Science: Fishing Success – A Matter of Good Timing?

I’ve been following BassFan coverage of the West Point Bassmaster Elite Series in Georgia this week, when this particular sentence caught my eye.

“As has been the case throughout the event, the early-morning hours – which coincide with the tail end of the daily shad spawn – will be critical on the final day.”

So here is one you may not have thought much about. Just how important is timing in a day of bass fishing? Sure you’ve got your high dollar rods and reels, your secret custom painted baits, the brushpiles that only you know about – but does that stuff take a back seat to other variables? How important is it that you have an early take-off number? It seems to apply in a lot of cases, including fishing the shad spawn bite, on lakes with bluebacks as forage, or on lakes that have a strong ledge bite. Probably many others…

So, I dug through a bunch of previous tourney coverage to come up with the following quotes from many of the top bass pros concerning this issue:

“Really I didn’t do anything different the last 2 days, my timing was just off on that first day,” he said. “Everything about this lake has to do with timing. If you start running your spots and you hit them wrong it can be really slow. And that’s what happened to me on day 1.” – Tim Horton

“This was one of those examples where local knowledge on the lake was huge. Also, running and gunning (was critical). I think it was a timing thing, and you had to hit some areas at certain key times of the day.” – Greg Bohannan

“I just kept moving. It’s a timing deal on this lake. I’d run most of my points six or seven times a day.” – Casey Ashley

“Really, this lake’s about timing. You have to get your timing down. I know there’s some good fish where I’m fishing, but my timing just has to be better.” – John Murray

“Tomorrow I’ll pretty much do the same stuff in the morning, then probably change my timing around on some of my stuff. You have to fish in the right type of water for the weather conditions you have. Today was a lousy day to fish shallow on the main lake.” – Jay Yelas

“I really like fishing in Florida,” he said. “I’ve never really broken anything wide open down there, but I’ve been pretty consistent. The thing about it is, it’s such a timing deal. Florida fish don’t seem to feed all the time. Usually you’re around a lot if you’re catching any, but you’re not going to sit there and catch them all at once.” – Luke Clausen

“I don’t know about tomorrow – it’s too easy to blank here if your timing is off.” – Jarrett Edwards

The reason, he says, is that in hot weather bass often suspend, and “when they move up, they move up to eat – and remember it’s a big timing issue. When they’re suspended, they’re bulletproof.” – Homer Humphreys, Jr.

“If you don’t have current on the ledges, then you need to be able to run a rotation,” he said. “You need six to eight places and you have to get a timing thing going. That wasn’t going to be possible with so many boats and so few ledges.” – Kevin Wirth

“I landed on the right spot at the right time. It was a timing issue the whole way around. You just run from place to place and then pull up and catch fish – just instantaneously.” – Peter T

“The fish bit better (that day), but this thing was all about timing. If you pulled up on the right dock at the right time, or the right stretch of docks, you caught them.”  – Scott Rook

“If there’s anything I can look back on and say I could’ve done a little bit better, it was that my timing was off on my moves today. I was missing it by about 20 minutes.” – David Dudley

“It’s just one of those deals where I have to keep moving and keep looking. It’s a lot about timing and a lot about boat-positioning, and I’m just trying to get fish to react to several different baits.” – Kevin VanDam

“Once in a while it’s your timing,” he added. “I pulled into one area where I felt like I could catch some good fish, and (Duckett) was already in there and had worked it. I pulled into another area and Ish Monroe was already there. Sometimes you get on the wrong timing, when you’re following people. Maybe more of that went on today than I realized.” – Denny Brauer

“I don’t think sun will help me at all – I’d prefer to have 2 more days just like today. It’s such a timing thing here and the sun might reposition the fish, so I’ll have to keep my game face on.” – Cliff Pace

Because he’s only fishing small areas, he typically spends no more than 30 minutes fishing them. “If I can’t make them bite on the jig or a crankbait, I might jig a spoon a minute, and then I’m gone. But I might want to return later in the day. You really don’t know what timeframe is best in deepwater spots. It can be noon or early morning. You just have to go back until you get the timing down.” – Larry Nixon