Varying Your Retrieve
by Mike Gerry

One of the biggest mistakes I see from inexperienced anglers on many of my guided trips is the lack of understanding when it comes to doing something different with your retrieve as you work a bait. Most anglers repeat the same retrieve every time they throw bait out and retrieve it.
Customers ask me all the time what bait I’m using and how am I presenting my bait. My answer is pretty standard, I am constantly changing what I do with bait until I find a presentation they react to. This adjustment in my presentation is something every angler should do day after day, cast after cast.
When you find a bite remember what you were doing to get that bite and repeat it. Pay attention to detail; focus on your action; and be astutely aware of what and how you’re retrieving your bait; if you don’t you can’t repeat it!

Many of the world’s best fisherman will talk about cadence as a key to catching fish on many different types of baits. There is no doubt that cadence is very important while retrieving a bait, but cadence does not mean to do the same thing every time you work a bait. Change your cadence continually with speed variations or pauses, or tip and wrist action. When you do this you’re still creating a cadence, it’s just changing it until you find a cadence that the bass react to.

It is also a fact that all rods present a variety of tip action. If you find that you cannot easily change the action of bait then you might very well be fishing with a rod that might be too stiff in the tip. The rod might be too long or short for your body type, making it hard to make longer swings or fast movements with your wrist. Line is also a factor in being able to change your cadence or retrieve action. All lines are different, some are thick, many are thin, some have stretch and some do not, some lines sink and some do not. These line differences also change your retrieve and cadence while working bait. Experimenting with line can also be a factor in catching fish as it can inhibit your ability to work bait. That old saying “if you’re doing the same thing and getting the same result it might be time to change, “ fits perfectly.
Captain Mike