Entry 185-1

How I’ll Fish the Classic with Mike Wurm

Part 1: Warming Up Before the Classic

Question: What do you know about Lay Lake?

Wurm: I went to Lay Lake before the cutoff date this year and talked to a lot of people to determine how to fish in February on Lay. With my research, I’m really excited about the Classic being held in February in Alabama. The weather will be more comfortable than it was when we fished Alabama in August. I know we may get some cold weather and possibly some cold, windy weather. But I still think that even if we have severe cold weather, we’ll catch more fish, and the weather will feel more comfortable than fishing Alabama in August, when the temperature frequently reached over 100 degrees.

When the bass are in that type of summertime weather, they don’t behave like they do at any other time of year. That was the problem at Lay Lake the last time we fished it, and Jay Yelas won the Classic. When I practiced for that tournament in June, I found fish, caught fish and had a great pre-practice. I really thought I’d do well in the tournament. However, when we got on that lake in August, all the bass I’d found in pre-practice were gone. So, I had to hunt for all new bass, as though I hadn’t practiced.

But this year, Bassmaster has changed the rules, and we’ll get to practice one week before the tournament. So, we can concentrate on our practice time and know that the fish we find in practice should be in that same general area during tournament week. The time we’re fishing will be late winter and early pre-spawn. If we get a warming front come in and sit on the lake during the tournament, there should be some huge bass caught. We should catch good numbers of fish everyday.

Question: Mike, what will you do if you get that warming front just before the tournament, and then during tournament week, we have a cold front hit the lake?

Wurm: I hope that if a cold front hits, it will hit during practice. If we get a cold front without rain, we won’t be affected as badly as if we get a cold front with a lot of rain. If the area just has a change in air temperature, the bass will be sluggish, but we’ll still be able to catch them. But if we get cold rain coming into the lake, the water will really cool down, and the fishing conditions will really get tough.

Right now, I’m determined to fish the bank, if at all possible. Lay Lake has some great bank fishing, and unless we get that cold weather with a lot of rain, I plan to fish on the banks using my shallow-water baits and tactics. I believe that’s where I’ll catch the big bass. I know there are some good bass out on Lay’s points and the ridges, and that’s where you’ll primarily find spotted bass. So, that will be my backup plan. But the heaviest weighted fish will be caught on the bank.

Question: What will cause you to shift from bank-fishing for largemouth to fishing open water for spotted bass?

Wurm: Obviously, if I’m not catching largemouth on the bank, I’ll move to open water. The week before our three-day practice for the tournament, I’ll try to find some really-good spotted bass locations for my backup plan. There are huge populations of spotted bass in Lay Lake. If I can establish a fall-back plan to catch the spotted bass when my bank pattern gets blown out, I’ll feel real comfortable about my chances in the Classic.

If the spotted bass will be holding in the mouths of creeks around underwater standing timber, I think the spotted bass will have their noses pointed toward the creeks. I don’t believe they’ll be holding out on the main river channel. Spotted bass won’t be going to the banks to spawn, but they will be thinking about going to the banks to spawn.

Next: My No. 1 Pattern

Contents:

• Part 1: Warming Up Before the Classic
• Part 2: My No. 1 Pattern
• Part 3: My Second Pattern
• Part 4: Why I’ll Go Wild at the Classic
• Part 5: What a Classic Win Will Mean to Me