Q- Tell me about the pressure on Indiana waters.
TM - Well, 90% of the water in the state of Indiana is pressured water, because if you look at the stats, especially the Federation numbers, Indiana for years has been one of the largest Federations in the country. We also have about the least amount of fishable water than any other state. We have less water and more fishermen, so everywhere you fish is pressured water. Here you’ll run across 10 boats in one little bay, while in other states you’ll have a whole 200 acre bay all to yourself. In Indiana that’s impossible. You always have one boat ahead of you or one boat behind you.
Q- How do you deal with all those boats?
TM - My look on that is that I just try and treat everybody the way I’d want to be treated. I try not to cut nobody off, don’t try and get too close to them, try not to stir up the water on them.
Q- What becomes your strategy when fishing our pressured waters?
TM - Ninety-nine percent of my success in fishing, whether it’s been tournaments or my guide service, has been fishing shallow water. Anything over 2 feet is too deep of water for the shallow water fisherman. One of the reasons I do that is because fish like cover, and the shallow visible cover is a lot easier to see and fish. We’ve got some really nice electronics now days, and I’ve got some nice electronics in my boat, but it takes a lot of time to go out there and find those little hidden spots in deeper water.
Q- Tell me about your technique for shallow water.
TM - I fish slow, real fast. There’s a lot of ways to do that. For example, I’ll toss my bait out and fish through an area fast until I hit a piece of cover. Once I hit a piece of cover, I stop. In the Bassmaster Classic, 75-80 percent of the fish I caught was by just holding my rod still with the bait against the cover, not moving it at all. That’s one of the keys, especially for big fish. So learn to fish slow when you get into cover. When you find the cover, slow down.
Q- And your bait choices?
TM - So in doing that, what I try to do is find baits that look natural or work naturally when they’re still instead of when they’re moving. That’s why I like the Stupid tube. A tube, with these little tentacles on it sitting still, with any type of current or any movement at all, they’re wriggling around a lot.
Q- How about tackle choices?
TM - I use fluorocarbon line because you can feel a lot. But the most important item in my opinion is the rod. The reel just takes up and collects line. Most of the time when I’m fishing, I’m dragging, because I can feel a lot better that way. So you want a high quality rod.
Q- Any other tricks for pressured water?
TM - In certain instances I really like a jet boat so I can get to unpressured water where people don’t fish all the time. With a jet on an 18 foot flat-bottom boat I can run across 2 inches of water. It’s what I typically use on most of my guide trips.
Got to spend a little time with Terry last night and the more I get to know him the more I like him. He knows my feelings about guiding on the river, but we never have had the first problem. Ill actually go out of my way to talk to him on the water and he does the same. We exchange patterns and areas often, and in a round about way he has changed my mind quite a bit about the new era of the river. Its people like Terry who give me a good feeling about fishermen these days, and it just proves there are some decent men left in this world. I wish Terry all the best in the future and look forward to spending a little more time with him also.
BTW, wheres my interview? LOL! You have to do at least one interview with a Bassin Bad Boy Brian!!!!!!!!
Also, Geist in two weeks so be ready. I owe you at least one, and I promise itll be a doozy.
Posted by: Josh McDermott | February 25, 2009 at 04:58 PM
Terry and I go back nearly 20 years. I actually fished with his younger brother a bit back in the early 90's. Over all that time I've only ever shared a boat with him once though. I've got nothing but respect for Terry.
You're interview...hmmmm?
But I'll gladly take you up on the Geist thing. Been waiting :) I can keep secrets, but I might have to get a shot of your bald mug holding a big ole' 'factory' pig to share with the world :)
Posted by: Big Indiana Bass | February 26, 2009 at 09:24 PM
Come on Brian, dont be scared!
Well now that I think about it, youre probably right to be a little sketchy about it!
All we need is a little stable weather to get the water in the low 40`s and its on. Better yet low 50`s then its highlight time!
Posted by: Josh McDermott | February 27, 2009 at 11:47 AM
It's not a question of being scared. It's my site and I can have posted whatever I want, no matter how controversial :) There are some questions I think would be pretty cool to feature in an interview with you. Actually, I've got enough of your wisdom collected I could write a whole article on you already.
Hmmmm...all I need is a good on-the-water picture of you with a nice greenie. I'm in self-proclaimed tournament retirement, but you're still out there smashing heads week to week. You still might want to keep some secrets tight to the cuff, I'm guessing?
Looking forward to some skinny water bassin' soon !! I'll be watching the weather and keeping the schedule open.
Posted by: Big Indiana Bass | February 27, 2009 at 12:51 PM