Entry 51-3
Mike Wurm on Consistently Finding Bass
Why Mike Wurm Says to Take Enough Stuff
Editor's Note: Mike Wurm, from Hot Springs, Arkansas, has fished professionally for 12 years. He's fished in six BASS Masters Classics. In seven of the eight tournaments he's fished in this year, he's earned a check, and he's finished in the top 16 in three of those tournaments. Wurm is one of the most-consistent anglers on the B.A.S.S. circuit. This week, Wurm will explain five secrets to his consistent bass fishing.
Wurm: The third key to consistency is to take enough stuff. Don't sell yourself short when you're fishing a tournament. Make sure you've got enough tackle so that regardless of what the bass are biting, you've got plenty of those lures. For instance, if the bass are really attacking a Strike King 3X 6-inch green pumpkin worm, make sure you have more than two of them in your tackle box. Don't just have two of one size and color of crankbait, because if the bass really start biting that crankbait, and you lose the two you've brought, then you can't continue to catch bass on a lure you don't have.
If you don't take enough tackle, and you run out of the lure the bass want on that day, not only does it hurt your fishing, it hurts you mentally. You can really get down on yourself because you're so stupid that you haven't brought enough of the lures the bass want to eat on that day. I can tell you this, because I've done it. If you're going to consistently catch bass, not only do you have to have the right stuff, you've got to be in the right mental condition. So not carrying enough tackle with you hurts you in two different ways, not just one.
Also remember to carry enough stuff in your vehicle for not only a two- to four-day tournament but enough for two or three consecutive tournaments. If you run out of a particular lure on a day you're fishing in practice, you can always go back to your vehicle and get more lures if you've brought them with you. If you don't have extra lures in your vehicle, then you've got some real problems. You've got to find a sporting-goods store that is open, then pray that store has the lures you're looking for in the right colors you want and hope the store has more than one of the lures for which you're searching.
If you can't find the lure, then you have to call the manufacturer and pray they can overnight the lures that you need in time for the tournament. All these problems can be very frustrating and will take your attention off the tournament and catching bass and cause you to not fish well. For this reason, I say take plenty of stuff when you go fishing.
Every day I fish I'll have at least five Strike King Series 3 fire-tiger crankbaits in my tackle box. I'll probably have 20 pounds of Bitsy Bugs and jigheads. I make sure that regardless of how many lures I may lose during a day of fishing, I've still got lures to fish until the end of the day.
To be a tournament fisherman, you have to stock your vehicle so that it becomes your tackle store, regardless of where you are, how many days you have to fish, and how rough the cover is on the lake. Don't forget the line. I always carry 12, 3000-yard spools of line in my vehicle, ranging in size from 8-pound-test to 25-pound-test. I'll also have several-different colors of line from clear to green. If you're going to be a bass fisherman, and more importantly, if you're going to be a tournament-bass fisherman, you not only have to have the right stuff, you have to have plenty of the right stuff.
