Jack Wollitz: Fish the moment, not history

Recent fishing trips have served up valuable reminders about focusing on the basics when it comes to strategies and tactics.

No two fishing days are identical — even when we are fishing the same lake for the same species and dealing with similar conditions. That is a major reason why fishing is so interesting.

Anglers must decide when to zig and when to zag. As every experienced angler knows, some days we guess right and some days we guess wrong.

After recent trips to Milton, Mosquito and Lake Wilhelm near Sandy Lake, Pa., I noticed I’ve been more consumed with trivial details than with the fundamentals.

At Milton, I had a so-so day because I was guilty of overthinking the location of the most catchable fish. At Mosquito, I did what many of us do: I fished history instead of the moment.

At Wilhelm, I never committed to one of the two or three patterns that would have netted me a heftier haul than the meager catch resulting from me bouncing through four different tactical approaches.

All three of these cases were tournament days. Competition in fishing is like competition in other sports. Anglers are able to truly compare their results with others and judge how they might have drummed up better catches.

My approach on Milton involved pitching plastic creature baits into the shadowy holes in stands of cattails up in the Mahoning River. At days end, when I learned others had harvested far more bass fishing similarly, I realized I had missed clues about where the fish were holding and how they were relating to the cover.

Mosquito is perhaps the hottest lake in our region this year. Walleyes, crappies and largemouth bass are numerous and well fed. So while catching a few fish may satisfactory on other local lakes, that’s just a so-so score most days at Mosquito.

Like many, I fall victim to fishing my favorite spots on Mosquito even when other locations are far more likely to yield more and bigger bass.

The lesson is that we should go to the lake with an open mind and let each day’s conditions determine where and how we will fish.

Lake Wilhelm hammered home another lesson. Read the clues and focus on the depth and cover where the bass live. It sounds so very simple – and it is. But anglers can get antsy and veer off course when a bit too much time passes between bites.

At Wilhelm, I finished the day with eight rods on the deck. Each rod was rigged with different lures — to cover all of the options. Too many rods means I wasn’t committed. Over the years I’ve learned the fewer rods I have on deck, the better my ultimate score.

Had I focused on two lures — a vibrating jig for burning through sparse vegetation and a plastic worm to hop into the thicker clumps, I’m pretty sure I would have had a more successful day.

Instead, I lurched in and out, up and down, left and right — catching five bass on five different lures and never zeroing in on the best tactic.

With so many other complicated pursuits in our lives, we don’t need to make fishing difficult. Milton, Mosquito and Wilhelm all prove what I’ve always known but often forget: Fishing is more fun when I focus on the fundamentals.

Jack Wollitz is a lifelong angler who writes about fishing in northeast Ohio and ideas to help us enjoy our time on the water. He appreciates emails from readers. Send a note to him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.