On a cold, rainy Saturday morning several years ago, I decided to flip a few channels and watch someone else fish for a change. I’ve always enjoyed Bill Dance Outdoors – maybe because he never catches a fish that weighs fewer than 4 pounds. And they always jump, whether they want to or Bill just wants them to. Regardless, if he is catching bass on a private lake, I’m still going to have an opportunity to learn something about bass behavior. In the end, a bass is a bass, and its overall tendencies are the same, whether it’s a 10-acre private lake or a 10,000-acre impoundment.

I always compare fishing to the game of chess. Just like a chess player anticipating the next move of an opponent, a good angler does the same with his opponent – the fish.