USCA-RECLAIMED-ACCOUNT

Originally Posted by Bigcatpat

GOOD QUESTION Kip!I,m with you on this one,I never hit more than 2 holes on any given night.The main reason for that is that my back can,t take more than a couple put ups and take downs.Some of the PA guys I,ve fished with know I like to be comfortable when i,m fishing.All the gear I drag along,it looks like the friggin carnivals coming to town.LOL.I get a lot of multiple fish night though,Usually always 3-4 at least or else none.I use different holes for different conditions,this is where my log books start playing such a big role.I know the deepest wintering holes in my area and start spreading out from them as soon as the water starts warming up.I try to follow them and stay on em.Sometimes I guess wrong and they,re the nights I get none.I like to sort the flats I catch into either home fish or travelers.The spots where I fish early in the evening are usually close to some major cover where they hole up during the day.My late spots(after midnite) are spots where I,ve found them travelling in between feeding spots.The ones that I catch traveling out in the channel,I try to figure out where they,re coming from or heading to,then on future trips I,ll try setting up earlier where I think they were coming from.I wish they could talk,so I could interrogate them and get that information out of them!LOL.Don,t get me wrong,there,s still an element of luck involved,but I like to keep the odds in my favor.You start looking back through your logs from previous years and you,ll see the patterns setting up like a light bulb goin off.I,ve got spots where I know they,ll be when the waters either up high or spots where I find them when the waters down and slow.I had a lot of people rib me about keeping notes,but it,s really paid off.It,s just too hard for me to remember where I got em under different conditions without them.It took me a hell of a lot of trial and error and fishless nights to get this system down.Some nights I was just finding where the flats weren,t!That helped out too in the long run.I only fish the bank now,but I,ve had boats for most of my life,those years when I had a boat and could try 6-10 spots a night,helped speed things up.The holes where they got the right cover for spawning,I can usually find them there year after year during the spawn.I don,t move more than once a night,but I may try 10 different holes in a week until I find em.Some holes are bait related,if I know the white bass are running around a crick in the spring,i,ll fish there and see if the flatties are following them.When the shad are stacking below the dams,i,ll hit some of my dam spots.In short(like that,s possable at this point),if your only getting 1 out of a spot and nothing more,It,s my opinion that you,re getting fish that are on the move.Try and figure out where they,re headed to or coming from and set up there,and I think you,ll get into the numbers nights.I,ve got a COUPLE holes that i,ll sit on all night,simply because they have a history of giving up big fish.One last piece of advice,if I fish a hole where i,m getting nice fish and then it starts just giving up #10 and under fish,i,ll still move from it the next night.I believe the big boys take the choice holes and the smaller ones follow behind at a distance.I won,t move far,cause I know the bigger ones are still setup nearby,just up or downriver a few hundred yds maybe.I have trouble putting my thoughts into words at times,I,m better at explaining things in person,but I hope this helps some to put you on some multiple big fish nights.Goood thread brother!I,d like to get together and do some flattin with ya sometime,if you get up this way or I can get down your way!:wink: