Fishing with Kenny | On the Water Awareness

article by  KENNY COVINGTON

I ran a camera boat several years ago for a FLW Toyota series on the Ouachita River.  The camera man was in the boat with me, and I would use the trolling motor to follow whatever angler he was assigned to follow and video for the day.  I learned on this day the importance of being aware of your surroundings while fishing and what the painful results are when you aren’t.

The angler’s name we were assigned to has been long forgotten but the incident I am going to tell you about has stuck with me for many years.  After following the angler for the first half of the day, he had made his was south on the river to a stretch of bank about a mile north of Cypress creek, a subtle bend with a series of logs and blow downs in the water.  

After fishing this one set of trees for almost fifteen minutes, the angler turned to the camera man and said, “If I am going to have a chance to win this tournament, I am going to catch my fish by these two laydown trees in the water.  I have caught most of my fish right here the past three days.” With that statement, he turned around and for another ten minutes picked the area apart, muttering how he knew the fish were there, he just had to make them bite.

About this time, bored with his lack of action, I turned and looked up at the bank and not fifty yards from where he was repeatedly casting, a school of bass was blowing up shad.  In about a ten-yard stretch of bank covered by cypress roots, bass were knocking shad onto the bank, they were everywhere!  I turned around to look at the angler and he hadn’t even looked up.  His focus was on the two trees that would determine his fate at the weigh in.  

As I turned once again to the stretch of bank, once again, bass were mercilessly feeding on the shad they had pinned to the cypress root studded bank.  The fish to win this tournament were within his eyesight and he never saw them!  I poked my camera man on the shoulder and pointed to the scene that kept repeating itself, his reaction was priceless.  With mouth wide open he watched the same scene I saw, and he slowly started filming the angler, continually glancing back at the frenzy, amazed that the angler never saw what was going on two casts away from where he was fishing.

Later, while standing around at the weigh-in, listening to the angler lament about his day, I told him about the scene and wondered aloud how he could have missed such an excellent opportunity.  “What are you talking about?” he asked incredulously. “You have to be kidding me, I didn’t see anything like that!”

“Ask your camera man, he will tell you exactly what we saw.” (As I was saying this, the camera man was nodding in agreement.) “He even stopped filming you for a minute or two to see for himself.  A school of fish were blowing up shad not fifty yards from where you were beating those trees to death.  The fish to win this tournament were a cast and a half up the bank, and you totally missed them.  I could tell you were so focused on those trees that had rewarded you the previous three days that you put all your eggs in that basket.  You were oblivious to anything and everything else around you, and it cost you the tournament.”

With a blank look on his face, he slowly shook his head, and muttered “Unbelievable” as he turned and walked away.

That, my fellow anglers, is how a lack of on-the-water awareness can cost you a great day of fishing or a chance of winning $100,000.

So, now that we have used a real time on the water event to set the stage, you may be asking yourself, “So how do we turn what is obviously a negative, into a positive?”  Let’s take a look!

First thing you need to do, “Keep your eyes and mind open to all possibilities.”

We are all guilty of the “Well, the fish should be doing….” Statement in fishing.  Well, most of the time we are wrong.  A typical fishing day should include taking the current conditions, the time of year, the seasonal movements, and the body of water you are on to dictate to you how your day should be.  Allow the day to come to you, and listen to your instincts, you will become a better angler.

The second thing, “Listen to what the fish are telling you.”

Another thing we are all guilty of, we have a bait that we know the fish will bite, we believe the fish will bite it and we expect the fish to bite it, but guess what?  Most of the time they don’t.  If the water is calm, bright skies, and without a hint of a breeze, the chances of you catching fish on a topwater lure are not particularly good.  If you have a cloudy, breezy day with a good water stain, your chances of getting a topwater bite are much better.  Let the conditions and the fish tell you what they want.

Lastly, “Never give up and never stop learning.”

I have been fortunate to win my fair share of tournament over the years, and the one thing I am proud of is I am always trying to get better and learn more than I did before my last trip to the lake.  I have won a lot of money after 2 o’clock with a weigh-in at 3, because I believe the harder I work, the more consistent my results seem to be.  Always keep in mind, someone always catches fish and that someone may as well be you!

I hope we have been able to share some information with you that will help make your next trip to the water more successful.  Keep your eyes, mind, and ears open to the endless possibilities and I assure you that you will become a better angler.  When it comes to fishing, time on the water is your best friend!

Take care, catch one for me and I will see you next month!