’s left to do is order a pizza at the ramp.
Other times, an unsuspecting angler stumbles on something during competition, essentially practicing during the event. This has proven to be the best formula for a win. Patterns develop in real time, and anglers who find and capitalize on them reap the rewards. The best pros can predict it, somewhat, and leave space in their schedule to sniff around a bit.
When an angler is willing to move, even encouraged by desperation, they fish in the flow. Easier said than done; practicing when a $5,000 entry fee is on the line doesn’t make a lot of sense. Try explaining it to your wife. In any case, when it works, it’s golden, turning a desperate angler into a celebrity.
This season, possibly more than any other I’ve researched, we witnessed a number of anglers who credited “nowhere else to go”, or “just hoping to do well” as their pre-tournament outlook, while, later, they held the big check.
So how does this influence strategy? Is it best to skip practice, starting clean from the gate? Should we hope to strike out while scouting, forcing desperation to take over?
That wouldn’t work for most anglers. It’s in our make-up to treat tournament bass fishing like any other task. We rely on our knowledge to point us in the right direction. Reason enters the decision-making process, leading to beneficial and predictable results.
But sometimes the fish don’t get the memo. In that case, it may be best to delete the file and start over.
The purpose of education, it’s said, is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
(Joe Balog is the often-outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)
