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A: You know, it's not just largemouth and smallmouth bass, you've got to throw spotted bass into the mix. But what anglers need to understand is that no matter the species, a bass is a bass is a bass, and they will hit every artificial lure we have in our tackle boxes.

Q: Come on Gary, it can't be as simple as that?

A: Of course not. Anglers should know that there are certain lures and techniques that will target one or more of the three main bass species. For example, if I'm on the bank pitching a jig in the fall-down trees, my smallmouth catch won't be very strong. And by the same token, if I'm dropshotting or splitshotting for spotted bass, my largemouth catch won't be as good either.

Q. So, you're saying you need to know what species your after?

A: That's right. You can have a wonderful day on the water going after any of the species of bass; you can catch all smallmouths, largemouths, or spotted bass, and remember, all the bass will hit every lure in the tackle box at some time.

Q. How do you decide which fish to hunt? Say you're on a lake you don't really know too well. What do you do in this scenario?

A. As you know, I'm a competitive sort of guy, so that means, when I go to a lake, there is usually some kind of competition on the body of water. So, there are certainly strategies than help me choose which type of fish to go after. I must adjust to the competition today, which is better than it's ever been.

Q. What makes you say that?

A. The anglers today are 10 years more advanced than they were a few years ago. They all have the magazines, they watch the TV shows, they go to the fishing seminars, and they have access to all the new techniques and baits. But what they lack is time on the water.

Q. We hear this over and over. Would you please explain again what you mean by time on the water?

A. I can talk all day long about a certain technique or series of techniques, but, until a person can actually go out on the water and apply what has been talked about, it won't do the person any good.

Each time I get on the water I have to decide what my goals are. If I'm out to have a good time, then maybe I'll go after numbers of fish, and that will dictate what fish I'll pursue. But in competition, I must know what's available to me.

Q. How do you find out about the lakes you fish?

A. That's easy now. With the Internet you can look and see almost any lake in the country. You can look at past issues of magazines and read recent articles about a given lake without ever getting your boat wet.

Q. It sounds like you have to study a lot?

A.That's right, I study everything I can get my hands on. I want to take all the variables out of the equation. I want to know what to expect when I get to the lake.

Over the years I have tried to elevate myself to a level of perfection in this sport, and of course, I've yet to attain that. But, when ever I enter a tournament I go there wanting to do the best I can do. Whether it's a U.S. Open, or a B.A.S.S. event, if I finish 30th it's not because I didn't prepare. It's because I made mental mistakes out on the water and in reality, I got my butt kicked on that day.

Q. Is it safe to say that preparation gives you the confidence to compete?

A. Yes, but it's more than that. It's consistency. That is how you get longevity in this sport. The more you study, and apply what you learn on the water, the more consistent you will become.

Q. Going back to the first question for a second, can you give us an example of adjusting for different fish during competition?

A. Yes. One of the classic examples of what I mean happened in a major tournament a few years back. We were fishing a lake that I had been told had a lot of spotted bass in it. In fact, I was told the lake looked a lot like Lake Shasta, a lake I knew well.

The tournament was in the fall, and I planned to fish crankbaits in the back of coves, because that's what I like to do at that time of year. Well, when I arrived at the lake, the water was 30 feet down, and I went with my game plan and threw crankbaits. But, by Noon on the first day of practice, I had gotten no bites. I knew I had to do something else.

A quick trip back to the parking lot produced my spinning rods, light line and my doodling worms, and from 12:30 to dark I had over 30 bites. The fish were sitting in 45 to 50 feet of water. I made the right adjustments and won the tournament hands down.

But, had I not experienced spotted bass out in California, I'd never have been able to adjust to the fish in its environment.

Q. So, what you're saying is if you know how to catch all three species, that maybe, on a certain day, you could win a tournament catching any of the species?

A. You bet. There are guys on the circuit that have won tournaments fishing nothing but smallmouths, and there have been guys win on nothing but spots.

Q. You mentioned knowing what the fish is doing in its environment. Rick Clunn is big into understanding what the environment tells him about the fish. What do you do to know what the fish are doing at a specific time?

A. I've been fishing these events for 25 years. I've fished lakes from coast to coast, and have learned bass behavior. That is a lot of time on the water, and during that time I've come to understand and get a ‘feel' for what the bass are doing in their environment.

