Last week I sat on the back bench of an old Jon boat, drifting around a large pond and tossing Zoom Super Flukes at the brushy banks. My son, Aiden, and I caught enough largemouth bass to keep the smiles easy, but we caught few enough to make us keep asking questions.

Somewhere at the north corner near the inlet, Aiden pulled back hard and set into the fish of our trip.

“There’s One!” he yelled. “I wasn’t moving it much.” Aiden glanced back at me while he cranked the baitcaster. “That’s another fish that hit on a slower . . .”

“. . . Don’t ask a fish to do too much,” I finished the thought for him.

We both nodded, and Aiden boated another fine largemouth.

It’s been a recurring concept this summer: Don’t get too crazy with the speed or frequency of motion. Whether fishing for bass in a lake, smallmouth in a river, flounder in the surf or trout in a creek, take the food to the fish. Because even aggressive creatures like a musky can eat more often and more confidently with moderate to slow retrieves.

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Fair enough. There’s another theme we’ve been talking about this summer too. Within your chosen pace of fast, slow or somewhere in between, do you want the motion random and erratic or on cadence and in rhythm?

There are arguments for both. An injured or dying baitfish likely swims and twitches in unmeasured spurts, while a healthy version of the same critter may swim and pause in a more predictable manner.

So then, what do you want to imitate? And more importantly, what will get more bites and hookups?

Again, there are good arguments for both.

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Random actions imparted to a Full Pint streamer with the rod tip may well signal an opportunity to an observing trout — here’s something that looks different to the pool boss, a treat that gains attention. And if it looks honest enough, our big trout smacks the streamer for an easy meal.

On the other hand, rhythmic actions like an even jerk strip give the trout a predictable moment for attack. When a fly or lure moves then pauses, moves then pauses, our favorite predator always eats on the pause. They watch the motion, notice the rhythm and seize their opportunity in the gap.

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Random actions may be harder to imitate properly, because none of us really knows what a Sculpin looks like as it’s dying. But the fish do.

Rhythmic actions might therefore be easier to imitate with fishing gear. Then again, how can we make that rhythm stand out as a real opportunity for our target fish?

Whether it’s a Zoom Super Fluke, a crank bait, a bucktail or a Circus Peanut, as soon as we move outside the confines of drifting or swinging, we have choices to make about motion. Likewise, if we’re fishing a hopper on a meadow stream or a Pencil Popper in the surf, as soon as we commit to moving the offering, there are more choices to make.

Speed and the type of motion are often considered first, but random or rhythmic may be just as important.

Fish hard, friends.

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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com