Fish Your Trails

The recent Grand Lake Bassmaster Elite Series in Oklahoma was an excellent study in how to fish offshore on new water. Four of the Top 5 competitors worked offshore brush, but only winner Mike McClelland had significant experience on the lake.

For the others, Grand was a brand new deal.

Oklahoma pro Edwin Evers finished 4th, and he noted his electronics were a major factor in his finish. Sure, everyone fishes with electronics, but he's developed a system that allows him to replicate exact casting angles down to the foot on hundreds of brushpiles.

The key is a bow-mounted GPS.

• A bow-mounted GPS zoomed in all the way lets him mark waypoints as he graphs brush or catches a fish.
  
• His GPS receiver is mounted as near to the bow as possible. That minimizes the error that occurs with a receiver mounted nearer the stern.
  
• His bow-mount GPS marks a trail that he follows each day. That allows him to replicate exact casting angles that got him bit the day before.

The bow-mounted receiver's a subtle difference that he said makes all the difference. Here's more about his system.

Why Brush Matters

Evers noted that right now, as summer patterns bloom, brush becomes one of the most important factors in developing a pattern.

"Brush is real important in a lake that doesn't have a lot of structure or homes for bass to relate to," he said. "The right depth depends a lot on the type of lake you're fishing, but the biggest factors are water clarity and time of year.

"Most of the time I focus on brush in 8 to 10 feet of water. That's a good starting spot for summertime in clearer water. I just adjust from there – sometimes I move out deeper, sometimes shallower."

Once he zeroes in on a productive combination of depth and structure, he tries to find a similar combination around the lake.

And when he finds it, he tries to zero in on the exact sweet spot. Even if it's practice, he fishes the brush thoroughly. "I want to fish it. I don't necessarily have to set the hook, but I want to know if I'm going to get bit. And I try to locate the key piece of cover within that structure.

"Not all brush holds bass, so you have to fish it," he added. "I've set thousands of brushpiles on Texoma, but that doesn't mean that bass will be there. Sometimes you need to sink 12 brushpiles just to get one bass."

All of which makes the right brushpiles – and the right casts to those brushpiles – so important. That's where his bow-mount GPS comes in.

The Right Position

The one point Evers stressed most about fishing brush is boat position.

"It's huge," he said. "On Grand this past weekend, I had to make an exact cast to get bit. I was fishing areas with quite a bit of brush, but only one piece or pile held any fish, and there was only one exact cast to it that would get you bit.

"Your position had to be perfect."

He continually referenced his bow-mount Lowrance LCX-26C HD, which he ran in split-screen mode (half depthfinder, half GPS).

"I could get back to my exact location, and I knew right where to throw," he said. "Every time I saw brush down there, I'd bend down and mark a waypoint, then back off and fish it. And the unit marks the trail of your boat on the screen.

"Each day as the tournament went on, I'd learn more piles on a particular spot."

Bow-Mount Specifics

Granted, other anglers use a similar setup, but consider some of these specifics of Evers' system, and how they can improve your fishing.

In Color

"The great thing about the color unit is you can see fish within the brushpile, once you get used to reading it," he said.

"And it's plenty bright enough to read in the sun. There's no problem there at all. You just have to keep it clean. Each night, wipe the screen down with a cleaner that isn't too harsh – like Windex or a screen cleaner."

Leave a Trail

He follows his onscreen trail from the previous days down the foot. "Having that trail is the biggest key. You know exactly what you did the day before just by watching the trail, not the depthfinder.

"It's amazing to have these trails. If I marked brush as a waypoint, I can see how my trail relates to that waypoint and you know exactly how far you are form the brushpile."

Zoom In

Evers uses the maximum zoom on his GPS. His LCX-26C HD zooms down to .04 miles.

Remove the Error

If your GPS receiver is mounted in the stern of the boat, that could be up to 20 feet away from where you're fishing. That's a significant error when you need to replicate an exact cast.

Evers' transducer for his depthfinder is mounted on the trolling motor, so he wants his GPS receiver as close to that as possible. That way, when he reads a brushpile on the depthfinder, his waypoint on the GPS will be a near-exact match.

"A lot of people make the mistake of mounting their satellite receiving unit all the way in the back of the boat. When the wind is swinging you, you'll be 20 feet off every time.

"I have mine mounted underneath the deck, all the way up under the front bow of the boat."

The receiver for his console-mount GPS is mounted right above the transducer in the transom, to match up those two screens as well.

Secure It

The bow of the boat takes a beating, so Evers cautioned to make sure the GPS receiver is securely mounted. He has Nitro technicians mount his unit, and recommended BassFans ask their boat dealer to do the same.

He noted to make sure the dealer's technician understands that you want the receiver as close as possible to the depthfinder transducer. Doing that involves removing the deck plate nearest the bow.

Also, he mounts his unit on a RAM mount. The mount reduces some of the shock when running, and also "raises the unit up about 8 inches. You can see it much better. You wouldn't believe the difference it makes."

Consider Extra Cards

Evers stores his waypoints on media cards, and he has a media card for each state he visits.

"Right before Grand, I had over 1,000 waypoints already for the year," he said. "That's how many my unit will hold, so I had to go through and start sorting them out."

He also makes sure to back-up his waypoints to his home computer, so two copies always exist.

Also of note is that both his units include navigation charts for all U.S. waters. They're stored on the harddrive. For units at a lower price point, charts can be purchased on media cards.

Console Big Screen

Next to his console, Evers mounts a Lowrance LCX-111C HD.

"It has a bigger screen so when I'm running down the lake at 70 mph I can see it. Other than that, it's the same as what's up front."

Drop an Icon

Lastly, Evers said to make sure your unit is set to mark a trail, and that you mark a waypoint or drop an icon when you catch a fish.

"When you're circling a hump or a brushpile, it gets to look like a ball of yarn. But you'll see each place you caught a fish, and that shows the angle and boat position you need to repeat it."