I've experienced all conditions, from hurricanes, to dead heat blasts. I've won events and have been beaten — more of the latter, I'm afraid. But during that time, you develop a sense for the water and the environment. It's kind of hard to explain.

Q. It might sound funny, but do you talk to yourself while you're fishing?

A. I think I probably do. I very rarely have anyone else in the boat with me when I'm fishing. I've learned over the years that distractions take away from the experience, and cloud my abilities to visualize what the fish want.

Q. Is that important to you?

A. It is crucial. This has been a key to my fishing since the beginning, I try to visualize what my lure presentation is doing in the water.

This is really a unique sport. For those who swim or who have ever gone into the water, diving or what have you, it's a completely different experience when you put your head under water. You are in the fish's world, not yours, and there is a heightened awareness. I'm convinced that there is little in the fish's world that it's not aware of.

Another thing I've learned over the years is that more than 80 percent of the fish I've caught weren't actually feeding when I caught them.

Q. Does that mean they are reacting to a bait, not necessarily trying to eat it?

A. Well, all I know is that there are people all over this country who look at all the lures in a Bass Pro Shop catalog, and wonder what most of the lures shown resemble in the wild. The answer is generally nothing. I believe the lures we use play the bass' personalities.

Q. Are you saying different bass have different personalities?

A. I like to think bass are a lot like people. Some are home bodies, some are cruisers, some are curious, and others are just flat mean. But in order for fish to touch, taste, or feel, they use their mouth. And when we as anglers get a hit, we assume the fish was hungry, and that's not necessarily true. So, many of my techniques over the years have played to the personalities of the fish.

I use a lot of baits as draw baits. When that bait gets down, the fish has to react or it is gone. Stickbaits are the same way. They will pull the fish to the bait.

Q. What other factors go into choosing a bait for a particular lake?

A. If a bass is raised in predominantly clear water, it is most likely a sight feeder. Versus a fish raised in off-colored water, that fish would be more of a lateral line feeder. By understanding that, my choice of tools becomes pretty simple, when I'm fishing clear water I'll use a lot of draw techniques; I'll throw very detailed lures, and in short, I'll fish differently than dirty water.

Q. What would be some of those differences?

In off-colored water, I tend to concentrate more on sound and water displacement than I do anything else. I'll fish straight opaque colors, I won't trim up a skirt or anything in those situations. Maybe I'll look for more bulk and a silhouette rather than detail.

Q. Let's get back to the environment for a minute. Do you ever feel the air or the humidity and know what the fish are doing?

A. When you fish as much as I do, you feel changes in the environment, and it becomes easier to judge what the fish want based on those things you mentioned. Some of the most incredible choices I've made on the water are not easily explained.

Q. You've told us before about changing your game plan mid-stream, do you have an example of this concept?

A. Absolutely. Some of my best decisions are not easily explained. In a tournament in the 80s I was on the most predictable bite you could have. I was worming for fish under boat docks that were in 20 to 25 feet of water. I struggled for part of the last day of the tournament, and eventually went looking for a few better fish.

I turned into a cove and a particular boat dock just stood out, I really don't know why. I followed my instincts and went over to the dock, dropped my trolling motor, looked at my depth finder, and I was in 6 feet of water. I pitched my worm under that dock and caught the winning fish, first cast.

Q. Is that a problem for you if you have someone else in your boat? I mean, do guys think you're out to lunch when you make a move like that?

A. That's exactly the reason I don't have many people in my boat. I don't talk, I'm a terrible conversationalist. I try to totally absorb myself in the moment, everything that's going on around me. It's really no different than lots of guys do; they'll be going up a bank, stop, get down and tie on a new bait, throw it out, and catch the biggest fish of the day on the first cast. Now, I ask you, can you explain to your buddy why you did that?

Q. That becomes a problem for you with co-anglers then?

A. Yes it does. If I've got a co-angler in the boat with me, he's always wanting to know why I do the things I do. And, the problem is, I don't know why I do things many times. It's tough to explain, but there is definitely a feel you get, and the more experience to get, the stronger the tendancy to follow your impressions.

Thanks Gary, and good luck this fall.