The Starting Spot: Best Tournament Career Start Ever, Follow the Baitfish, and If There’s Grass There’s Bass

The Starting Spot Daily Bass Fishing Headlines are the perfect way to start your day with some of the top bass fishing articles on the internet. It’s the quick, informative, how, where, and who you need to know. So, rub the sleep from your eyes, pour that first cup of the day, and head to your Starting Spot.

Today on The Starting Spot: Best Tournament Career Start Ever, Follow the Baitfish, and If There’s Grass There’s Bass | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

In this edition of The Starting Spot:

-This is a cool story about a Michigan angler who has already set a BFL tournament record in his short career. And his approach to tournament fishing is unique and worth studying.

-In addition to being one of the most approachable, nicest pros in the business, Randy Howell is also a Bassmaster Classic winner and a very accomplished angler. In this article he’s talking about a new discovery regarding fall bass fishing that you should be aware of.

-Here are some great tips for locating fall bass in reservoirs with grass. In warmer states this pattern may hold up all winter, too.

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Smallmouth bass tactics of a rising star

by Mitchell Forde

From a story on MajorLeagueFishing.com: Fishing fans will be forgiven if the name Nolan Mandel doesn’t ring a bell. The Michigan native has only been fishing bass tournaments for about five years, and he didn’t enter his first MLF event until 2023. He’s exclusively competed at the Phoenix Bass Fishing League level so far, fishing the Michigan Division each of the past three seasons. 
And yet Mandel has already accomplished something no other angler at any level of MLF competition can claim. 

Over the past two years, Mandel has finished in the Top 10 in all 11 of the events he’s entered. No other angler with at least 10 starts can say that. He’s won four times in that span, finished in the top five four more and won the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year award in the Michigan Division (a region with plenty of accomplished locals) in back-to-back seasons…MORE.

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Follow the baitfish in the fall

by Randy Howell

From a story on Bassmaster.com: When I watched my son Laker win the Bassmaster Elite Qualifier event at Wheeler Lake last week, it was officially a fall tournament, but the weather still felt like summer. This is one of those years when the warm weather lingers into October, and the extended summer-like conditions definitely affect the fish.

It seems like on southern reservoir lakes and impoundments, you really have a hard time pinpointing the fish. They’re just not consistent from day to day, because they’re moving a lot. 
They become nomadic and start roaming. A lot of them leave the bottom and start following baitfish. On my home waters of Lake Guntersville, all of the Tennessee River chain and all across the country, forward-facing sonar is showing us how many fish are out in the middle of the lake…MORE.

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Why You Need to Fish the Grass in the Fall

by David A. Brown

From an article on Wired2Fish.com: It’s not unusual for Florida bass anglers to open Christmas presents and then go fish their favorite grass shoreline. Maybe not Labor Day level stuff, but a dependable bite, assuming decent weather.  

The Sunshine State operates under its own set of rules, but in many southern fisheries, the grass bite lasts well through Thanksgiving — if not longer. When mild conditions stick around through the fourth quarter, submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) can be a serious player.

Consider this from Toledo Bend Guide, Darold Gleason: “If we have hydrilla, it’s a player year-round one way or the other.”…MORE.

Thanks for starting your day with Fishing On SI. Lines in!