Bass fishing in Upstate NY in 2020 was a huge success for Kyle Patrick. In just under four months, he has won a total of 16 tournaments. With his placements, he qualifies for the Bassmaster team trail championship through Empire Team Trial which is going to be on Harris Chain December 9-12th. This gives him a chance to make it to the Bassmaster Classic.
What’s The Secret?
Fishing in shallow water for bites was the key to his consistent performance. Slowing down in certain situations was crucial. “I have spent many tournaments working on certain fish for more than an hour even when not spawning. This is a tricky thing to do when competing because time is not on your side. If that specific fish does not turn in to a catch, it makes your tournament that much harder to win. On the flip side, the fish you are working on has to be a good enough fish that if you catch him, he is going to help your overall weight substantially. This is a lot of what I did. Lots of anglers stayed deep and they caught numbers but only in the 2-3lbs range. My fish came from mostly less than 8 feet of water. While I was not catching more than 5-10 fish per tournament, they were the right ones the majority of the time.”
Many people shy away from fishing in super shallow water especially when the clarity of the water is as gin clear as it is in most northern lakes. However, Kyle sees that as an advantage. Most of his fish would be twenty yards away when he casted. “I would chase fish for 10 minutes sometimes even longer without casting at all. Therefore, I could see where they are moving. Once that fish would stop and settle down at a piece of structure or weed edge, I would capitalize and catch them.” Most baits that were thrown included senkos, and drop shot rigs customized for certain scenarios. Making adjustments even in the middle of sight fishing a big fish yielded many bass that anchored his bags.
A tip that Kyle stresses is don’t be afraid to follow fish. You have to understand specific fish movement and feel out the attitude. If you think the fish isn’t going to bite, don’t spend more than ten minutes max on them. Just be sure to mark that fish for coming back later.
Tools To Success
My success this year has also come from the rods that I use. Douglas Spinning and Casting rods are some of the best in the industry. The rods that I used the most were the LRS C765XF and XMatrix DXS6103XF. The DXS6103XF provided me with accuracy when casting in shallows and under docks. I have boat flipped fish this year on spinning gear that would have snapped pretty much any other rod. And that same fish that bit, I caught because of that sensitive tip. Bites feel like sunfish nibbling when in actuality it’s a 4-5lb pound bass. The LRS was versatile as I pitched jigs, creature, baits and even frogs. I’m not claiming that other rods are not good, however you have to have faith in the rods that you use and Douglas Outdoors without a doubt provides a rod that enables confidence in me when I hold them.”
