Title photo - Author with a 12.01 lb. Lake Pyramid largemouth bass swimbait
catch caught from the back deck.
Back Deck Tip: The Reverse Angle
Have you ever been on the back deck frustrated with boat position and
casting opportunities? Remember, the fish do not know which way the boat is
going.
“Life is not always a
matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well,” – Jack
London. London's
quote about life also provides an excellent mindset for anglers fishing from
the back deck.
Often,
on the boat's back deck, the challenge is fishing the circumstance you're
confronted with, not the situation you select. This
situation is accentuated in non-shared weight draw bass tournaments.
Reverse Angle Illustration by DSF
Imagine a front
deck angler controlling the boat and fishing a vibrating jig pattern. As the front deck angler controls the boat, their targets will probably be obvious. Let's
say they are working a stretch of the bank
from left to right. Imagine those same targets coming down the bank from the
opposite direction, right to the left.
With excellent casts
and a relatively 'snag-proof' lure such as a frog, spinnerbait, or topwater
plug… those targets going the other way are there for the back-deck angler to
exploit. There will be prime predator fish ambush angles that can only be targeted effectively from the Reverse Angle.
At each spot, there will be a moment when the back deck
angler has the best position for the reverse angle cast. The Reverse Angle can
produce strikes that the forward presentation will miss regarding
microtopography and cover elements. That's the reverse
angle, and that is why the fish do not know which way the boat is going.
The author and
some of his best catches have occurred while fishing on the back deck.
