Presentation

Presentation describes the act of placing your terminal tackle at the correct depth and speed to trigger a response from the fish. This may involve a specific method of casting, trolling, or jigging. Terminal tackle and boat control decisions often depend on your choice of presenta-tion. Presentation must be continuously fine-tuned to correspond to the mood of the fish and the structure you are fishing. 

Angler Versatility

If it doesn't work, change it! This concept relates to all facets of technique, especially presentation. In extreme cases it may even mean fishing a different species. So you came for pike. Everything you tried all morning failed. A boat goes by and an angler holds up a nice stringer of crappies. If the crappies are active, go crappie fishing for the afternoon.

Of course, the danger of becoming overly versatile is that we begin to spend so much time changing things we never fish a particular method in one area long enough to establish its true effectiveness. 

Patterns

Once we establish that fish are found in a particular type of location and that we can effectively catch them using a certain presentation, we have the fish patterned. The key is now to use our maps, eyes, and perhaps electronics to duplicate our success in other areas of the lake. In other words, we will continue to fish and finetune a specific pattern. Continued environmental observation is essential. A small change in water temperature, light intensity, and other factors and our fish may shut down or change location. Then it's back to the drawing board!

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